Expect a glut of Tower orphans
 

The US Federal Government, while too busy printing 85,000,000,000$ a month to float the stock market, is set to shut down up to 240 Control Towers, mostly ones under contract.

If we calculate some early retirements, packages and the like, we can probably average 6 controllers per Tower rendered unemployed, around 1500 in all.

Seems reasonable to me.

The US government has a massive deficit and needs to cut spending.

I would have thought with improvements in technology such as Mode S transponders, better radar and networks you would need as many towers anyway.

What help is better radar if less people are manning them? The crux of a tower position is the visual component, IE. looking out the window. Although a remote approach service could be provided, its not so easy for tower. Many large commercial operators will also not operate into an unmanned airfield due to insurance issues, which in the end could negatively affect the local economies.

A cruel irony
 

Actually contract towers are the outsourced operations, using private companies like Midwest ATC and Serco. These are not FAA towers. There are 254 contract towers in the US.

The government audit of these towers said that on a like for like basis FAA manned towers are four times more expensive and in effect are over manned.

The audit can be seen here: DOT - Contract Towers Continue To Provide Cost-Effective and Safe Air Traffic Services, but Improved Oversight of the Program Is Needed | Office of Inspector General if you are involved in ATC, have a look, it makes astonishing reading.

Meanwhile the government politicisation of the FAA budget means that even contract towers are affected.

There is a big policy push to get this changed. See Reason Foundation



FF

peterc005 obviously aint a tower controller. ps what does the C stand for?

Garden City, KS is one of those airports. It has two (2) scheduled flights departing per day. Does it not make more sense to cut controllers there than at airports with lots of traffic?

Garden City Regional Airport - Flight Information

It may for that airport as it has 18000 movements per year. Not all of them are that low traffic though.

Some countries eg Norway use Aerodrome Flight Information Service Officers at low traffic airports with IFR procedures and scheduled traffic.
Google 'Entry Point North'

UK does as well Barra for example