Making these adjustments allows for continued safe
operations throughout the national airspace system while minimizing
health risks to our workforce. The FAA plans to begin making control
tower hour adjustments on Monday, April 27 and complete the process
within about a week.
These facilities have seen a significant reduction in flights,
especially during the evening and nighttime hours, since the
pandemic began. Adjusting the operating hours will further protect
our employees and reduce the possibility of temporary tower closures
from COVID-19 exposures by ensuring enough controllers are available
to staff the facilities during peak hours. It also will enable us to
allocate difficult-to-source supplies where they are most needed.
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Most of the towers are historically closed at night,
during which time the radar facility with oversight assumes the
airspace. The FAA expects the adjustments will not have any
operational effects. The agency plans to begin adjusting facility
hours later this month.
The FAA will continue to monitor traffic volume at all of these
facilities and may make future adjustments to operating hours as
appropriate.
For additional information on adjustments to control tower operating
hours, as well other regulatory updates due to coronavirus, go to:
https://www.faa.
gov/coronavirus/regulatory_updates/
[FAASafety.gov] |