Syracuse Hancock International Airport officials could eliminate midnight shifts in the control towers starting April 7, unless Congress can come up with a solution to the sequester budget cuts.

In an attempt to save $600 million in the face of across-the-board federal budget cuts, the Federal Aviation Administration proposed shutting down more than 100 air traffic control facilities and eliminating overnight shifts at more than 60 facilities across the country, according to a Feb. 22 FAA news release.

Hancock is one of the many airports on the FAA’s midnight shift elimination list, which Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner publicly said she disagrees with. As one of Central New York’s major travel hubs, the airport saw nearly two million passengers in 2012, according to the airport’s activity report.

The control tower’s midnight shift serves many functions for the airport, including coordinating maintenance and operations crews who divert traffic from major neighboring airports in Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, D.C., according to Miner’s letter to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, urging him to remove Syracuse’s airport from the list.

FAA officials recommend that Hancock and other airports that could experience cuts to the midnight shift follow the safety procedures provided by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the Air Safety Foundation. The instructions put a greater responsibility on pilots landing at airports without towers, and encourage them to “put safety first and use recommended procedures,” according to a safety manual distributed by the FAA.

Nowhere in the manual does it mention what an airport should do for weather maintenance without air tower support. Christina Callahan, city aviation commissioner, said this could be a major problem for Hancock given the amount of snow in Syracuse.

“We’re the snowiest city in the country,” Callahan said. “Snow operations are critical. We have men and women on the ground with snow maintenance and equipment while planes are trying to make landings. It’s important to have eyes on our landing strip for their safety.”

Hancock has been considered a national leader in snow removal, winning The Balchen/Post Award for Excellence in the Performance of Snow and Ice Control 10 times. Miner warned in her letter that eliminating the midnight shift would make it extremely difficult to keep up the airport’s reputation.

“Unlike most of the airports identified on the list of facilities where overnight shifts could be eliminated, Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR) is located in the snowiest region of the country,” she wrote in her letter. “Our maintenance and operations crew rely on air traffic control to ensure their safety while on the field, and to prevent dangerous runway incursions.”

Other issues Miner brought up in her letter included the effect of the midnight shift closure on runway availability and safety risks for both passengers and employees.

The final decision on closures will be made Friday. It was originally supposed to be made on Monday, but the FAA delayed the decision due to a large number of responses from airports designated for tower closures, according to an email sent out by the FAA.

 

Published on March 20, 2013 at 12:42 am

Contact Alfred: alng@syr.edu

@alfredwkng