Rural airports get big share of stimulus money; ProPublica has help, networking to track spending

The Federal Aviation Administration has finished allocating the $1.1 billion Congress gave it for airport improvements, and rural projects are getting much of the money, Michael Grabell reports for ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative news service that is paying much attention to stimulus spending. (For its pages on how to track the spending and join its stimulus reporting network, click here.)

"The biggest winners aren't the busiest airports. And more than $100 million is going to airports that have fewer than one flight an hour -- airports that cater to recreational fliers, corporate jets or remote communities," Grabell writes. "The stimulus was designed to supplement infrastructure funding, not supplant it. Projects weren't eligible if they had already received money from federal, state or local governments, or from private sources such as landing fees, and that ruled out many bigger, busier airports. ... The government also waived the usual requirement that airports put up some of their own money, making the stimulus grants attractive to smaller airfields."

A version of this story was co-produced with CBS News, which aired it on the CBS Evening News With Katie Couric. Here's a map of the airports that got money. To enlarge it, make it interactive and check individual airports, click on it.