For Immediate Release: April 12, 2013
Contact: Jim Billimoria or Justin Harclerode (202) 225-9446 (Committee majority)
John Noble (202) 225-4472 (Committee minority)
House & Senate Leaders Express Bipartisan Safety Concerns About FAA Shutting Down Towers
Washington, DC – Leaders of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation sent a bipartisan letter today to the Administration expressing profound disappointment with the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) unprecedented decision to close 149 air traffic control contract towers to meet the sequester’s budget reduction requirements. The signatories express their concerns that the FAA has yet to address the impact the agency’s decision to close towers may have on aviation system safety or efficiency.
The letter was sent by House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA); the Transportation Committee’s Ranking Member Nick J. Rahall, II (D-WV); House Subcommittee on Aviation Chairman Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ); Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV); the Commerce Committee’s Ranking Member John Thune (R-SD); and Senate Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security Chairman Maria E. Cantwell (D-WA).
Shuster, Rahall, and LoBiondo issued the following statement:
“Right now we have more questions than answers, and we remain concerned about the safety of the aviation system and the general public. We still don’t know what impacts closing these air traffic control towers will have, and to ensure that safety remains the top priority, the agency needs to focus intently on finding savings in other areas of its budget.”
Click here for the full letter.
Click here for a release from Senators Rockefeller and Thune.