Gary, Columbus airport towers among FAA closures

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Towers at airports in Gary and Columbus will be closed as the Federal Aviation Administration slashes hundreds of millions of dollars from its budget due to automatic federal spending cuts

The FAA released a final list Friday of 149 air traffic control facilities that it will close at small airports around the country starting early next month.

All of the airports targeted for tower shutdowns have fewer than 150,000 total flight operations per year. Of those, fewer than 10,000 are commercial flights by passenger airlines.

The closures will not force the shutdown of any of those airports, but pilots will be left to coordinate takeoffs and landings among themselves over a shared radio frequency with no help from ground controllers.

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