FAA Says Warning Of Air Traffic Control Towers Closures Was Unauthorized.
CNN (3/1, Ahlers) reported, "Two days after a Federal Aviation Administration official told contractors that steps were being taken to shut down 168 air traffic control towers on April 1, the agency gave the towers an unexpected reprieve Friday, saying the official's comments were 'unauthorized.'" Yet the conversation in which the statement was made "included FAA officials and representatives of all three contractors who operate FAA control towers in the United States."
The story noted that "about 250 of the nation's 374 towers are staffed by contractors," and according to "a 2011 report by the Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General, they "cost on average $537,000 a year to operate, compared to $2 million for comparably busy FAA-staffed towers."
(Whoa! What's that last line again??)