Everett’s Paine Field on FAA Closure List

Paine Field in Everett is among the airports in Washington State marked for closure if the government shuts down due to budget issues. In a letter to airline and airport operators around the country Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the FAA is considering closing air traffic control towers at airports with fewer than 150,000 flight operations or 10,000 commercial operations per year. While closure of Everett’s Paine Field is simply one of the measures the FAA is considering, it may help the proponents of commercial service at Paine Field argue that increased commercial service will keep the airport from facing future threats of closure.

Here’s the full press release from the FAA website on the possible closures:

To prepare for the possibility of a budget sequestration on March 1, 2013, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is making plans to reduce its expenditures by approximately $600 million for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2013.

Among the changes we are considering are furloughing the vast majority of our 47,000 employees for approximately one day per pay period; closing over 100 air traffic control facilities; eliminating the overnight shift at over 60 facilities; and reducing preventive maintenance and support for all air traffic control equipment. All of these changes will be finalized as to scope and details through collaborative discussions with our users and our unions.

We will begin furloughs and start facility shut-downs in April. You can read more about this process in this letter from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and FAA Administrator Michael Huerta (PDF).

The lists of affected facilities can be viewed here:

• Facilities Where Overnight Shifts Could be Eliminated (PDF)
• Air Traffic Control Facilities That Could be Closed (PDF)