Eleven aviation advocacy groups Wednesday cosigned a letter to the House Appropriations Committee seeking financial support for the FAA contract tower program through 2014. Signatories included AOPA’s Craig Fuller, NBAA’s Ed Bolen, and leading members of the National Air Transport Association, Air Carrier Association of America, Regional Airline Association and others. Currently 251 airports participate in the contract tower program, accounting for an estimated 28 percent of all air traffic control tower aircraft operations in the U.S., according to the letter. But, the letter argues, costs associated with the program account for a significantly lower percentage of relevant budgets.
According to the letter, the federal contract tower program handles more than one quarter of operations while costing 14 percent of the FAA’s budget allotted for air traffic control tower operations, without compromising safety. The letter promotes the program as a safety enhancement for smaller airports, a cost savings for the FAA, a business expansion and economic development tool, and a service that pilots appreciate. It concludes by stating that “absent this highly successful federal program, many local communities and smaller airports would not receive the significant safety benefits of ATC services.” A copy of the letter is available here.
