FAA gives up its four-year battle to move Boise Airport controllers to Salt Lake City

Idaho Statesman ^ | 6/8/2010 | Joe Estrella

[Domandred]

The Federal Aviation Administration threw in the towel Tuesday and abandoned its plan to shift part of the Boise Airport air traffic control system to Salt Lake City.

The agency began informing members of the Idaho Congressional delegation Tuesday that it was scrapping its controversial plan to move the Terminal Radar Approach Control system — or TRACON — now housed at the airport.

The plan had been under fire from the the National Association of of Air Traffic Controllers Association, Idaho delegation members, Boise officials and the local aviation community since it was proposed in 2006.

[Domandred]

This is great news for Boise area pilots and even airline passengers.

[Myrddin]

Moving the controllers to SLC would require that all users of that airport have transponders. Older aircraft without a transponder would have to stay away. Would UNICOM procedures be allowed? Does Boise have "after hours" periods when the tower is "closed" and pilots are expected to employ UNICOM?

[Domandred]

Pretty sure GA in Boise is open all hours, but not sure if the tower is manned 24/7. Commercial is first flight at about 5am and last at about 11pm. After midnight we might go UNICOM but not sure on that.

We do fly a lot of older manufacturers and kit planes out of KBOI that probably don’t have transponders, they may or may not but I’ve seen some pretty ancient planes out on the flight line. Those planes would get have to be kicked down to Nampa or Caldwell.

Not sure how moving TRACON to SLC would have effected the various flight schools here if at all.

Then there is NIFC here at KBOI, planes flying out of there would be better served with local controllers, not SLC controllers.