The Senate today passed a continuing resolution that authorizes government spending, including sequestration, for the rest of the fiscal year by a vote of 73 to 26. Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas was not able to amend the bill to protect the contract control towers from closure. So, unless something happens in the House of Representatives, or the FAA has a change of heart, those control towers are history.
Bill
Better bone up on the procedures for departing and entering uncontrolled airports and airspace!
Haven't flown from a controlled field in ~14 years. I might be ready... :-)Originally Posted by Floatsflyer
Ron Wanttaja
I am, as part of the airport community, supposed to be opposed to the closing of our tower. I feel for the guys that are going to lose their jobs. But honestly, (other than training ops, which will affect our club & the Air Guard unit) for the most part the only effect it will have here will be the pilots will have to get their cell phones out to get IFR clearance. And ADM corporate flight ops will need to do a bit more coordination to fly in to Midway or O'Hare when they have ground stops in effect. I have flown out of here many times before 6AM when the tower opens, myself, the couple corporate jets, ADM, & the UPS 757s & their occasional DC8's (back in the day when they still used them) & the Shorts Skyvan all talked on the radio & avoided conflict.
Honestly, SPI has less traffic than we do here at DEC. CMI has barely more traffic, and at times Litchfield (untowered) has more traffic than any of those 3. I don't see why CMI. SPI, BMI, or DEC have towers, and as far as I can see CMI & SPI don't need class C.
Just my personal opinion, which I am sure I will get heat over after hitting the enter button...
The "sequester" may not be the best option or pretty at times, but let's keep in mind how we got here. The inability to act over the years, by Congress & the President(s) brought us here. Many of the recent cuts are orchestrated to be visible and seemingly painful. If we can't do it the proper way, it still will have to be done. These minor reductions in the rate of spending increases are just a small harbinger of what's to come.
A presidential 'line item veto' would help, like many governors have. Even though congress is unable to act on spending, they don't want to give away the ability to stuff 'pork' into a bill. Buckle up, the road needs repair ahead.
Pick your poision - I'd rather see a reduction in services before politicians resort to "user fees" to support these (mostly unnecessary) services.
The Hammond, LA airport is supposed to have a tower built in 2014. You've got to wonder if that's been back burnered? It's already been posted, but needs to be repeated; this whole sequester thing is being done in a way to inflict maximum pain on the public. It's like when a local municipality wants a tax increase. What's the first thing they tell the proletariat? We have to cut the police, firemen and teachers. It's never the beauracracy or bike paths or fishing piers. It's to make sure that we insist that the government gets more of our money. At what point does it stop? I wish that I had the answer.
David
Final closure decision: http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releas...m?newsId=14414
Tom Charpentier
Government Relations Director
EAA Lifetime #1082006 | Vintage #722921
The list is out and OSHKOSH tower is on the list of tower to be closed !!!! If other arrangements are not make that's going to be fun this summer !
Oshkosh is probably like many towers that aren't really justified by traffic most or part of the year. There isn't even airline service into Osh, like there used to be.
I would imagine that they can and will staff the tower on a temporary basis for the week or 10 days around Airventure.
And probably the same at Sun N Fun.
Last edited by Bill Greenwood; 03-22-2013 at 03:05 PM.
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