The Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA) President and CEO Peter Dumont recently joined with other industry leaders, urging Congress to include full funding of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Contract Tower Program in its fiscal year 2018 appropriations bill.
In a letter sent to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), the leaders requested no less that $159 million to maintain operations for a program that has provided necessary air traffic safety services for more than 30 years.
“Contract towers are critical to the health of the National Airspace System (NAS),” Dumont said. “Disruptions to or cuts in service, no matter how small, can negatively affect the entire NAS and the U.S. economy as a whole. Moreover, rural and urban communities alike benefit greatly from these facilities, as does general aviation. We urge Congress to preserve these necessary facilities and the invaluable services they provide our communities.”
The Contract Tower Program consists of up to 253 towers in 46 states, which handles about 28 percent of all air traffic control tower aircraft operations in the United States. Current funding levels for the program only allow for about 14 percent of the FAA’s budget assigned to air traffic control tower operations.
Other signees of the letter included the US Contract Tower Association, the Regional Airline Association (RAA), the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), Air Council International – NA (ACI-NA), the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO), and the Cargo Airline Association (CAA).