County Airport control tower faces closure

An integral part of Monroe County Airport is closing. The control tower will no longer operate at the local airport.

Bruce Payton, director of the Monroe County Airport, said he was notified via email of the official listing of Monroe County’s tower for closure Tuesday evening.

Payton said Monroe County’s control tower is one of the 16 towers that will remain open until the end of the federal fiscal year, which is Sept. 30.

The Federal Aviation Administration will close 173 air traffic control towers April 7 as the result of federal spending cuts.

Sixteen cost-share air traffic control towers are believed to be targeted for closure at the end of the fiscal year, according to an email to United States Contract Tower Association members from USCTA executive director Spencer Dickerson.

The Monroe County Airport’s air traffic control tower is operated by Midwest Air Traffic Control of Overland Park, Kan.

Payton told the Indiana Daily Student last week that four air traffic controllers and a manager could lose their jobs as a result of the closure of the tower.

Payton said Monroe County’s tower is listed for closure because the airport falls below the criteria of 150,000 flight operations or 10,000 commercial operations per year.

“During today’s call, FAA officials indicated that they will consider requests to keep towers open in instances where closure would have a ‘negative impact on the national interest,’” Dickerson said in an email to USTCA members on Tuesday.

Payton said the Monroe County Airport brings in high-profile collegiate athletic departments, world leaders and researchers.

“It’s my opinion that all of those reasons clearly fall within national interest,”
Payton said.

Geoff McKim, president of the Monroe County Council, said the elimination of the air traffic control tower will make the airport less usable for people who fly in and out of it.
Payton said the Monroe County Airport is large enough for military aircrafts to get in and out in the event of an emergency.

“Monroe County Airport has been identified as a major supply base in the event of a catastrophic earthquake in the New Madrid area,” Payton said.

Payton said he is forwarding information regarding the closure of the control tower to local elected officials to push for Monroe County to be removed from the list of closures.

“Airports will have until March 13 to make the case that the closure of their tower will have national implications,” Dickerson said in an email to USCTA members. “FAA also made clear that they will contemplate keeping non-federal towers open at local airport expense.”

Payton said when the FAA stopped funding the Monroe County air traffic control tower in 1995, Monroe County officials decided to fund the tower locally.

“Monroe County officials reviewed the issue very carefully and agreed air traffic control services were way too valuable,” Payton said.

McKim said it would be difficult for Monroe County to fund the control tower if the time came.

“Everything is very tight,” McKim said. “I’m sure we would discuss it if it became an issue.”

Payton said 84 percent of air traffic control services contracted at the Monroe County Airport are paid by the federal government through the contract tower program, while the remaining 16 percent are paid by the airport.

“I have, for many years, argued and solicited support from our congressional leaders to continue to support this very valuable program because of the value of having air traffic control services here in Bloomington,” Payton said.