Article

Steve Van Beek, Director & Head of North American Aviation, featured in Reason Foundation

How “remote towers” may be the answer to keeping smaller airports operational.

By Steer

Steve Van Beek, Director & Head of North American Aviation, developed a robust report for the Reason Foundation outlining how “remote towers” may be the answer to keeping smaller airports operational. However, with ongoing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) budget problems and no current program, the path forward remains unclear.

Many smaller airports’ towers are operated by contract towers, approved by the FAA when found that the benefits outweigh the costs. Studies have found that contract towers cost only 26% as much to operate as FAA towers, yet still provide equivalent services.

In 2013, 189 contract towers set to be shut down were saved by an emergency transfer of funds from the airport grants program (AIP). At the beginning of 2014, the FAA instituted a moratorium on any additions to the contract tower program – which currently has 16 small airports on the waiting list.

Remote towers offer a possible alternative to the problem. The system utilizes a pole with sophisticated video cameras and communication gear to provide information to controllers in a ground level area. Remote towers improve safety with better surveillance in unfavourable conditions, lower overall construction costs and can consolidate operating costs, making a 1.0 benefit/cost ratio easier to achieve. This approach has been shown to work in several European countries and two pilot projects in the US have been implemented through state and private money.

Yet, due to the FAA ongoing budget problems and other priorities, there is no current program to develop and implement remote towers. Therefore, the path forward for remote towers remains unclear – making the outlook of small airports unclear. However, if the Air Traffic Organization ever separated from the federal budget and was self-supported by customer chargers, remote towers would be a simple business decision.

Read the executive summary and download the full report on the Reason Foundation website.

Off

Subscribe to our newsletter, The Edit

We are Steer

Yes, you are in the right place. After 40 years, we have changed our name from Steer Davies Gleave to mark our growing international footprint and our expanding portfolio into sectors beyond transport.

Explore our new website to learn more about Steer: who we are, how we work and what our future holds.

Related insights

  • 18 Jul 2024
    Article

    The King’s Speech: Our key takeaways on planning, transport and the energy transition

    By Steer

    King Charles sets out the new Labour Government’s legislative agenda which intends to ‘take the brakes off Britain’.

    Read more

  • 25 Nov 2020
    Article

    Airport slot waiver: short-term challenges reflect long-term issues

    Stefan Kouris
    Associate

    The EU suspended the airport slot requirements by issuing a waiver covering the end of the Winter 2019.

    Read more

  • 05 Nov 2020
    Article

    The economic value of air freight services

    Peter Wiener
    Associate

    Air freight is of great importance to the UK economy.

    Read more

  • 19 Aug 2020
    Article

    U, V, L and W recoveries in the Indian transport sector

    Serbjeet Kohli
    Director

    In this article, we have studied how roads, railways, airports and ports have fared in India since March 2020.

    Read more

  • 04 Aug 2020
    Article

    Protecting passenger rights in the EU

    Stefan Kouris
    Associate

    The European Commission has been introducing passenger rights legislation since at least 1991.

    Read more

  • 28 Jul 2020
    Article

    Build back better infrastructure resilience

    By Steer

    Climate change presents an even bigger threat to our lives and livelihoods than the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Read more

  • 01 Jul 2020
    Article

    What will transport look like after the COVID-19 shock?

    By Steer

    Across the world, COVID-19 has led to unprecedented impacts on the way we travel.

    Read more

  • 06 May 2019
    Article

    The role of air freight logistics

    Peter Wiener
    Associate

    The air freight industry plays an important role within the UK, particularly for regional economies.

    Read more

  • 20 Sep 2018
    Article

    Travel retail’s technology challenge

    The travel retail sector has quadrupled in size over the last 30 years to a $64 billion global business.

    Read more

  • 09 Jan 2018
    Article

    The Performance Airport—U.S. Style

    By Steer

    How should public airports measure success? Steer is helping airport management and boards produce business plans.

    Read more

  • 17 Oct 2017
    Article

    A New Horizon – Manchester/Beijing Connectivity

    By Steer

    Steer jointly with SDG Economic Development hosted yet another successful Movement Matters event in Manchester.

    Read more

  • 06 Sep 2017
    Article

    A burst of fresh thinking on the impacts of international connectivity for the North of England

    By Steer

    Movement Matters is a series of inspirational seminars, debates and workshops in the UK and USA, presented by Steer.

    Read more