The air traffic control tower at the Gerald R. Ford internal airport is six decades old. West Michigan U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten is one of four congressional leaders introducing a bipartisan bill requiring the Federal Aviation Administration to share its tower replacement process with Congress. Patrick Center has the story.
The Gerald R. Ford International Airport’s control tower is 60 years old. It opened in 1963. Airport officials point out it’s the second oldest tower in the nation’s top 100 markets. In 2019, when the airport authority board announced Project Elevate. a three-development expansion of Ford International, it included a $90 million expansion of Concourse A with eight new gates beginning in 2020. Second, on the to-do list, is an additional federal inspection station. Finally, the relocation of the current air traffic control tower. The airport authority pointing out that a new tower has been on the Federal Aviation Administrations’ tower replacement list for more than a decade.
Monday, the bipartisan Air Traffic Control Tower Replacement Process Report Act was introduced by U.S. Representatives Hillary Scholten, a Grand Rapids Democrat. Florida Democrat Representative Kathy Castor along with Florida Republican Representatives Gus Bilirakis and Scott Franklin.
Rep. Scholten said, “Our bipartisan bill would provide clarity to the tower replacement process and ensure that airports like ours know where we are in the decision-making process as we advocate for updated airport infrastructure.”
The representatives are requiring the FAA to deliver to Congress a report on the process used to select towers for replacement.