The FAA, its funding held up by union-inspired congressional resistance, has fired back, with its own information:

THE FACTS ABOUT THE FAA CONTRACT TOWER PROGRAM

For over 20 years, the FAA’s Contract Tower Program has provided safe and efficient air traffic control (ATC) services at visual flight rule (VFR) towers throughout the continental United States as well as in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Saipan. VFR control towers are located at airports where visual and limited instrument flight rules are used. Many of these towers have small radar displays to assist the controllers in maintaining a high level of safety by providing traffic and safety information. These towers, however, do not use radar to separate aircraft but employ other methods and procedures for the identification and sequencing of arriving and departing aircraft.

Today, there are 219 towers in the program (195 towers fully funded by the FAA and 24 cost-shared), making it a key component of our nation’s aviation system. Without the program, many communities would not have vital air traffic services.

HISTORY

Following the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) strike in 1981, the FAA began a pilot program to contract for air traffic services at several VFR towers that were closed due to staffing shortages. By 1994, the program had expanded to over 27 towers, and Congress provided more funding to convert additional FAA towers that provide basic local services. The success of the program led to the inclusion of many new towers at airports that never before had an FAA-operated tower.

In 1999, Congress provided further funding for a cost-sharing program, which enabled airports that would not have qualified to receive a tower under the Contract Tower Program to obtain a tower by sharing a portion of the costs with the FAA.

Until very recently, the program enjoyed the support of labor and management, including seven former Administrators. As recently as July 15, 2002, former Administrator Jane Garvey had the following to say about the program in a speech to the Contract Tower Association:

"It's no secret about the success of the program. The Federal Contract Tower Program has been recognized by the U.S. Congress, the National Transportation Safety Board, and the Department of Transportation Inspector General as a cost-effective way to provide air traffic services at small airports, and this is the important part - - at airports that otherwise would not have the important safety benefits of air traffic control. Safety - - that is the reason this program exists."

A STRONG SAFETY RECORD

The Contract Tower Program has a remarkable safety record.

Department of Transportation Inspector General Ken Mead, whose office has conducted four separate audits of the FAA Contract Tower Program, starting in 1998, has concluded that the program provides cost-effective services that are comparable in quality and safety to FAA-operated towers. These reports are available on the Inspector General’s website at http://www.oig.dot.gov.

In the latest report, issued September 4, 2003, the Inspector General found that in terms of safety of operations, both the contract towers and their FAA-staffed equivalents "fell well below the FAA's FY 2002 overall average of 6.70 operational errors for every 1 million operations handled."

Mr. Mead went on to conclude that "In FY 2002, contract towers had 8 operational errors/deviations, which was a rate of 0.49 incidents per million operations handled. The 71 FAA-staffed VFR towers had 38 operational errors/deviations, which was a rate of 2.70 incidents per million operations handled. The FAA-staffed VFR towers in ATC grade levels 5 and 6 (those towers that are the most comparable to contract towers) had 9 operational errors/deviations, which was a rate of 2.03 incidents per million operations handled."

Contract towers are staffed by highly qualified controllers who are required to have the same certification and meet all the same safety regulations as FAA controllers. Contract tower controllers must have prior ATC experience and a valid Control Tower Operator’s certificate in order to be hired into the program. In fact, the vast majority of contract controllers are former FAA and military controllers. FAA certifies all contract controllers, and contract towers are monitored regularly by the FAA’s Air Traffic Evaluations staff.

SAVING THE TAXPAYER MILLIONS OF DOLLARS

Contract towers save on average over $900,000 per year per tower over FAA staffed VFR towers. The Department of Transportation Inspector General concluded in his September 4, 2003 report that "if the 189 fully-funded contract towers had been staffed with FAA controllers in FY 2002, the agency’s annual operating costs could have been $173 million higher."

The cost of the Contract Tower Program has increased over the years. However, the increase in costs is directly related to the addition of new towers into the program and a rise in controller’s salaries. The average cost of a contract tower in FY 2000 was approximately $288,000; at the end of FY 2003 the average cost of a contract tower is expected to be about $381,000 (including total FAA costs and local airport share for the contract tower cost-share facilities). From the beginning of FY 2000 to the end of FY 2003, the number of contract towers in the program increased by 34% (163 to 219).

Additionally, salaries for contract controllers, which account for the vast majority of the total program costs, are set by the U.S. Department of Labor and are, in part, based on increased salaries paid to FAA controllers as a result of the 1998 contract negotiated by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA). During the same time period, the budget for the FAA air traffic services increased from $4.7 billion to $5.7 billion.

Contracts for the program are not awarded to the lowest bidder, but rather to companies that are able to provide the "best value" as determined by rigorous evaluation criteria. FAA's evaluation criteria that governed the selection of the contractors for the contract tower program, technical and quality factors were more important than price in determining "best value." Companies that provide ATC services to the Contract Tower Program are thoroughly evaluated during the bidding process.

FAA REAUTHORIZATION AND THE CONTRACT TOWER PROGRAM

The conference report on the FAA Reauthorization Bill, H.R. 2115, the "VISION 100 – Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act," does not privatize the air traffic control system. Contract towers are operated to federal standards, as monitored by the FAA, and are not privatized services. In fact, the report prohibits the core of the air traffic control system from being privatized or outsourced, including controllers who staff all major airport towers and high-altitude control facilities for the four-year duration of the bill. Controllers at these facilities account for 94% of FAA’s controller workforce.

The conference report also protects the FAA’s current Contract Tower Program and maintains the status quo by simply preserving the option for the FAA to add 69 additional VFR towers to the program if that proves advisable for any of those facilities.

In a recent letter to House-Senate FAA reauthorization conference committee leaders, the Department of Transportation Inspector General Ken Mead emphasized his long-standing endorsement of the FAA’s Contract Tower Program. He urged the conferees to keep open the option to convert the VFR towers still operated by FAA to the Contract Tower Program. The Inspector General added that, with the sharp decline in aviation trust fund revenues and the most recent projections of the federal deficit, the FAA needs the flexibility to ensure VFR towers are operated in the safest and most cost-effective manner possible.

FACT SHEET ON THE CONTRACT TOWER PROGRAM:

• FACT: All contract controllers are FAA certified and contract tower facilities are monitored on a regular basis by the agency. Additionally, the vast majority of contract controllers are former FAA and military controllers. Based on FAA figures, contract towers account for only 10% of the FAA’s total labor costs for control towers nationwide, yet they handle approximately 25% of ATC operations at all towers on an annual basis. Further, the operational error/deviation rate is 2.5 times better at contract towers than at similar VFR towers staffed by the FAA.
• FACT: According to the FAA's analysis, the contract tower program provides annual savings to the agency of $54 million. The average cost of a contract tower in FY 2000 was approximately $288,000; at the end of FY 2003 the average cost of a contract tower is expected to be about $381,000 (including total FAA costs and local airport share for the contract tower cost-share facilities). From the beginning of FY 2000 to the end of FY 2003, the number of contract towers in the program increased by 34 % (163 to 219).
  Additionally, salaries for contract controllers, which account for the vast majority of the total program costs, are set by the U.S. Department of Labor and are, in part, based on increased salaries paid to FAA controllers as a result of the 1998 contract negotiated by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA). During the same time period, the budget for the FAA air traffic services increased from $4.7 billion to $5.7 billion.
• FACT: FAA controllers performed superbly on 9/11 when the FAA shut down the entire air traffic control system. It should be noted, however, that contract controllers at the 219 FAA contract tower airports nationwide safely handled hundreds of flights that day as well, working side by side with FAA controllers at terminal radar control facilities (TRACON), en route centers that handle flights between terminal areas, and instrument flight rule (IFR) towers that use radar to separate aircraft.
• FACT: When President George W. Bush flies to his ranch in Texas, Air Force One usually flies into an airport near Waco that has a FAA contract tower, and contract controllers there handle the flight. The same thing occurs when Vice President Cheney flies to his home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which also is served by a FAA contract tower. The same flight and security procedures are used for flights that carry the President or Vice President regardless of whether the tower controllers are FAA controllers or contract controllers.
• FACT: The U.S. military is a long-time supporter and user of contract controllers at a number of military facilities. For more than 20 years, the U.S. Army, U.S Air Force, and Air National Guard have recognized contract ATC as a cost-effective and reliable solution at many military locations. ATC companies are required to possess facility clearances from the Department of Defense (DOD) for work at military contract towers. There are also a number of military air traffic control facilities that have been contracted out over the years. Based on FAA figures, contract towers nationwide handled approximately 612,000 U.S. military operations in CY 2002.
• FACT: Of the 100 busiest towers in the country, 58 are FAA-staffed major towers, 37 are FAA-staffed VFR towers and five are FAA contract towers. Also, based on FAA air traffic figures for CY 2002, 15 of the current FAA contract towers handled more air traffic (in terms of operations) than 17 of the lowest-ranked 71 FAA-staffed VFR towers. Sixty (60) of the current FAA contract towers handled more air traffic than three of the lowest-ranked (in terms of operations) of the 71 FAA-staffed VFR towers. All contract towers and these FAA-staffed VFR towers use the same VFR tower operating procedures.
• FACT: Many controllers at FAA contract towers are members of organized labor. In fact, of the current 219 FAA contract towers, approximately 35% of controllers are members of either NATCA or PATCO.

FMI: www.faa.gov