<\/p>\n
PITTSTON \u2014 The Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton International Airport\u2019s $14.3 million expansion project got a shot in the arm on Monday when U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has delivered $3 million to construct a mother\u2019s room, children\u2019s play area, a sensory room, and an expanded security lane to better accommodate traveling families.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis administration is focused on making travel happier and more convenient for American families,\u201d Duffy said in a news release. \u201cThe Golden Age of Travel includes a Family First agenda. We\u2019re making airports inviting spaces for parents and children to relax and recharge prior to boarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve Mykulyn, interim executive director at the airport, said the project, scheduled to begin in September, will be nearly fully funded by government grants and will take a year to a year and a half to complete.<\/p>\n
According to Mykulyn, the project will add 10,000 square feet to the airport terminal, creating additional space for passengers, staff, the TSA area, and a pet relief room.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is new money, and it will allow us to do more for our passengers,\u201d Mykulyn said.<\/p>\n
At last month\u2019s meeting of the Bi-County Airport Board, Mykulyn said the Federal Aviation Administration and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation aviation division will provide most of the funding. He said a small portion of the project cost will be derived from a fee on passengers\u2019 tickets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe FAA is moving quickly to get these investments out the door and into airports nationwide,\u201d said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford in the news release. \u201cThese projects will help create a more welcoming and accessible travel experience for families while demonstrating our commitment to improving America\u2019s airports at record speed.\u201d<\/p>\n
In total, officials said the Department of Transportation invested $970 million in 133 airports across 45 states through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act \u2013 Airport Terminal Program (ATP) to enhance the travel experience for families.<\/p>\n
Additional information<\/p>\n
In December 2025, Duffy encouraged airports across the nation to present projects to the FAA that support more family-friendly resources at airports, including:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Creating more children\u2019s play areas or exercise areas<\/p>\n
\u2022 Adding mothers\u2019 rooms or nursing pods<\/p>\n
\u2022 Re-configuring security checkpoints to create family screening lanes<\/p>\n
\u2022 Building sensory rooms for children with special needs<\/p>\n
\u2022 Other creative terminal projects that focus on enhancing the family travel journey<\/p>\n
Reach Bill O\u2019Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PITTSTON \u2014 The Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton International Airport\u2019s $14.3 million expansion project got a shot in the arm on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-196100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}