A REVIEW OF THE FAA’S CONTRACT TOWER PROGRAM (112–93) HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JULY 18, 2012 Printed for the use of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure ( Available online at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/ committee.action?chamber=house&committee=transportation U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 75–148 PDF WASHINGTON : 2013 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Aug 31 2005 14:23 Jan 07, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 P:\HEARINGS\112\AV\7-18-1~1\75148.TXT JEAN COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE JOHN L. MICA, Florida, Chairman DON YOUNG, Alaska NICK J. RAHALL II, West Virginia THOMAS E. PETRI, Wisconsin PETER A. DEFAZIO, Oregon HOWARD COBLE, North Carolina JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of FRANK A. LOBIONDO, New Jersey Columbia GARY G. MILLER, California JERROLD NADLER, New York TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON, Illinois CORRINE BROWN, Florida SAM GRAVES, Missouri BOB FILNER, California BILL SHUSTER, Pennsylvania EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio LEONARD L. BOSWELL, Iowa CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan TIM HOLDEN, Pennsylvania DUNCAN HUNTER, California RICK LARSEN, Washington ANDY HARRIS, Maryland MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, Massachusetts ERIC A. ‘‘RICK’’ CRAWFORD, Arkansas TIMOTHY H. BISHOP, New York JAIME HERRERA BEUTLER, Washington MICHAEL H. MICHAUD, Maine FRANK C. GUINTA, New Hampshire RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California LOU BARLETTA, Pennsylvania DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois CHIP CRAVAACK, Minnesota MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas JASON ALTMIRE, Pennsylvania LARRY BUCSHON, Indiana TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota BILLY LONG, Missouri HEATH SHULER, North Carolina BOB GIBBS, Ohio STEVE COHEN, Tennessee PATRICK MEEHAN, Pennsylvania LAURA RICHARDSON, California RICHARD L. HANNA, New York ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey JEFFREY M. LANDRY, Louisiana DONNA F. EDWARDS, Maryland STEVE SOUTHERLAND II, Florida JEFF DENHAM, California JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma REID J. RIBBLE, Wisconsin CHARLES J. ‘‘CHUCK’’ FLEISCHMANN, Tennessee SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION THOMAS E. PETRI, Wisconsin, Chairman HOWARD COBLE, North Carolina JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri FRANK A. LOBIONDO, New Jersey DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois SAM GRAVES, Missouri PETER A. DEFAZIO, Oregon JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio BOB FILNER, California FRANK C. GUINTA, New Hampshire EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois LEONARD L. BOSWELL, Iowa CHIP CRAVAACK, Minnesota, Vice Chair TIM HOLDEN, Pennsylvania BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, Massachusetts BILLY LONG, Missouri MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii PATRICK MEEHAN, Pennsylvania STEVE COHEN, Tennessee STEVE SOUTHERLAND II, Florida ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma Columbia JOHN L. MICA, Florida (Ex Officio) NICK J. RAHALL II, West Virginia REID J. RIBBLE, Wisconsin (Ex Officio) CHARLES J. ‘‘CHUCK’’ FLEISCHMANN, Tennessee (II) VerDate Aug 31 2005 14:23 Jan 07, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 P:\HEARINGS\112\AV\7-18-1~1\75148.TXT JEAN CONTENTS Page Summary of Subject Matter .................................................................................... iv TESTIMONY PANEL 1 Hon. Calvin L. Scovel III, Inspector General, United States Department of Transportation ...................................................................................................... 3 Hon. David Grizzle, Chief Operating Officer, Air Traffic Organization, Federal Aviation Administration, accompanied by Hon. Julie Oettinger, Assistant Administrator for Policy, International Affairs and Environment, Federal Aviation Administration ...................................................................................... 3 PANEL 2 Walter B. Strong, Jr., A.A.E., Chair, Policy Board, United States Contract Tower Association, an affiliated organization of the American Association of Airport Executives ........................................................................................... 20 Patricia Gilbert, Executive Vice President, National Air Traffic Controllers Association ............................................................................................................ 20 Melissa K. Rudinger, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association ............................................................................ 20 PREPARED STATEMENTS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS Hon. Jerry F. Costello, of Illinois ........................................................................... 32 Hon. Nick J. Rahall II, of West Virginia ............................................................... 35 PREPARED STATEMENTS SUBMITTED BY WITNESSES Hon. Calvin L. Scovel III ........................................................................................ 37 Hon. David Grizzle and Hon. Julie Oettinger, joint statement ........................... 51 Walter B. Strong, Jr., A.A.E. .................................................................................. 56 Patricia Gilbert ........................................................................................................ 68 Melissa K. Rudinger ................................................................................................ 76 SUBMISSION FOR THE RECORD Walter B. Strong, Jr., A.A.E., Chair, Policy Board, United States Contract Tower Association, an affiliated organization of the American Association of Airport Executives, letter providing additional information to his hearing remarks, sent to Hon. Thomas E. Petri, Chairman, Subcommittee on Avia- tion, July 30, 2012 ................................................................................................ 83 (III) VerDate Aug 31 2005 14:23 Jan 07, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 P:\HEARINGS\112\AV\7-18-1~1\75148.TXT JEAN iv 1!l.~. 1l{uuse uf fRepresentatfu£s ~ommittee on \!l:rmu)portatiott altlJ lhlfra~tt'u£ture Jiab» I!.. Jfllm .1I%bingtoll, il\<tr 20515 jl(d\ Ji.l~nlJn{[, 3131 O;:~nh'lI1nlt ~nl1king Jflrmucr July 13,2012 JRrnl'S w. Cuon lI, Ct;kfofSt."\fi" JIUI\\"S If. Z(>\A, JknHx:mt Chl~f 0(6't11(f MEMORANDUM TO: Members, Subcommittee on Aviation FROM: The Honorable Thomas E. Petri, Chairman, Subcommittee on Aviation SUBJECT: Hearing on "A Review of the FAA's Contract Tower Program" PURPOSE On July 18,2012, at 10:00 a.m., in room 2167 of the Rayburn House Office Building, the Subcommittee on Aviation will meet to review the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Contract Tower Program and receive testimony on the Department of Transportation Inspector General's audit of the FAA's Contract Tower Program, and related issues. BACKGROUND FAA Contract Tower Program Under the Contract Tower Program, the Federal Aviation Administration contracts with l private entities to provide air traffic control services at Visual Flight Rules (VFR) airports . The program is intended to reduce the cost of air traffic control services and to enhance aviation safety by providing air traffic services at airports where federally-staffed towers would not be cost effective. 1 Air traffic controllers at these airports sequence and separate aircraft visually and with radio communication during times where horizontal and vertical visibility is greater than tlu'ee miles and 1000 feet respectively. They do not use RADAR as a primary means of control. VerDate Aug 31 2005 14:23 Jan 07, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6602 Sfmt 6602 P:\HEARINGS\112\AV\7-18-1~1\75148.TXT JEAN Insert offset folio 1 here 75148.001 v Created in 1982, the Contract Tower Program began as a pilot program to reo~en five Level I towers that had been closed as a result of the 1981 air traffic controller strike. In 1994, Congress provided funding to convert all remaining Level I towers to contract operations. 3 At that time, the program was further expanded to allow for the construction of new contract towers. The Contract Tower Program has since expanded to towers at 250 airports. In 1999, Congress funded a cost-sharing program that allows airports that would not otherwise qualify to take part in the Contract Tower Program. A community can choose to enter the program by paying for a portion of the tower's operating costs to meet FAA's threshold benefit-cost ratio of 1 to 1. Of the 250 towers cun·ently in the Contract Tower Program, there are 16 towers where the FAA and the local community share the costs of operating the tower. Contract towers and FAA-staffed VFR towers serve both large and small communities in urban and rural areas. 4 There are also a number of commercial service airports that are served by contract towers. S Controllers at FAA contract towers are free to join a union, and currently controllers at approximately 35 percent ofthe contract towers belong to either the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) or the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO). The FAA retains safety oversight of the contract towers and the controllers who staff them. All contract controllers are certified by the FAA, contract tower facilities are monitored