Air Traffic controllers are saying safety could be compromised with a new Federal Aviation Administration plan to consolidate local control operations.
Under the plan, once a plane gets 5 miles away from the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, the pilot would be in radio communication with a controller in Cleveland, not Youngstown. The FAA says it's a safer scenario, but some aren't sold on the idea.
The FAA plans to move radar air traffic control from smaller airports such as Toledo, Mansfield, Akron-Canton and the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, to a large Terminal Radar Approach Control Facility, or TRACON, in Cleveland.
"The radar room would be a facility that would handle traffic that is on approach or departure from the Youngstown airport," said the FAA's Elizabeth Cory. Cory says it's just a proposal, not a done deal. It could be 2014 or 2015 before the TRACON would be up and running.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) said it hasn't even seen a plan, and the FAA hasn't consulted any pilots or airport users about their intentions.
"We are all for a better product. Let's make the system safer, more efficient, but you can't do so without the people that use it," said Alexandra Caldwell, a spokeswoman for NATCA.
Under the plan, the tower cab in Vienna would stay intact, staffed with air controllers to monitor a five-mile radius around the airport as they do now. But NATCA worries controllers in Cleveland could be directing flights in and out of areas they're not familiar with.
"You could very well, as a distressed pilot, be talking to a controller in Cleveland that's never been to the Youngstown area, that can't give you local landmarks."
But the FAA's Cory said, "No controller would work in such a facility until he or she is fully trained in the intricacies of the specific airspace."
Caldwell says it's not a jobs issue, adding the FAA will likely need more well-trained controllers during the transition. They just want to make sure people who use the airport are part of the planning process. Cory assures them they will be.
There's an informational meeting Friday at 5:00 p.m. in the terminal building of the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, so the NATCA can bring pilots and controllers up to speed on the FAA's plans.
The meeting is open to the public, and Caldwell urges attendance. She said these decisions will affect pilots and passengers.
