The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) and the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) called on Friday for Congress to fully fund the Contract Tower Program, which supports air traffic control (ATC) towers at more than 250 small airports in 46 states.
Although these smaller airports account for 28 percent of all ATC operations, they receive just 14 percent of the FAA’s budget for overall ATC tower operations. The NBAA and AAAE called on Congress to maintain the $172 million in funding that’s currently outlined in the FAA’s fiscal year 2019 appropriations bill.
“The FAA Contract Tower Program has provided cost-effective and essential air traffic safety services for over three decades,” an industry group led by NBAA and AAEE stated in a letter. “More importantly, the safety and efficiency of the FAA Contract Tower Program has been validated numerous times by the Department of Transportation Inspector General, as well as by FAA safety audits.”
Key functions of the Contract Tower Program like operating procedures, staffing plans, certification, medical tests for contract controllers, security and facility evaluations are overseen by the FAA.
“The bottom line is that, absent this highly successful partnership, many local communities and smaller airports would not receive the significant safety benefits of ATC services, as part of a unified national air traffic control system,” the letter stated.
AAAE also noted that the Contract Tower Program saves taxpayers $200 million per year, improves aviation safety at small airports that would not otherwise have control towers, and helps airports retain and develop commercial air service and general aviation.