Reversing a decision made in mid March of this year, the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) announced this afternoon that 149 air traffic control towers, including the tower at the Yakima Air Terminal, will not be closed.
The Yakima air traffic control tower is one of the towers, most of which are located at smaller airports, that the FAA had slated for closure in order to meet its cost cutting requirements as part of the federal sequester – the budget reduction measures that began being made on March 1st because of a stalemate between the Congress and President Obama.
“We are obviously pleased that the FAA has decided to keep the Yakima Air Terminal control tower open,” said Yakima Air Terminal Interim Airport Manager Rob Peterson. “Based on the FAA’s previous decision, we had developed contingency plans to accommodate the anticipated closure of the tower so that airport operations would not have been significantly altered. However, now we can move forward without needing to implement those plans and operate the Yakima Air Terminal as normal,” said Peterson.
Four other air traffic control towers in Washington State that the FAA had previously decided to close as a result of the federal sequester will also now remain open. Those towers are located at the OlympiaRegionalAirport, Felts Field in Spokane, TacomaNarrowsAirport, and the RentonMunicipalAirport.
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Yakima Air Traffic Control Tower Will Not Be Closed – News Release
Contact:
Yakima Air Terminal Interim Airport Manager Rob Peterson – 575-6149
Communications & Public Affairs Director Randy Beehler – 901-1142