Posted on 02/18/2005 6:59:03 AM PST by Thommas
WASHINGTON -- Control towers at some airports could go dark between midnight and 5 a.m. under a cost-cutting plan the government is considering.
The air traffic controllers' union says the move would compromise safety. Lawmakers worry it could lead to service reductions in their states.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said Wednesday that if the Federal Aviation Administration closes the tower in Fairbanks, Alaska, during the early morning hours, it "would be the most stupid suggestion I've ever heard from the bureaucracy."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
The cost cutting measures of Congress for this beleaguered administration will result in the elimination of roughly 200 control towers and the restriction to commercial flights only at the rest. If this sounds alarmist, you are correct; I have witnessed this subtle erosion of service for the past twenty years.
In all honesty, maybe its a good thing. General aviation is a freedom exercised by very few. New pilots for commercial aviation can easily be trained by the military, providing a very professional group for the airlines once these folks leave the Air Force.
Federal Air Traffic Control is going the way of the buggy whip...
Self serving ping...
Privatize...You own an airport, you own and run the control service.
You can be quite certain that Members of Congress and other PWMs (People Who Matter), will still be accomodated by the Air Traffic Control system...
Still, your point is spot on.
FAA..retired
Try BILLIONS.... your private control tower gets involved in an emergency situation with a distressed passenger jet because you are the only folks on the radio... and plane goes down with 585 on board.... Liability isn't going to be "millions".
I think it's safe to say that 115 major airports will still be served by an air traffic control system. It's also safe to say that Chicago's Midway and California's Napa airports won't be in that group.
FAA..active. :-)
Before we do this, can we shut down all PBS funding, Amtrak subsidies, close the edumacation department, eliminate pork projects........
Very likely. This means the municipality that runs the service will enslave its populace for the ensuing thirty years with a massive debt obligation.
Heavens no! That stuff is important (and has the support of huge Lobbies.)
That is not a good answer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sadly, that is the answer stated and alluded to by the FAA Administration. Policy wonks look to efficiency and a place to trim the corpus where the general public is unaware.
I guarantee that the general public knows as little about the machinations of the FAA as it does about Alpaca wool gathering. ;-).
If the feds decide to throw user fees at me to use the system I'll just stop using the system and fly MGI (minimum governmental intervention) which I do most of the time anyway. I'll just use the small low use airports and leave the enroute system to the big boys. I have much more fun flying in and out of the smaller GA airports anyway, you meet a better type of people there; the FBO's are more friendly, and overnight tiedown fees are low or non-existant. The only down side to using smaller airports is sometimes rental cars are unavailable, but most of the time one of the friendly local pilots will give me a lift to town if I need one. The GA community is a very tight knit group that is a joy to a member of.
The events of 9/11 reinforced in my mind that aviation is a privilage and not a freedom, and it's a privilage that more people will want to have as commercial travel becomes more and more of a headache.
Private (ie. contract) control towers provide just as good a service as FAA ones. Our local towered airport is a contract tower, and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between it and the 'real' FAA towers. In fact, sometimes I'd swear the service is better...
I didn't say they were better or worse, I said they open you up to liability, that is all.... Was not a critique or a compliment of their personal abilities.
"FAA..active. :-)"
I hope they see this and fire you!
Sherman Adams, Eisenhower's Chief of Staff, knew about vicuna - resigning over a pricey vicuna coat given to him by business interests. Vicuna's are cousins to the alpaca, both have very fine, expensive wool.
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