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MESA, AZ (AZFamily) — Mesa Gateway Airport will transition from contract tower operations to direct staffing and management by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under a pilot program.
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The change comes several weeks after an audit found major staffing issues across the contract tower program.
Mesa Gateway is the busiest contract tower in the country.
Ryan Smith, director of communications for Mesa Gateway, said the development will allow the airport to continue to grow and handle increasing traffic. The airport operates a complex airspace that includes commercial air traffic, cargo planes, flight schools, the Forest Service and ICE.
“What this is doing is taking unique towers like Gateway Airport and making sure we can continue to grow and handle that growing number of traffic,” Smith said.
Staffing challenges led to tower closures
Nationwide, there are 450 air traffic control towers. Just over half are contract towers, meaning they are run by private companies. Arizona has seven contract towers.
A May audit found major staffing issues in the program. The audit found contract towers had to close more than 300 times in a four-month period last year because they did not have enough controllers.
Smith said Mesa Gateway has not reached that level but has had to reduce tower operating hours. Last year, the airport said it lost two-thirds of its controllers to the FAA, which typically pays more and offers better benefits.
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“What this transition allows the FAA to do is instead of poaching from our controllers they can actually do the training here,” Smith said.
Tim Kiefer, a former air traffic controller who teaches at Embry-Riddle, said the transition gives the FAA more say in how the tower is staffed and who staffs it.
Kiefer said the FAA needs the contract tower program because it does not have enough controllers to staff its own towers.
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