Relatively speaking, it’s been a difficult year for the Air
Traffic Control Tower up at Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport when
considering that federal sequestration nearly forced its closure earlier
this year.
But, good news this week: Doug Lewis, manager of the Ithaca Tompkins’
Air Traffic Control Tower, was presented with the 2013 Manager of the
Year award during a ceremony at the airport.
Lewis was chosen from a field that included managers from around 40
northeast facilities employed with control-tower workers from Midwest
ATC Service, a contract tower company. Randy Walls, Manager of Air
Traffic Services, Eastern Terminal Service Area, for Midwest ATC
Service, flew in to present the award to Lewis in recognition of his
exemplary service as tower manager as well as his dedication to safe
aircraft operations. Administrators created Lewis with initiating and
conducting annual educational sessions for the region’s private pilots
in and around Ithaca.
An Orchard Park native and current Elmira resident, Lewis has worked
up at the Ithaca control tower for a dozen years, being named manager in
2007. He began his control tower career in 1967 as a U.S. Navy man and,
in the mid-1970s, he was employeed with the Federal Aviation
Administration at the Elmira airport. In 1981, he got involved with the
air-traffic controllers strike and lost his job along with 11,000 others
after President Reagen fired them for failing to return to the job.
Lewis said he took a 20-year hiatus from air-traffic control work before
settling in at Ithaca Tompkins Regional airport, which contracts with
Midwest ATC Service for its five air-traffic controllers.
“It’s always been a passion, I’d say,” Lewis said. “It’s a type of
occupation that really challenges you. It’s hardly ever the same, and
you rarely get bored.”
The Tuesday award ceremony was a nice surprise for Lewis, who used
the opportunity to offer his appreciation for his four fellow
controllers. All told, the group’s 85 cumulative years of experience
make for a solid, excellent team, he said.
“It’s wonderful to be recognized. I have the good fortune to work at a
facility that has excellent controllers,” he said. “I’m kind of a
player-coach in that regard. There’s a lot of experience between them,
and they make my job easier.”
Early 2013 was a rocky time for a majority of countrywide control
towers that contract out for employees. Exactly 149 of the country’s 251
contract towers, including Ithaca’s, were threatened with closure due
to a sequestration agreement affecting all government departments. After
much lobbying and the support of local and regional leaders, the threat
was averted and funding made available to keep all the towers open. The
government, senate and house of representatives have all appropriated
money in their budgets for full funding of the towers in fiscal year
2014.
Story and Photo: http://www.ithaca.com