FAA Extends Tower Closure Date On April 5, the Federal Aviation Administration announced it will delay the closures of all 149 federal contract air traffic control towers until June 15. Earlier this year on March 22, the FAA announced it would eliminate funding for these towers as part of the agency’s required $637 million budget cuts under sequestration. A phased, four-week closure process was scheduled to begin April 7 but did not occur. Instead, the FAA will stop funding all 149 towers on June 15 and will close the facilities unless the airports decide to continue operations as a nonfederal contract tower. According to the FAA, this additional time will allow the agency to attempt to resolve multiple legal challenges to the closure decisions. As part of the tower closure implementation process, the agency continues to consult with airports and operators and review appropriate risk mitigations. Extending the transition deadline will give the FAA and airports more time to execute the changes to the National Airspace System. q BENEFIT OF THE MONTH: STC Resources The members-only portion of the AEA website includes a comprehensive database resource for supplemental type certificates. In addition, the site includes an STC certification documents library, which includes documents and shared industry resources to assist members with STC development projects. To take advantage of this member benefit, visit www.aea.net/stc and enter your username and password for access. q avionics news • may 2013 11http://www.aea.net/stc