Opponents Question Safety Of Consolidated SoCal Facility

Terminal airspace controllers working from a temporary facility at Palm Springs International Airport in southern California will remain at that post for awhile longer, the FAA said this week.

The agency had planned to move those controllers, current operating the Palm Springs Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), to a consolidated TRACON facility near San Diego on Tuesday. However, after a string of protests from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and SoCal lawmakers, the FAA decided to hold off on the move for now.

At issue is the safety of such a consolidation, which the FAA says could save hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. The agency maintains the consolidation would not affect safety, and would be unnoticeable to pilots or airline passengers... but opponents of the move say more research needs to be done.

"We decided to delay the consolidation while we talked through some of the congressional delegation's concerns," FAA spokesman Ian Gregor told the Southern California Press-Enterprise.

As ANN reported last month, Senator Barbara Boxer attached a rider to the Senate Commerce Committee's draft FAA Reauthorization Bill to delay consolidation of the Palm Springs TRACON into the Southern California TRACON facility. Later in the month, House Representatives Ted Poe, (R-TX) and Bob Filner (D-CA) introduced a bipartisan measure to place a moratorium on the consolidation of all air traffic control facilities.

"We are guardedly optimistic the FAA will do the right thing," said Hamid Ghaffari, NATCA’s VP for the Western Pacific Region. Ghaffari told ANN he plans to meet with FAA management next week to discuss the best options for Palm Springs.

Those trying to delay the Palm Springs TRACON consolidation say the current SoCal TRACON in Miramar is understaffed, and adding the responsibilities now handled by Palm Springs would tax the facility even more.

"This is good news," said Andy Cebula, AOPA executive vice president of government affairs, about the delay. "It underscores the need for the FAA to have a public process for TRACON consolidations. You can't operate behind closed doors when it comes to air traffic policy."

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.aopa.org, www.natca.org