Citing both safety and economic impact concerns, several operators at Felts Field are voicing support of Spokane Airports' legal fight to stop the Federal Aviation Administration from closing that airport's air control tower on June 15.

FAA closures of control towers don't mean airports shut down, but rather that pilots must follow prescribed safety protocols to coordinate takeoffs and landings among themselves over a shared radio frequency, with no help from ground controllers.

However, airport executives say Felts' potential loss of air traffic controllers has created some turbulence of uncertainty among tenant operators and pilots. The longtime Spokane Valley general aviation airport has about 52,000 landings and takeoffs each year, with an airspace that's 9 miles from the Spokane International Airport and 21 miles from Coeur d'Alene Airport, they say.

"There's already an economic impact of uncertainty," says Dennis Elrod, CEO of Spokane Turbine Center, a missionary-pilot training nonprofit based at Felts Field. "I've put my expansion plans on hold until I figure out what they're doing."

Since 2008, Spokane Turbine has invested $6.2 million in equipment and projects, including renovating space rented by Moody Bible Institute's aviation maintenance training program and recently purchasing two structures at Felts.

Spokane Turbine offers training for the Quest Kodiak single-engine turboprop airplane and brings in international pilots such as from China, Thailand, and Mexico who are familiar with flying aircraft out of a towered airfield, Elrod says.

He adds, "We purchased those buildings to be at an airfield with a control tower." If the tower closes, Elrod says he'll have to study the economic impact.

"The tower closing has the economic effect of potentially discouraging the international pilots from coming to Felts for their training needs," he says. "I'll do a cost-impact analysis about whether it makes sense to stay in Spokane."

Larry Krauter, Spokane International Airport CEO, says that in addition to safety concerns outlined in Spokane Airports' legal challenge to the FAA's decision, the tower loss could have significant impacts to the Spokane area's economy and business recruiting efforts if it goes forward.

He says that other airports and interested parties have joined Spokane Airports' legal challenge to the FAA's decision, and that an expedited scheduling request could place the case before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco by May 31.

"What we don't know is how the court is going to respond to that proposal, and whether the court will be able to process the case by June 15," Krauter says.

In March, the FAA said that because of federal budget cuts, it planned to close 149 control towers on April 7, but it later pushed that date back to June 15. All of the control towers slated to close operate under contract with the FAA. Other airports in Washington state on the closure list include Renton Municipal Airport, Tacoma Narrows Airport, Yakima Air Terminal/McAllister Field, and Olympia Regional Airport.

Krauter says the FAA has reported that the average annual cost to operate one contract tower is about $450,000. At Felts Field, he says, the contractor is Serco Management Services Inc., operating 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily with five full-time air traffic controllers.

"They will become unemployed, and most of these positions across the country are jobs held by our veterans," Krauter says. "Most air traffic controllers pick up their skills in the military."

He cites a concern that some Felts Field operators, including the Northwest MedStar air ambulance service, would need to evaluate future operations at the municipal airport if air traffic controllers aren't based there.

"One of the direct impacts is for MedStar; they will have to evaluate whether they can continue to operate efficiently without a tower," Krauter says. "It's difficult to say whether it will be a significant impact, but it may delay their 'lifeguard' flights from taking off as quickly as they do now."

Nicole Stewart, spokeswoman for Inland Northwest Health Services, which operates MedStar, says that while the service is supporting efforts to keep the tower open, it will continue to provide critical care transports from Felts regardless of the outcome. The service averages about 1,200 takeoffs and landings a year at Felts Field, she says.

Barry Huck, president of Felts' fixed-based operator Western Aviation, says he shares the same concerns as others about how the proposed tower closure would affect air traffic and safety.

Huck adds, "We have a very complex airspace being so near Spokane International Airport, Fairchild Air Force Base, and the Coeur d'Alene Airport."

Also, Felts Field has two parallel runways that on busier days can have two aircraft taking off at the same time.

"We've been told they would close one of the runways if the FAA closes the tower," Huck says.

Krauter also says that continued use of both runways likely hinges on an operational control tower.

"The two parallel runways are very closely spaced together—so close they don't meet FAA standards for separation," Krauter says. "The FAA granted a waiver on the separation distance based on the fact there is a control tower there. If it closes, there is a concern we'd have to close one of the runways in order to maintain safe operations."

He adds, "Among the other things we are presenting in the legal argument is the fact that the FAA hasn't adequately studied the potential impacts from closing that runway."

Felts Field's long-term plans call for new hangars, other upgrades for general aviation needs, and serving as a host site for a future Honor Point Military & Aerospace Museum. New hangars could attract bases for corporate aircraft, he adds. The field has annual operating income of nearly $700,000, and its operating expenses total about $600,000.

"For a general aviation airport, that is a measure of success, to break even or close to that," he says.

Krauter says in recent years, several tenants were drawn to Felts Field in large part because of its air traffic control operations.

"I think it hurts us in terms of our ability to recruit additional businesses to Felts Field that would like to have access to a staffed control tower," he says. "If the tower does close, there will be adjustments everyone will have to make over time."

Moody Aviation, the aviation training arm of Chicago-based Moody Bible Institute, recently expanded by adding an aircraft maintenance training program that operates in one of Spokane Turbine Center's buildings, which is a remodeled former Air National Guard hangar.

Spokane Turbine's Elrod says close to 200 customers a year are trained at Spokane Turbine Center, when combining its own programs, Moody's maintenance and repair training program, and people who are here for Quest training only.

Separately, Moody also uses another 21,600-square-foot hangar at Felts that it owns for its flight training program, which trains pilots for missionary work in remote areas. That hangar is about a third of a mile away from the 24,000-square-foot former National Guard hangar.

Cecil Bedford, manager of Moody Aviation, says that Felts Field's operational control tower played a significant role in the decision to move the program here from Tennessee about eight years ago. If the tower closes, it would require changes to the school's flight training curriculum, which calls for training pilots on how to interact with air traffic controllers at Felts, he says.

"The tower provides an additional layer of safety to make sure the students have clearance as they fly, especially in relation to the airspace we fly in," Bedford adds. "The second thing it provides is an increase in the professionalism of our students, when they have to interface with the tower."

Bedford adds, "If the tower closes, Moody Aviation would continue to do what we do. It would complicate what we do as far as efficiently flying aircraft. It would also involve us doing more of our own aircraft tracking, but it's not a show stopper."

However, Bedford says the organization also supports the Spokane Airports' efforts to keep the airport tower open. "We're hoping that the control tower does not go away," he says.

Another organization working to support the Spokane Airports' efforts is the 144-member Spokane Airport Tenants Association with members at both airports here, says its president Larry Tobin, a retired airline pilot who is a biplane hobbyist with aircraft based at Felts.

"We have tenants at both airports, and represent probably 500 tenants," Tobin says. "We're representing them in supporting the airport director and airport board in trying to keep the tower open. Our argument with the FAA is it's violated its own safety guidelines arbitrarily."

Elrod also asserts that the FAA isn't following its own model of safety.

"As a pilot of 25 years, I've never seen the FAA react so quickly without any forethought about safety, so it's surprising," Elrod says. "Our expansion plans are in the three- to four-year range. They're on hold, and they're totally in doubt."