U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) announced Wednesday that Northern Colorado Regional Airport has been approved to enter the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Contract Tower (FCT) program.
The approval means that if the FAA approves a tower under its Contract Tower program, the airport would be eligible to be that tower. The Contract Tower program allows qualified air traffic control towers to be staffed by private companies instead of FAA employees. Established in 1982, the program allows the agency to contract out the operation of certain towers.
Airports must show that the safety and efficiency benefits for a tower must exceed its costs to be admitted into the program. The FAA is required to perform benefit-cost analysis for airports to determine their eligibility to participate in the program.
Currently, the FCT program provides air traffic control services throughout the United States and its properties in Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. FCTs represent 49 percent of all the federal air traffic control towers in the United States, employing an estimated 1,400 contract controllers, all of whom meet the same qualifications and training requirements as FAA air traffic controllers.
“I’m proud to work with communities across our state to support their transportation priorities, and this announcement is good news for Northern Colorado Regional Airport,” Gardner, a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, said. “Regional airports across Colorado play a critical role in their local economies, and modernizing our infrastructure and transportation systems is important for our quality of life. Going forward, I will continue my work to support the needs of airports across Colorado.”