FAA: Trenton-Mercer Airport Tower To Close, As Well As Control Facilities At 3 Small Pa. Airports
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Federal budget cuts will force the closure of the control tower at Trenton-Mercer Airport, where Frontier Airlines has been expanding service.
The airport in Ewing was on a hit list Friday of 149 air traffic control facilities around the country to be shuttered by the Federal Aviation Administration.
It will close by April 7.
The FAA says the closures will not force the shutdown of any airports. But they will require pilots using them to coordinate takeoffs and landings over a shared radio frequency with no help from ground controllers.
Trenton-Mercer recently announced that Frontier, its main carrier, would add five new destinations next month.
Similarly, air traffic control facilities are going to be closed at three small airports in Pennsylvania because of Federal Aviation Administration budget cuts.
The airports are Capital City Airport in Harrisburg, Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe and Lancaster Airport in Lancaster.
The closures will not force the shutdown those airports, but pilots will be left to coordinate takeoffs and landings among themselves over a shared radio frequency.
The FAA is being forced to trim $637 million for the rest of the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. The changes are part of the across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration, which went into effect March 1.
The FAA's final list released Friday includes 149 air traffic control facilities that it will close nationwide starting early next month.
(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
