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Shutting Nashua airport tower just doesn’t fly

By Staff | Mar 15, 2013

Six months ago, Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Michael Huerta was in town for the official opening of the new and expanded runway at Boire Field, part of a $25 million upgrade that was expected to make the city’s municipal airport more accessible to corporate aircraft.

Who thought he would be hearing back so soon?

But that’s exactly what has happened, as city, state and federal officials are appealing to the FAA administrator and others not to close the tower in response to sequestration. Or $1.2 trillion in across-the-board cuts to federal agencies triggered by the inability of the White House and Congress to reach a debt-reduction deal by the March 1 deadline.

When the FAA was gearing up for sequestration in February, it released a list of tentative measures that included furloughs and the closing of more 100 towers at airports with fewer than 150,000 flight operations or 10,000 commercial operations a year.

But now that sequestration is a reality, the agency has released a tentative list of 238 air traffic control facilities that could be closed – including 189 contractor-operated towers such as
the one in Nashua – to help save $600 million through the end of the fiscal year Sept. 30.

Nashua is one of 13 airports in New England – the other dozen are split evenly between Connecticut and Massachusetts – on the preliminary closure list, which is expected to be finalized Monday. The FAA could begin shutting the towers as early as April 7.

That has prompted a flurry of letters to the FAA and other federal agencies, including one from Nashua Airport Authority Chairman Don Davidson and another dated Tuesday and signed by all four members of the congressional delegation.

In that letter to Transportation Secretary Roy LaHood, Sens. Kelly Ayotte and Jeanne Shaheen, and Reps. Annie Kuster and Carol Shea-
Porter, expressed their opposition to any plans to stop funding air traffic control services at the airport.

Among the arguments:

• Boire Field ranks among the most used general aviation airports in New England, attracting commercial, corporate and military aircraft, as well as hosting five flight schools.

• It plays a key role in relieving congestion at other New England airports, including Boston Logan International Airport and Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.

• Closing the tower would put people at risk, since professional and amateur pilots use the airport on a regular basis.

“Eliminating funding to provide air traffic control services at Nashua Municipal Airport will shift traffic to other facilities, undermining the effectiveness of the FAA’s recent investment,” they wrote. “Closing Nashua’s air traffic control tower, moreover, will have a negative impact on safety given the diverse mix of amateur and professional aviators that utilize the facility.”

No doubt similar arguments are being made by lawmakers across the country, but we believe a strong case can be made for striking Boire Field from the list.

And let’s not overlook the potential irony – if not downright foolishness – of shuttering tower operations just six months after celebrating the completion of one of the largest general aviation projects in the country.

It just doesn’t make sense to do so after investing $25 million to make the Nashua airport an even bigger player in the regional aviation network.

Then again, neither does sequestration.

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