From the Daytona
News Journal February 23, 2013. How will this affect air traffic at Ormond
Beach Airport if it happens? Who knows:
Local airport towers on FAA’s cut list
New Smyrna, Ormond could be affected by ‘sequester’
By MARK I. JOHNSON
STAFF WRITER
Control towers at the New Smyrna Beach and Ormond Beach municipal airports are
among more than 100 air traffic control facilities nationally slated for
possible closure as part of the across-the-board federal budget cuts known as
the sequester.
In announcing $600 million in cuts scheduled to take effect Friday, the Federal
Aviation Administration listed the two local towers as ‘‘air traffic control
facilities that could be closed.’’ Neither the Flagler County Airport nor
Daytona Beach International Airport was on the list of possible tower closures.
The budget cuts also could mean delays of up to 90 minutes for air travelers and
one-day furloughs every two-week pay period for the FAA’s 47,000 employees,
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood warned in an appearance at Friday’s White
House briefing.
Additional plans include eliminating the overnight shift at more than 60 air
traffic control facilities and reducing preventative maintenance and support
for all air traffic control equipment. The furloughs and closures would begin in
April.
‘‘Safety is our top priority, and in the course of implementing the operational
changes, we may reduce the efficiency of the national airspace in order to
maintain the highest safety standards,’’ LaHood and FAA Administrator Michael
Huerta said in a letter announcing the plans. ‘‘We are aware that these service
reductions will adversely affect commercial, corporate and general aviation
operators. We also expect that as airlines estimate the potential impacts of
these furloughs, they will change their schedules and cancel flights.’’ Delays
for travelers are most likely in larger cities.
‘‘Flights to major cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco could
experience delays of up to 90 minutes during peak hours because we will have
fewer controllers on staff,’’ the letter said.
The sequester cuts were created as part of Congress’ August 2011 debt-ceiling
deal, then delayed as part of the fiscal-cliff negotiations at the end of 2012.
Democrats and Republicans have called for a deal to avert the cuts, but there's
been little progress while Congress has been in recess.
Local pilot reaction to the FAA announcement was direct.
''I think this is bad for the airport, for the city and for
safety,'' said Arlen Stauffer, vice president of the Friends of New Smyrna Beach
Airport. ''These airports are like the interstate highway system for cars.
Airports like (New Smyrna Beach Municipal) allow commerce and travel all across
the country.'' New Smyrna Beach City Manager Pam Brangaccio said if the closure
goes into effect, the city would revert to the procedures pilots used before the
control tower opened in 2004. Instead of communicating with tower personnel,
pilots will have to communicate with each other during takeoffs and landings.
''There will also be changes in the (flight) patterns,'' she
said. ''I don't think anyone will be happy.'' Ormond Beach Economic Development
Director Joe Mannarino, who oversees that city's municipal airport, declined to
comment on the FAA's announcement.
''I don't know enough about it to make a comment,'' he said.
''Sequestration is in the Congress' and the president's hands.'' The closures
would not affect flight operations at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said
Justin Johnson, the school's director of aviation safety.
Embry-Riddle has about 300 flights a day and practices land
ings at all of the local airports, including DeLand, which does not have a
tower. The addition of towers at the New Smyrna Beach and Ormond Beach airports
meant ''safe operations went to safer operations,'' he said.
''Having a tower organizes what could be chaos into safer
operations,'' Johnson added.