Control Towers Without Humans

wsuffa said:
Will they demand minimum wage? Or work for free?
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I know you're kidding, but really machines do not work for free. There is upfront capital and lots of backend maintenance of hardware and software - and people to do all that and continuous training and development. And then there is still the need for controllers to monitor x number of airports. Not free by a long shot and often the new costs exceed the old ones and the new benefits are less than initially imagined.

But hey some contractor still gets the contract to build it all - and train everyone and maintain the monstrosity. They're the ones applying the lobbying money, not the rest of us.

I'm not against the idea necessarily, I just am not willing to say categorically that it is likely to work economically when all costs and benefits are tossed in. If it can be demonstrated clearly that it works as well as a real tower and is cheaper with a reasonable accounting of costs and bennies then so be it.

But at some point we just need to bite the bullet and admit that tower-controlling some airports is unnecessary. Make them non-towered and let us get on with life.
 
petrolero said:
I know you're kidding, but really machines do not work for free. There is upfront capital and lots of backend maintenance of hardware and software - and people to do all that and continuous training and development. And then there is still the need for controllers to monitor x number of airports. Not free by a long shot and often the new costs exceed the old ones and the new benefits are less than initially imagined.

But hey some contractor still gets the contract to build it all - and train everyone and maintain the monstrosity. They're the ones applying the lobbying money, not the rest of us.

I'm not against the idea necessarily, I just am not willing to say categorically that it is likely to work economically when all costs and benefits are tossed in. If it can be demonstrated clearly that it works as well as a real tower and is cheaper with a reasonable accounting of costs and bennies then so be it.

But at some point we just need to bite the bullet and admit that tower-controlling some airports is unnecessary. Make them non-towered and let us get on with life.
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Yep, I get that. More than you know.

My comment was simply a tongue-in-cheek sarcastic joke at Anthony's remark.

All is good.

;)
 
In the future there will be towers that operate on demand, based on traffic volume or air carrier operations.
 
Skip Miller said:
I trained at KBDR, a non-Federal control tower/non-radar tower/Class D airspace. On a nice Saturday it was common to have 6 to 8 students in the pattern doing Crash and Go's.

I will be amazed if a remote operator can keep up with that safely while handling other towers, too.
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Generally, a tower controlled airport can't handle as many aircraft movements as an uncontrolled field.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
They are?! Do you have any more info on this?
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This is from the info package for the Regional Airport Commission.

Remote Air Traffic Control Tower A delegation from those involved in the remote air traffic control tower program (previously named blended airspace or virtual tower program) visited the Airport on Wednesday, August 26th. The delegation comprised of staff from the NextGen department of the FAA, air traffic control staff from various locations, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (which is the union that represents air traffic controllers), Mr. Bill Payne (the project manager hired by the State of Colorado for this project), and representatives from the Colorado Department of Transportation Division of Aeronautics. The purpose of the visit was to determine the best location for a demonstration site for the proposed virtual air traffic control tower project. It is anticipated that the FAA will announce where this innovative project will be awarded as early as the end of September.

The Fort Collins – Loveland Airport is at the top of the list of Colorado Airports being considered for this project. As the Airport continues to experience increased activity; attributed to the closure of the Fort Collins Downtown airport in 2007 and regional growth that surpasses the national average, a solution for air traffic control will ultimately be necessary. The cost to construct and maintain a typical tower is approximately $5-8 million plus an additional $250,000 each year for operations and maintenance. These figures do not include the cost to staff the tower with certified air traffic controllers. The proposed demonstration project is designed to replace the air traffic control tower infrastructure with radar and camera systems that can be operated remotely, reducing costs for infrastructure and increasing
efficiencies in staffing.
 
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