Tower Closings Delayed...

[FloridaJohn]

I wondered the same thing. But I've seen estimates of operations at non-towered airports, so I assume the same rationale can be used for towered airports after the tower is closed. Here's a link to an FAA document on that subject:

www.faa.gov/data_research/aviation_data.../GAModel3F.doc

No, this link does not explicitly answer your question, except to say, the FAA probably does, and they're estimates.

I've seen estimates for operations at my own uncontrolled airport, and they've always seemed high to me. But when I compare them to other airports I know about the relative comparisons (higher/lower/way higher/way lower) seem reasonable, so I think these estimates may be of some value.

I couldn't get the link to work.

I have compared the numbers listed at AirNav to the ones the FAA has, and have found error rates average around 25%, but not always in the same direction. In other words, sometimes the AirNav numbers are too high, sometimes they are too low. I have no idea where the AirNav numbers come from, but in any case, the error rate there is too high to put any faith in their estimates.

My assumption (yes, I know) is that the FAA numbers mainly reflect the number of operations when the towers are open. I believe the tower controllers are logging all operations, so they should have a pretty accurate count while they are there. If the numbers the FAA reports include some sort of estimate of operations when the tower is closed, then the actual number of operations the controllers handle while they are there is lower than what I have estimated. So using the FAA numbers for only tower operational hours is really a worst case scenario.

Having said that, I am interested in finding out how the official FAA numbers are generated, if anyone actually knows.

[MEdwards]

I couldn't get the link to work.

Having said that, I am interested in finding out how the official FAA numbers are generated, if anyone actually knows.

I'm sorry, it wasn't all there.

Try this one: http://www.faa.gov/data_research/avi.../GAModel3F.doc

The first page of this paper looks weird, it looks like an abortive abstract, but the rest of the document follows that page.