FAA Delays Closing Florida Air Traffic Towers

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Friday that it will delay the closure of 149 federal air traffic control towers, including 11 in Florida, until June 15.

On March 22, the FAA said it would be eliminating funding for the towers as part of its $637 million budget cuts under sequestration.

The FAA said that during the delay it will try to resolve the legal challenges against it, of which Florida is involved. It also said the extra time will allow the agency and airports to move forward with changes to the National Airspace System.

This has been a complex process and we need to get this right, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, in the release. Safety is our top priority. We will use this additional time to make sure communities and pilots understand the changes at their local airports.

According to the FAA, roughly 50 airport authorities and other stakeholders have said they may join the FAAs non-Federal Contract Tower program and fund the tower operations themselves.

We will continue our outreach to the user community to answer any questions and address their concerns about these tower closures, said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta.

The list of tower closures in Florida includes:

APF - NAPLES MUNI, NAPLES

BCT - BOCA RATON, BOCA RATON

EVB - NEW SMYRNA BEACH MUNI, NEW SMYRNA BEACH

FMY - PAGE FIELD, FORT MYERS

HWO - NORTH PERRY, HOLLYWOOD

LAL - LAKELAND LINDER RGNL, LAKELAND

LEE - LEESBURG INTL, LEESBURG

OCF - OCALA INTL-JIM TAYLOR FIELD, OCALA

OMN - ORMOND BEACH MUNI, ORMOND BEACH

PGD - PUNTA GORDA, PUNTA GORDA

SGJ - NORTHEAST FLORIDA RGNL, ST AUGUSTINE