ANALYSIS OF THE OWNERSHIP AND OPERATION OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWERS

My project analyzes the air traffic control tower (ATCT) system of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to determine if a rebalancing of ATCT ownership and operation should occur. The government currently faces a problem of a tight financial budget and sequestration, which often times means mandatory budget cuts. This project provides one possible solution for the FAA to save money in their budget without adversely affecting safety. The FAA could establish appropriate criteria to compare all ATCTs. The FAA could then apply these criteria in a policy that would contract the operation of certain low-level ATCTs and conversely handle the operations at high-activity ATCTs. Additionally, the FAA could include a policy to transfer the ownership of certain low-activity towers, but transfer the ownership of high-activity towers to the FAA. The research was completed by studying various documents from the FAA, Department of Transportation (DOT), and industry groups. Most of the data analysis was conducted by creating tables, queries, and graphs from FAA data. The FAA data was found on their Air Traffic Activity Data System (ATADS). From my data analysis, I was able to identify sixty-nine ATCTs that are currently operated by the FAA that could become federal contract towers (FCT) and forty-six FCTs that could be operated by the FAA. Each FCT saves the FAA approximately $1.488 million, so the FAA could save $34.2 million per year by implementing my solutions. I have also established sample criteria for determining which ATCTs could be maintained by the FAA.