Saturday, February 23, 2013

Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport (KBRO), Brownsville, Texas: Determined to fly despite Federal Aviation Administration funding threats

Air passenger service will continue as normal at Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport even if threatened staffing reduction comes to pass as a result of “sequestration.”

So says Larry Brown, the airport’s aviation director. Brownsville was among 25 smaller Texas airports on a Federal Aviation Administration list of facilities that could see air traffic controllers’ hours reduced if the federal government implements automatic spending cuts.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, in a White House press briefing on Friday, predicted big headaches for air passengers if sequestration goes through and air traffic controllers and other FAA employees are furloughed.

Reducing employees’ hours is part of the FAA’s plan to shave $600 million in spending during the remainder of fiscal year 2013, which ends Sept. 30. The cuts would be enacted March 1 and take effect in April.

Brown said that not having controllers in the Brownsville tower would create tremendous difficulties. He said he wasn’t aware of the latest list but that an earlier FAA list of airports facing possible cuts did not include Brownsville.

If the cuts occur, Brown said, he would keep controllers in the tower even if the money had to come from the airport’s budget. Without controllers, you can’t have flights. Valley International Airport in Harlingen and McAllen-Miller International Airport in McAllen were not on the FAA list.

“That would be very hard on the local community and the local economy,” Brown said.

He thinks sequestration is a bad idea, especially considering the impact on the country’s transportation system.

“It’s not something we would support,” Brown said. “We don’t support wiping out some of the air traffic network of the United States.”

The airport’s exact contingency plan would depend on the severity of sequester consequences, if and when they come down, he said.

“One way or another we keep the tower open, period. That’s it,” he said.

Story and Reaction/Comments:  http://www.brownsvilleherald.com


Airports  marked for closure

Letter to airline and airport operators

Letter from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and FAA Administrator Michael Huerta
 
The lists of affected facilities can be viewed here:

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