FAA to close 149 contract towers, including Hickory, Concord

CONCORD, N.C. — Concord Regional Airport said it sees about 60,000 operational flights a year, making it one of the busiest regional airports in the area.

It learned Friday it will lose its federal funding for its contract tower.

Ryan Hubbard and Julian Torres are pilots that often fly in and out of the Concord airport. They say it's a busy airport with planes often coming in and out.

"The controllers do a great job of relieving that stress," said Torres, from Charlotte.

"They're there to keep that environment safe," said Hubbard, from Charlotte.

The pilots said they can safely land without a tower, but it requires coordination with others in the air, which can be difficult at a busy airport. They said controllers add another layer of safety.

"God forbid we have a tragedy. I certainly hope that doesn't happen," said Mayor Scott Padgett.

Padgett said he made his concerns about safety and the city's economy known to the federal government. He and other city leaders tried to appeal the government's decision. He said he's disappointed by this news.

"We use this, the region uses this, the state uses this, as an economic development tool," Padgett said. "When you've got Charlotte-Douglas, the sixth-busiest airport in the United States, and you've got Concord Regional, the busiest general aviation airport in North Carolina, sitting right side by side, it would seem to me that would qualify to grant our appeal."

The mayor said the city will work to negotiate with the controllers to try to keep the tower operating for two extra months, buying the city some time to figure out what to do next. He said they still don't know how much that could cost.

"We are the primary reliever for Charlotte-Douglas," said Concord Aviation Director Rick Cloutier.

Cloutier said air traffic in the whole region could be impacted because right now the controllers keep the flow of traffic moving smoothly.

He also said that some companies are required to operate only in tower-controlled airports, which may force them to move to Charlotte-Douglas, increasing traffic there.

"It means more delays and slower takeoffs and arrivals for everyone in the region," said Cloutier.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood released this statement Friday: "We heard from communities across the country about the importance of their towers and these were very tough decisions. Unfortunately we are faced with a series of difficult choices that we have to make to reach the required cuts under sequestration."

The FAA released a statement saying the decision about which towers to close was based on national interests. It says it considered things like significant threats to national security, significant, adverse economic impacts beyond a local community, significant impacts on multistate transportation and the extent to which an airport was "a critical diversionary airport to a large hub."

The FAA Administrator released this statement Friday. "We will work with the airports and the operators to ensure the procedures are in place to maintain the high level of safety at non-towered airports."

The FAA said it will start the closures phased in over four weeks. It will begin on April 7.

Employees react to tower closing at Hickory airport

Three of five people who work at the tower at Hickory Regional Airport were at work Friday, waiting for the news that the tower will be closing. Eyewitness News was told the five would lose their jobs.

The people Eyewitness News spoke with said their biggest concern is the safety of pilots and the people on the planes in and out of the airport.

The announcement came mid-afternoon that 149 towers contracted out by the FAA will be closed because of the sequestration including Hickory's.

The agency said the layoffs are part of a $637 million cut to its budget.

Eyewitness News spoke with one employee here who has worked in the tower for the last 15 years and believes closing the tower is a mistake.

"It is a safety issue. The FAA keeps saying it is not going to affect safety when it will. It will affect safety in a huge way," said Air Traffic Manager Leslie Kolcun.

Eyewitness News contacted the city of Hickory on the closure. Officials said they plan to have more to say Monday.

WSOC