SPRINGDALE : Airport officials fear doom in loss of tower
Posted on Friday, July 18, 2008
SPRINGDALE — Those associated with the municipal airport here said losing their air traffic control tower is unacceptable.
That’s why the city must act quickly to secure proper funding to operate the tower by Oct. 1, when a new contract with the Federal Aviation Administration takes effect, according to pilots and employees at the general aviation airport, as well as members of the airport’s commission.
Springdale officials learned recently that the FAA will cut payments for tower operations in Springdale and Rogers this coming fiscal year. The city said it doesn’t have the money to make up the difference.
On an annual basis, the Springdale city contribution would increase by $ 112, 237, said Wyman Morgan, director of finance and administration.
Morgan said the city could shave the tower’s operating hours, try to negotiate an acceptable rate with the FAA or close the tower.
On Thursday, three pilots based at the airport said any reduction in hours is not welcome. If the tower closes, they said, the airport would shrink from a corporate hub to an insignificant airport fit only for weekend pleasure fliers.
The airport commission on Thursday told Morgan to contact the FAA today and to keep calling until he has found someone to negotiate with.
“That would be a prudent course of action,” said commission Chairman Bill Schoonover. “I assure you they will hear from us in a timely fashion.” Even if the towers in Springdale and Rogers closed, the two cities still would be covered by air traffic control. The radar at Fort Smith Regional Airport can track flights in and out of Springdale and Rogers, but it can’t be used to control ground traffic at the airports.
Since 2005, Springdale and the FAA have shared the cost of paying Robinson Aviation Inc. to operate the tower from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week, with the city paying 19 percent of the costs and the FAA paying 81 percent. But if the proposed rate doesn’t change, Springdale will pay 47 percent.
Representatives of the FAA also told Rogers officials recently that they are reducing payments to Robinson Aviation for tower operations at Carter Field.
The Rogers tower operates from 5: 30 a.m. to 7: 30 p.m. through the week, and from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. In Rogers, the FAA has asked the city to increase its contribution from 31 percent to 45 percent, an increase that would cost the city an extra $ 70, 000 annually.
Rogers airport manager David Krutsch said he hopes there’s room to negotiate before the Oct. 1 deadline arrives.
“That puts a tremendous burden on us to resolve the problem in a very short amount of time,” Krutsch said.
Elsewhere, the FAA pays all the costs of operating the tower at Fayetteville Municipal Airport, Drake Field.
What changed in Springdale was the value assigned to averted accidents over a 15-year span. The 2005 estimate had that value at $ 2. 69 million, while the 2008 estimate over the same time lists the value at only $ 1. 4 million.
Morgan said the change is a “purely arbitrary number.” A similar calculation caused the proposed reduction in payments to Rogers.
The Springdale tower, like the one in Rogers, is used to track air traffic up to 3, 000 feet and up to five miles away. After that, pilots use the tower in Fort Smith.
With no radar coverage in Springdale, the airport will die a slow death, said air traffic control manager P. J. Maschek.
“It’s going to hurt the city,” Maschek said. “If you let the tower fall, it will never be what it was. You’ve got to keep it running.
“ It’s like taking down all the street lights in the city,” he said. “Something’s going to happen.” In the past couple of years, air traffic at both airports has fallen. But Maschek said the FAA isn’t cutting funds because of a recent slowdown, but because towns like Springdale and Rogers were already considered to have “slower towers” compared to large airports with heavy commercial traffic.
Maschek said his staff could cut out weekend hours and shave three hours each weekday as a concession to help meet the budget, but pilot Dennis Moore disagreed.
“Basically, you’ll kill the airport [if you reduce hours ],” Moore said. “What you’ll end up with are weekend pilots and storage facilities.”
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