Yakima Airport Control Tower to Close Along with Four Others in State

According to KIMA, automatic federal government budget cuts are seeing to it that Yakima's airport control tower will close starting next month along with Spokane's Felts Field, Renton Municipal Airport, Tacoma Narrows and Olympia. 

The FAA listed 149 control towers it will close across the country as part of the government's requirement to trim $600 million from its budget. Safety seems a common concern with these closures, but Pro-Flight Aviation owner Diane Paholke knows pilots are trained to handle these situations.

"It will still be safe...The pilots know how to talk to each other in the air, but it was a greater deal of safety with the control tower."

 

 

The Walla Walla and Moses Lake towers in Eastern Washington remain open at this time, but the airport towers at Renton, Tacoma Narrows and Olympia in Western Washington are closing under the cut on Friday while Everett's Paine Field remains open.