FAA To Shut Down Traffic Control Towers; Under Heavy Fire

As early as next month, the Federal Aviation Administration must shut down 149 air traffic control towers due to federal budget cuts, a move that, some claim, could very well compromise safety in the skies.

During the most critical points of a flight-takeoff and landing, communication between pilots and controllers is key. Although all pilots are well-trained in this process, and could certainly perform without the help of a controller, officials warn that it's still detrimental to take that "second pair of eyes on the ground" away, according to a recent AP article.

Control towers due for closure were chosen based on air traffic: airports that experience less than 150,000 flights per year received cuts. Still, a handful of these airports work with large airlines, and could inherently affect traffic with other, larger airports nearby that fly planes for companies like Southwest and Delta.

Additionally, the FAA must keep a close eye not to break $637 million for the duration of the fiscal year, adding that they were forced to give furloughs to employees, including those who worked in the control towers.

The first 149 control towers to go will be third party employees-contract employees, not staffed directly by the FAA. Released Friday, a draft of the list of airlines to be sequestered includes 65 facilities with FAA employees on staff.

"A final decision on their closure will require further review," the FAA told AP.

"Without ground controllers as backup, the risk to operate 'goes up exponentially,'" said Mark Hanna, director of the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield, IL, in the same AP article.

"That an aviation sector as sensitive as air traffic control could become subject to political brinkmanship in Washington [is] especially frustrating," he concluded.

Under pressure from constituents and aware of the clear dangers these cuts will bring, the FAA has since decreed they will keep 24 towers open; among them: Kissimmee Gateway airport in Orlando, FL and Denver's Front Range Airport.