Writer

Amy Laboda

There are FAA Contract Control Towers at 256 airports around the U.S., handling 28 percent of all ATC tower operations. The contract control tower program accounts for only 14 percent of the FAA budget for air traffic control tower operations, an efficiency level measured by both DOT and FAA. On February 26&nbsp;a mixed group of industry association leaders sent a <a href="https://nbaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/20190226082346629.pdf">letter</a> to Rep. Nita Lowey (D-17-New York), chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, along with Sens. Richard Shelby (R-Alabama), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and several other strategic decision-making representatives and senators imploring they continue funding the program at its full $170 million for Fiscal&nbsp;Year 2020, and leave key language from previous FAA spending bills in place.

 


“Federal contract towers operate with FAA-staffed facilities as part of a unified national air traffic control system. Absent this highly successful government/industry partnership, many local communities and smaller airports would not receive the safety benefits of ATC services,” said the letter, which was signed by NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen, along with U.S. Contract Tower Association executive director J. Spencer Dickerson, AOPA president and CEO Mark Baker, NATA president Gary Dempsey, NASAO president and CEO Shelly Simi, Cargo Airline Association president Stephen Alterman, RAA president Faye Malarkey Black, Airports Council International–NA president and CEO Kevin Burke, and ATCA president and CEO Peter Dumont.

News, issues, personnel, equipment and developments about air traffic management.

Industry to Congress: Continue Funding Contract Towers

The program provides a unified approach to ATC, the industry groups remind Congress.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Kerry Lynch

New developments at airports including regulations and noise issues; legal disputes; openings, acquisitions and mergers.

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

KDCA and KEWR receive SMR-4 installations, while IDIQ AT&T covers coms

FAA Installs Surface Radars at Key Airports and Awards $74.3M to AT&T

Hanneke Weitering

Issues regarding financing of aircraft; aviation insurance; tax issues for aircraft operators; new companies and people in the aviation financing and insurance industries.

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

Milestone covers the software that talks to air traffic control

Merlin Clears a Certification Hurdle for AI in the Cockpit

Charlotte Bailey

News and issues relating to civil and military unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) of all kinds and sizes, including those used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), combat (unmanned combat air vehicles, or UCAVs), law enforcement, research and other applications. Of particular focus is the FAA's planned integration of UAS into the U.S. national airspace system.

Honeywell-led consortium to consider advanced air mobility integration

Verti-Go Initiative to Lead European Airspace Update

NASA controllers used existing tools to manage simulated autonomous traffic

Wisk Tests 1:3 Supervisor Ratio for Autonomous Flight

Amy Wilder

News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

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FAA completed an audit to strengthen NAS operations related to flight delays and cancellations

FAA Commissions First of New Indra Radars

The initial radar is installed in Putnam, Oklahoma

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