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Danbury Airport's control tower had been slated to close Sunday, April 7, as part of $637 million in federal sequestration spending cuts. The FAA announced the closure March 22.
“This has been a complex process, and we need to get this right,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement Friday. “Safety is our top priority. We will use this additional time to make sure communities and pilots understand the changes at their local airports.”
This additional time will allow the FAA to attempt to resolve multiple legal challenges to the decison to close the towers, the statement said. The FAA continues to consult with airports and operators and review appropriate risk mitigations. Extending the transition deadline will give the FAA and airports more time to execute the changes to the National Airspace System.
“We will continue our outreach to the user community to answer any questions and address their concerns about these tower closures,” said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta.
The phased, four-week closure process had been scheduled to begin this Sunday, April 7. That phased closure process will no longer occur. Instead, the FAA will stop funding all 149 towers June 15 and will close the facilities unless the airports decide to continue operations as a nonfederal contract tower.
If the tower were to close in Danbury, pilots would still be able to fly in and out of the airport — they would just have to control landings and takeoffs among themselves, Michael Safranek, Danbury's assistant airport administrator, said last month. "Picture a busy intersection in Danbury and remove the traffic lights and stop signs," Safranek said. "The intersection is still open, but now each car has to figure out who's going to go first."
Oontrol towers in Connecticut slated to close are those at Sikorsky Memorial, Groton-New London, Hartford-Brainard, Tweed-New Haven and Waterbury-Oxford airports.
Read the full statement from the FAA here.
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