This week in Transportation: FAA eyeing flight tower closures

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will work this week to finalize its list of air traffic control towers that will be closed because of the sequestration budget cuts.

The FAA has revealed a list of 173 towers to be closed next month to meet its obligation to reduce its 2013 spending by about 9 percent.

But lawmakers have already began pushing back on closing flight towers in their districts.

"We write to express our deep concern about the slated closure of the air traffic control tower at Tweed-New Haven along with 5 additional general aviation control towers throughout the State of Connecticut," Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, all Democrats, wrote in a letter to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta last week.

"While we understand the extraordinary funding situation the FAA is in as a result of the sequester, we strongly believe that these closures will put at risk public safety in and around the airspace of Connecticut and the local economies that rely on these facilitates for tax revenue and jobs," the Connecticut lawmakers continued.

The sequestration law requires the FAA to cut its 2013 budget by $600 million.

The Obama administration has pointed to the FAA's budget-cutting plans to argue that the sequester will cause delays for commercial airline passengers.

The FAA has said it will not begin tower closures or furloughs until April 7.

Elsewhere this week, lawmakers in the House will get an update on the implementation of last year's $105 billion surface transportation bill during a meeting of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Highways and Transit subcommittee on Thursday.

Also, the House Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday about the Transportation Security Administration's "risk-based" security initiatives.

---