Columbia Airport Tower to Close

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday that 149 control towers at airports across the country will close beginning April 7, as part of the agency’s sequestration plan. The list of towers to close include those at Columbia Regional Airport, and Branson Airport in Missouri. However, the tower at Jefferson City Airport will remain open. The FAA declared that they would keep open 24 control towers, originally listed for closure, because shutting them down “would have a negative impact on the national interest.”??We heard from communities across the country about the importance of their towers and these were very tough decisions,?� Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. “Unfortunately we are faced with a series of difficult choices that we have to make to reach the required cuts under sequestration.?�??We will work with the airports and the operators to ensure the procedures are in place to maintain the high level of safety at non-towered airports,?� FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said.In early March, FAA proposed to close 189 contract air traffic control towers as part of its plan to meet the $637 million in cuts required under budget sequestration and announced that it would consider keeping open any of these towers if doing so would be in the national interest.The national interest considerations included: (1) significant threats to national security as determined by the FAA in consultation with the Department of Defense or the Department of Homeland Security; (2) significant, adverse economic impact that is beyond the impact on a local community; (3) significant impact on multi-state transportation, communication or banking/financial networks; and (4) the extent to which an airport currently served by a contract tower is a critical diversionary airport to a large hub.In addition to reviewing materials submitted on behalf of towers on the potential closure list, DOT consulted with the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, and conducted operational assessments of each potential tower closure on the national air transportation system.The FAA will begin a four-week phased closure of the 149 federal contract towers beginning on April 7.