FAA Closing over 200 Towers

[aeroscout]

Will it have any effect on your flying or your operation ?

 

 

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/air-traffic-control-towers-close-faa-hiring-community-planners

[pilot#476398]

I suppose that depends on whether or not the airport remains open after they close down the tower?

[McGavin]

The sequestration will effect pilots more than many realized. Many busy airports that I frequent are on the list. I believe theses airports will stay open, but become uncontrolled. Many of these airports are too busy to operate safely as uncontrolled airports so I foresee the expense to control them being pushed onto us (pilots & operators). Even larger airports not on the list will be forced to downsize which causes safety concerns.

 

There is also the trickle down. One example is the impact to Customs & Boarder Patrol who operates over 250 aircraft. They have stopped all flight training that in turn will be devistating for a respected flight school who depends on a contract to train CBP pilots.

 

Multiply this and you will see the ripple will effect all of us in someway.

[DS_HMMR]

There are a half dozen airports on the list that I use on a weekly basis.

Because I am a paranoid F__K, when it comes to operating near airports/fixed wing traffic; I'm not sure it will have much of an impact on my daily operations. But, whether if does impact or not, a Pilot will adjust.

[ridethisbike]

DS, How busy are those half dozen airports on average?

[DS_HMMR]

DS, How busy are those half dozen airports on average?

probably not busy enough to warrant an argument based purely upon subjective estimations of "busy".

[McGavin]

http://www.aaae.org/?e=showFile&l=TDDZKA

 

Here is the final list. It has been toned down since the last list which had more airports including Santa Monica (KSMO) that I feel qualifies as a busy Class D airport.

[adam32]

Strange that Sacramento Executive is on the list but not Modesto...Sac Exec is 10x busier them Mod...

[Nomad110]

My home Napa County KAPC got saved but Sac Exec got closed...I wonder why?

[ridethisbike]

GEU and GYR (Glendale and Goodyear, respectively) in AZ don't surprise me. Not very busy and it would be too easy to get traffic advisories from Luke AFB and PHX via flight following or the like.

 

Ryan Airfield down in Tucson I suppose would be in the same boat, but the runway layout would worry me. I've heard plenty of horror stories with people almost getting run over by Cessna's and other GA aircraft.

 

Only a matter of time before the lack of ATC at some of these airports is a contributing factor to something going horribly wrong...

[helipilotm]

You guys are feeding into exactly what the president and chronies want. Gloom and Doom, Panic and Fear! If your uncomfortable flying in uncontrolled airspace then your trusting the controllers WAY too much. Ive had a few close calls becuase of a controller. You need to always keep your head on a swivel. Another thing your helicopter pilots, remember the whole "avoid the flow of fixed wing traffic" don't fly where they fly and keep your head on a swivel and you will be just fine.

[Goldy]

http://www.aaae.org/...owFile&l=TDDZKA

 

Here is the final list. It has been toned down since the last list which had more airports including Santa Monica (KSMO) that I feel qualifies as a busy Class D airport.

 

Yes looks like SMO and Hawthorne were saved along with Camarillo. CMA and SMO are busy airports. Some of the others, not so much except for the week-end traffic. I fly out of KWHP, and the tower is closing April 7. Certainly it will not be as safe as when the tower is open, but that's just due to a handful of idiot pilots who don't speak or listen to the radio......doesn't matter if there is a tower or not, there are still a few that cause havoc! KWHP never had the minimum traffic required to have a controller, but proximity to BUR, and one incident where an MD 80 tried to land on 4000 foot runway, convinced them to put in a tower.

[ridethisbike]

You guys are feeding into exactly what the president and chronies want. Gloom and Doom, Panic and Fear! If your uncomfortable flying in uncontrolled airspace then your trusting the controllers WAY too much. Ive had a few close calls becuase of a controller. You need to always keep your head on a swivel. Another thing your helicopter pilots, remember the whole "avoid the flow of fixed wing traffic" don't fly where they fly and keep your head on a swivel and you will be just fine.

 

It's not about that, it's about what Goldy said. People being dumb. No one said they were uncomfortable flying in uncontrolled airspace. Fact still remains, people are dumb. Some of these guys think they're the only ones in the air, which is obviously not the case. Problem is they don't listen to radios, they don't report positions/intentions and they make no effort to "fly neighborly." At least when the airspace is controlled they are required to talk on the radio. Maybe not all the time, but some is better than none.

 

Not to mention that depending on the placement of the airport, everyone could be on different frequencies.

 

For some of these airports, it's just a recipe for disaster. That's all I'm saying.

 

 

I also stand corrected on Goodyear. In 2011 they had just over 137k flights. Not sure how that stacks up against their average. The other airport I mentioned had 88k

 

For anyone who's interested, you can find some interesting info at the following website. Drop the K on the identifier. For number of flights information, click on the "Based Aircraft & Operations" tab. They don't give much, but it's still fun to check out the different airports and see how they stack up.

 

http://www.gcr1.com/5010web/

[Goldy]

 

I also stand corrected on Goodyear. In 2011 they had just over 137k flights. Not sure how that stacks up against their average. The other airport I mentioned had 88k

 

For anyone who's interested, you can find some interesting info at the following website. Drop the K on the identifier. For number of flights information, click on the "Based Aircraft & Operations" tab. They don't give much, but it's still fun to check out the different airports and see how they stack up.

 

http://www.gcr1.com/5010web/

 

I think the old FAA criteria for a tower was 150K takeoffs and landings per year......some airports got towers due to other circs...like proximity to a major airport.

[JDHelicopterPilot]

Strange that Sacramento Executive is on the list but not Modesto...Sac Exec is 10x busier them Mod...

 

There is more to the selection of tower closures than just how busy the airport is. I think this is affecting contract towers or just FAA towers or vice versa.

[JDHelicopterPilot]

You guys are feeding into exactly what the president and chronies want. Gloom and Doom, Panic and Fear! If your uncomfortable flying in uncontrolled airspace then your trusting the controllers WAY too much. Ive had a few close calls becuase of a controller. You need to always keep your head on a swivel. Another thing your helicopter pilots, remember the whole "avoid the flow of fixed wing traffic" don't fly where they fly and keep your head on a swivel and you will be just fine.

 

Some of these airports are bas enough when the tower is open. Now add no tower and weekend warriors who don't check notams, therefore don't know the tower is close until the show up.

[silver-eagle]

Is the FAA using this (sequestration) to close towers that aren't needed that they might have otherwise if their hands weren't tied by the local operators, would they keep them open if the issues were resolved tomorrow, or will they re-open them once the issue is resolved?

If the money was there tomorrow, I suspect many of these towers would still close. The FAA isn't stupid. This list has probably been around for years. This is a convenient excuse to avoid arguments that otherwise would have delayed the process. The operators of the airports are cities and towns who probably do not pay for this service. These towers won't be back unless there is a demonstrated need for improved safety. They are CONTRACT towers not FAA operated ones. The government employee requires a much longer notice of layoffs.

[helistar]

The list of closures is going to impact "contract towers" which are simply a contract awarded to one of several private contractors years ago when the government was considering contracting out all smaller faa towers. So it would seem the canceling or non renewal of these contracts is the quickest way for the faa to reduce it's spending in accordance with the current administrations demands. Looking at the list I know of one contract tower that has very few commercial flights a day and clearly doesn't warrant the manning of a tower, yet for whatever reason that tower isn't scheduled to be closed. That contract was awarded less than 10 years ago, which leads me to believe those being closed are with contracts nearing expiration...

[Rick McWilliams]

I will not miss many of the closing towers. I have had more near miss situations under positive control in Class D, C, B than in uncontrolled airspace. Some of the airports with towers have less activity than nearby uncontrolled airports. These airports never needed a tower. Some pilots seem to get lonely and find ATC is some security. Towers do tend to keep the local Yahoos from flying stupid.

[Mikemv]

The FAA had been set to close 149 contract ATC towers on Sunday of this week due to sequestration. That was to be the first of three waves of funding cutoffs that were to continue through early May.

Now the FAA plans to lower the boom all at once, revoking the money for all 149 towers on June 15, after allowing time for the airports to joust with the agency through the legal system.

Representatives for some 20 airports out of 149 on the closure list had filed suit against the FAA, according to the American Association of Airport Executives. The association has also filed a separate suit on behalf of its members.

Many of the lawsuits ask for an emergency stay of the FAA’s decision to cut off funding — typical was one filed by the city of Ormond Beach, Fla. A source involved with the suit told POLITICO 15 to 20 additional emergency motions from other airports could come in the next week.

More:

Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) are expected to file a bill in several days that prohibits closing or slashing funding to any of the 238 towers that the administration has warned could eventually be cut by the sequester.

The measure would retroactively apply to the 24 towers set to lose funding on April 7. In addition, the U.S. Contract Tower Association (USCTA) and the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) have filed a lawsuit opposing the FAA's plans to cut off funding for 149 privately run contract towers. The last-ditch efforts show that even with the sequester deadline and the appropriations bill in the rear-view mirror, the fight over the FAA cuts are not even close to over.

On Wednesday, AAAE and USCTA requested that the FAA grant an “emergency” stay to block plans to cut off funding to the contract towers. But USCTA Executive Director Spencer Dickerson said they had received no response from FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, precipitating the lawsuit.

“We’re arguing irreparable harm, we’re arguing the FAA didn’t go through the proper procedures,” Dickerson said. “They just couldn't possibly have done all that in this short amount of time; particularly the safety analysis.”

The city of Ormond Beach, Fla., has filed an emergency motion to stay the FAA's decision to cut off federal funding for the contract air traffic control tower at its city-owned airport, according to documents obtained by POLITICO.

Another 15 to 20 motions to stay from individual airports could come in the next week, according to a source involved with the Ormond Beach suit.

Dickerson’s organization claims that cutting off the towers’ funding could potentially result in more dangerous flying conditions, lost lives, and increased crash rates at airports that currently have contract towers.

AAAE and USCTA argued in their letter to Huerta that the administration has singled out contract towers and not explained why. The cuts to 149 of the 251 towers in the program nationwide represent nearly 60 percent of the FAA’s funding reduction under the sequester, as opposed to the 5 percent across-the-board cuts to other FAA accounts, the groups contend.

Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) are asking the Department of Transportation to postpone closing federal contract towers while they work with the administration and Congress on a solution.

The letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, which takes the form of a plea to specifically not close the five Maryland towers up for the sequester axe, recounts Mikulski's attempts to head off the sequester as part of debate on the continuing resolution, which was enacted without any relief for the FAA.

Mikulski, the letter said, "tried to include language ... that would have given domestic agencies flexibility to shift an additional 1 percent of funds to help mitigate the most harmful impacts of sequester, such as the problem the FAA is currently facing with these contract towers."

However, the letter contains no hint of how they might proceed once Congress is back in session next week, except for saying they will "continue to fight to put an end to sequester" and requesting a "prompt response" in the interim.