FAA announces delay in flight tower closures on the same day that it was revealed they were using data about airplane collisions from thirty years ago
The closings of control towers at 149
small airports, due to begin this weekend because of government-wide
spending cuts, are being delayed until mid-June, federal regulators
announced Friday.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it needs more time to deal with legal challenges to the closures.
Also, about 50 airport authorities and other 'stakeholders' have indicated they want to fund the operations of the towers themselves rather than see them shut down, and more time will be needed to work out those plans, the agency said in a statement.
The first 24 tower closures were scheduled to begin Sunday, with the rest coming over the next few weeks.
Obama administration officials have said the closures are necessary to accomplish automatic spending cuts required by Congress.
Despite the delay, the FAA said it will stop funding all 149 of the airport towers, which are operated by private contractors, on June 15. Under the new schedule, the closures will be implemented at once, rather than a gradual phase-in as had been planned.
Airport operators in several states, including Florida, Illinois and Washington state, and the U.S. Contract Tower Association, which represents the companies that operate contract towers, have filed lawsuits with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington seeking to halt the closures.
The suits contend that the closures violated a federal law meant to ensure major changes at airports do not erode safety, and unfairly targeted the program for an outsized share of the more than $600million the agency is required to trim from its budget by the end of September.
By 2011, the latest year for which figures are available, that rate had dropped to 6.5 accidents per 100,000 departures.
Had the Federal Aviation Administration used more current data, it's probable that some low-traffic airport towers operated by private contractors would no longer have met the agency's criteria for funding, industry officials said.
But the FAA has long been under pressure from members of Congress to open new towers at airports in their states, not close them.
The FAA began paying contractors to staff and operate towers at a handful of small airports after President Ronald Reagan fired striking air traffic controllers in 1981.
Today, there are 251 towers operated by private contractors at airports across the country at an average cost to the Federal Aviation Administration of about $500,000 a year each.
Since the program began, only three contractor-operated towers have been shut down, according to a trade association for the companies that operate the towers.
In 1990, the FAA developed a
complicated cost-benefit methodology for the tower program that relies
on accident data from 1983 to 1986 to determine how many accidents would
be averted and lives saved if an airport had controllers working
onsite.
As the years have passed, the FAA has updated some of the economic assumptions used in the methodology.
'None of the formulas have been
updated since 1990, despite a very significant change in the aviation
operating environment and the general aviation and commercial accident
rates,' the FAA said in a statement Thursday in response to questions
from The Associated Press.
'The FAA is in the process of updating this policy.'
Agency officials offered no explanation for the oversight.
The airport tower industry has long criticized the FAA's methodology because it is focused on safety and improvements in efficiency to the air traffic system without taking into account the local economic benefits of the towers.
The towers are prized by local communities as economic boosters, particularly in rural areas.
Airlines are sometimes reluctant to schedule flights to airports where there are no air traffic controllers onsite.
And flight schools generally prefer to locate at airports with towers so student pilots can practice communications procedures.
Former Minnesota Congressman James Oberstar, a critic of the contract tower program, said he refused to allow lawmakers to insert provisions into bills requiring the FAA to pay for new control towers at airports in their districts when he was chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
'We couldn't always stop it in all instances in the appropriations process, particularly when a bill comes from the Senate and it has a designation of funding for a particular tower,' Oberstar said.
Last month, Republican Senator Jerry Moran from Kansas
repeatedly tried to hold up final passage of a bill to prevent a
government shutdown as he tried unsuccessfully to persuade Democrats to
allow a vote on his plan for erasing most of the planned closures of
towers operated contract controllers.
Next week, Moran and Democratic Senator Richard
Blumenthal of Connecticut plan to introduce a bill to require the FAA to
resume operations at the 24 towers scheduled for closure on Sunday and
to prohibit the agency from shutting down any more towers after that.
The measure has the support of the American Association of Airport Executives and its affiliate organization, the U.S. Contract Tower Association, which represent the companies that operate contract towers.
The associations filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Thursday seeking to block the FAA from shutting down towers. Several airports around the country also have filed their own suits.
The suit contends that the FAA didn't follow its own procedures for shutting down the airport towers, and unfairly targeted the program for an outsized share of the more than $600million the agency is required to trim from its budget by the end of September.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it needs more time to deal with legal challenges to the closures.
Also, about 50 airport authorities and other 'stakeholders' have indicated they want to fund the operations of the towers themselves rather than see them shut down, and more time will be needed to work out those plans, the agency said in a statement.
Dangerous skies: Proposed cuts are going to
cause massive uproar when 238 air traffic control stations will be
closed on April 7 to make budget cuts
Obama administration officials have said the closures are necessary to accomplish automatic spending cuts required by Congress.
Despite the delay, the FAA said it will stop funding all 149 of the airport towers, which are operated by private contractors, on June 15. Under the new schedule, the closures will be implemented at once, rather than a gradual phase-in as had been planned.
Airport operators in several states, including Florida, Illinois and Washington state, and the U.S. Contract Tower Association, which represents the companies that operate contract towers, have filed lawsuits with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington seeking to halt the closures.
The suits contend that the closures violated a federal law meant to ensure major changes at airports do not erode safety, and unfairly targeted the program for an outsized share of the more than $600million the agency is required to trim from its budget by the end of September.
Control towers shutting down: Cessna aircraft is
parked near by the air traffic control tower at the Collin County
Regional Airport at McKinney, in McKinney, Texas
'The administration has decided to
make tower closures the poster child of sequestration (automatic
spending cuts),' said the group's director, J. Spencer Dickerson.
'We believe there are other ways they could have skinned this cat.'
Federal officials have insisted that the closures wouldn't affect safety. And there is evidence that with improving safety, some of the closures would make economic sense.
It turns out that the FAA has been using 30-year-old data on aircraft collisions to justify the cost of operating many of the control towers, even though accident rates have improved significantly over that time.
The safety data has not been updated since 1981, even though accident rates have improved significantly over that time.
In 1983, there were 10.7 accidents for every 100,000 departures involving small planes, business jets and other non-airline flights in the U.S., according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
'We believe there are other ways they could have skinned this cat.'
Federal officials have insisted that the closures wouldn't affect safety. And there is evidence that with improving safety, some of the closures would make economic sense.
It turns out that the FAA has been using 30-year-old data on aircraft collisions to justify the cost of operating many of the control towers, even though accident rates have improved significantly over that time.
The safety data has not been updated since 1981, even though accident rates have improved significantly over that time.
In 1983, there were 10.7 accidents for every 100,000 departures involving small planes, business jets and other non-airline flights in the U.S., according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Spending cuts: A small plane takes off past the
control tower at Troutdale Airport in Troutdale, Oregon - which will be
shutting down due to government spending cuts
Flying solo: The move will strip away an extra
layer of safety during takeoffs and landings, leaving pilots to manage
the most critical stages of flight on their own
Had the Federal Aviation Administration used more current data, it's probable that some low-traffic airport towers operated by private contractors would no longer have met the agency's criteria for funding, industry officials said.
But the FAA has long been under pressure from members of Congress to open new towers at airports in their states, not close them.
The FAA began paying contractors to staff and operate towers at a handful of small airports after President Ronald Reagan fired striking air traffic controllers in 1981.
Today, there are 251 towers operated by private contractors at airports across the country at an average cost to the Federal Aviation Administration of about $500,000 a year each.
Since the program began, only three contractor-operated towers have been shut down, according to a trade association for the companies that operate the towers.
Serious: It's not just private pilots in small
planes who stand to be affected as many of the airports in question-
like Chicago's Midway airport (pictured)- are serviced by major airlines
As the years have passed, the FAA has updated some of the economic assumptions used in the methodology.
Shutting out the lights: The cuts could also leave towers unmanned during overnight hours at some big-city airports
'The FAA is in the process of updating this policy.'
Agency officials offered no explanation for the oversight.
The airport tower industry has long criticized the FAA's methodology because it is focused on safety and improvements in efficiency to the air traffic system without taking into account the local economic benefits of the towers.
The towers are prized by local communities as economic boosters, particularly in rural areas.
Airlines are sometimes reluctant to schedule flights to airports where there are no air traffic controllers onsite.
And flight schools generally prefer to locate at airports with towers so student pilots can practice communications procedures.
Former Minnesota Congressman James Oberstar, a critic of the contract tower program, said he refused to allow lawmakers to insert provisions into bills requiring the FAA to pay for new control towers at airports in their districts when he was chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
'We couldn't always stop it in all instances in the appropriations process, particularly when a bill comes from the Senate and it has a designation of funding for a particular tower,' Oberstar said.
Changes: The plans- which will affect General
Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee (pictured)- have prompted airlines to
review whether the changes might pose problems for commercial service
that could mean canceling or rescheduling flights
The measure has the support of the American Association of Airport Executives and its affiliate organization, the U.S. Contract Tower Association, which represent the companies that operate contract towers.
The associations filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Thursday seeking to block the FAA from shutting down towers. Several airports around the country also have filed their own suits.
The suit contends that the FAA didn't follow its own procedures for shutting down the airport towers, and unfairly targeted the program for an outsized share of the more than $600million the agency is required to trim from its budget by the end of September.