Nearly 60 percent of the air traffic control towers and other key aviation facilities run by the Federal Aviation Administration are more than 30 years old and plagued by leaks, mold and foggy windows that can make it difficult to see the aircraft, an audit has found.
The audit of 16 FAA facilities selected at random by the Department of Transportation's Office of the Inspector General found "obvious structural deficiencies and maintenance-related issues" that would keep the guys from This Old House busy for years. Beyond leaky ceilings and faulty climate-control systems, the most severe problem was condensation-clouded windows that made it difficult to see the airfield. The air traffic control tower at Edwards Andrews Air Force Base — the airport used by the president — was among those with foggy windows.
"It is important to note that the maintenance issues we observed did not impact the safe operations at the facilities we visited," the report said. Still, some control towers were too short because the airports they serve have expanded since the towers were built.
Age is to blame for most of the problems, the audit states. The FAA has 420 staffed air traffic control centers, each with a useful life of 25 to 30 years. But 59 percent of the buildings are more than 30 years old, and the average age of the system's control towers is 29.
The audit also attributes the repair backlog — which Aero-News estimates at more than $240 million and the Associated Press says could grow to $380 million by 2020 — to the FAA's previous policy of allowing local officials to determine maintenance-spending priorities. The FAA centralized its maintenance program four years ago, but the audit says the agency still does not make maintenance a high enough priority.
But the National Air Traffic Controllers Association says there's more to it than that. The group, which is locked in a nasty contract dispute with the FAA, claims the FAA has deferred maintenance in favor of a shopping spree worthy of MTV Cribs.
It points to things like a 58-inch flat-screen TV for the control-tower conference room at Charlotte-Douglas International and $5,000 spent on furniture for the tower at Ashville Regional Airport.
Up to now, the FAA has said only that it will take action to address the issues and recommendations raised by the audit. They include coming up with a method for consistently funding ongoing maintenance operations, determining which
FAA facilities will be needed once a new GPS-based air traffic control system is put in place and ensuring that those facilities are equipped to handle the new system when it finally becomes a reality.
The audit (.pdf) was requested by Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minnesota), chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
POST UPDATED 3:40 p.m. PST.
Photo by Flickr user selva.
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