FAA: Completion Of The New Facility Will Take Seven Years

While its just in its initial planning stages, a project to place a new FAA control tower at Piedmont Triad International Airport (KGSO) in Greensboro, NC, has at least gotten onto the agency's radar. But FAA spokesperson Kathleen Bergan said the earliest the new tower could be commissioned would be 2019.

According to a report in the Winston-Salem Journal, Bergen said that the FAA would not commit to a date for the start of construction of the new tower, which is estimated to carry a price tag of $27 million. The existing tower, which stands 88 feet tall, has been the subject of numerous complaints from air traffic controllers working in the facility, particularly since the airport constructed a 9,000 foot parallel runway two years ago. While trees have been cut down and video cameras have been installed to combat the blind spots, it is generally agreed that those are stop-gap solutions at best.

Airport officials are hopeful that the 2019 date is as much about managing expectations as it is an accurate estimate. "We will do everything we can to expedite its construction," said Piedmont Triad Airport Authority chairman Henry Isaacson.

FMI: www.flyfrompti.com