Establishment and Discontinuance Criteria for Airport Traffic Control Towers.
Abstract
This report presents an economic analysis of VFR Airport Traffic Control Towers and criteria for tower establishment and discontinuance based on this analysis. Site-specific activity forecasts are used to develop tower benefits from prevented collisions between aircraft, other prevented accidents, and reduced flying time. Establishment costs include annual costs for staffing, maintenance, equipment, supplies and leased services and investment costs for facilities, equipment, and operational start up. The present value of tower benefits are compared with the present value of tower costs over a fifteen-year time frame. A location meets tower establishment criteria when the benefits which derive from operating the tower exceed the costs; a tower meets discontinuance criteria, when the costs of continued operation exceed the benefits. Applying the criteria to more than four-thousand airports, seventeen sites satisfy the benefit/cost criteria for tower establishment and fifty-five towers satisfy the benefit/cost criteria for discontinuance. These figures compare with twenty-five tower establishment candidates and forty-two tower discontinuance candidates under previous tower criteria. The sensitivity of the criteria results to several key assumptions is also examined. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1983
- Accession Number
- ADA133461
Entities
People
- Susan Godby Helzer
Organizations
- Federal Aviation Administration