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FAA Delays Installing New Radar at Colorado Springs, Colo., Airport

Posted on: Monday, 31 October 2005, 21:00 CST

By Wayne Heilman, The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo.

Nov. 1--Federal officials have delayed installing a new type of radar at the Colorado Springs Airport, a union representing air traffic controllers alleged Monday.

The radar would alert controllers when aircraft are on taxiways and runways when they shouldn't be, Tim Davis, an air traffic controller at the Springs airport control tower and representative of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said at a news conference at Antlers Hilton hotel.

The union, which is trying to negotiate a contract with the Federal Aviation Administration after its previous agreement expired in September, has made similar allegations in recent weeks at airports across the nation, including Denver International Airport, as part of a nationwide campaign.

The Springs airport was among 37 airports scheduled to receive the new system, called Airport Surface Detection Equipment, by 2009. Davis said the Springs airport was pulled from that list by the FAA on Oct. 19 after a review of which airports should receive the system.

The union also is worried that the FAA, which operates the control tower, eventually will move air traffic control responsibility for aircraft near the Springs airport to a consolidated center in Denver, which would reduce the need for local controllers.

"Put all of these facts together, and I come to the conclusion that (the federal) government is just not concerned with the airport in Colorado Springs. The market is just not large enough to warrant" the current air traffic control operation, Davis said.

The FAA still is deciding where the new radar systems should be installed, said Allen Kenitzer, a FAA spokesman in Renton, Wash. One runway incident has been reported at the Springs airport since 2001, compared with 14 such incidents last year at Boston's airport.

Other criticisms raised by the union included:

The FAA's decision to install an upgrade for another type of radar at the Springs airport and hook it to outdated displays could mean the FAA eventually wants to use the new radar at a consolidated air traffic control center in Denver, Davis said.

A since-abandoned plan to close the tower at the Springs and many other mid-sized airports between midnight and 6 a.m. shows the agency isn't hiring enough new controllers to replace the 7,000 nationwide that will be retiring in the next few years, Davis said.

Other union concerns include the FAA not hiring enough replacements for 7,000 controllers expected to retire in the next few years, which has left the Springs tower three controllers under its authorized level.

In addition, the agency hasn't been active in working on a solution to an airspace conflict between the airport's west runway and unmanned aircraft used at Fort Carson, Davis said. The conflict must be resolved before the airport closes its east runway on Jan. 9 for repairs, forcing most flights to use the west runway.

Colorado Springs Airport officials opposed the move to close the tower after midnight,would fight any effort to move air traffic control services to Denver and are working to resolve the Fort Carson issue, said Mark Earle, aviation director at the Springs airport.

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To see more of The Gazette, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.gazette.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Gazette

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