Mt. Washington Regional Airport in Whitefield has run on a shoestring operating budget

For years, the Mt. Washington Regional Airport in Whitefield has run on a shoestring operating budget, but the COVID-19 pandemic made its finances even more difficult after airport traffic had slowed. During its meeting on Wednesday, however, and following a request by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, Governor and Council retroactively approved $32,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) federal stimulus funding that had been allotted to airports. Last year, there were many payouts to other airports in the Granite State, including those in Laconia, Newport, Lebanon, and Rochester. According to the funding application, the $32,000 will reimburse the MWRA for operations, personnel, cleaning, sanitation, janitorial services to combat the spread of pathogens at the airport, and debt service expenses.