Air traffic controllers at the San Carlos Airport—a mere 12 miles from San Francisco International Airport (SFO)—are walking off the job at the end of the day Friday, raising concerns over the safety of jets, helicopters, and other aircraft that will be passing through the airspace over the weekend.
It comes after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) awarded a contract for air traffic control services to a new provider, Robinson Aviation (RVA), the small airport told The Epoch Times in an email.
While the air traffic controllers prior contracts included extra cash to make up for living expenses in the Bay Area, the newly awarded contract did not include such stipends offered by the previously contracted company, Serco. The air traffic controllers rejected the new contracts.
The contract dispute initially threatened to turn San Carlos Airport (SQL) into a “non-towered” airport, meaning pilots must see and avoid each other on their own, rather than rely on the oversight of a manned control tower. However, an airport spokesperson confirmed on Friday afternoon that the airport will have temporary air traffic controllers working on Saturday.
Airport Manager Gretchen Kelly previously told The Epoch Times that the airport, which has been in its current location since 1948, was negotiating with RVA, which is headquartered in Oklahoma City, and that there wouldn’t be a disruption in air traffic control service.
“The County of San Mateo and its Airports division want to reassure the public that safety remains the highest priority and there will likely be no lapse in air traffic control services,” Airport Manager Gretchen Kelly told The Epoch Times in an email.
The airport also requested the FAA provide the airport with temporary staff for the tower, which the FAA did at Eagle County Regional Airport in Colorado during its transition from Serco to RVA, and was initially denied. The FAA did not reply to The Epoch Times’ request for comment by publication time.
The airport had been working with U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin’s (D-Calif.) office to urge the FAA to provide air traffic services at their airport. His office did not reply to a request for comment by publication time.
The new contractor, RVA, pledged to man the unstaffed tower by Saturday. “As a contingency, RVA is preparing to bring in controllers from other towers across the country to prevent an ATC-Zero (unstaffed tower) situation on Saturday,” the airport said in a Thursday statement.The update came a day after an American Airlines flight and an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Washington, D.C., killing all 67 people on both aircraft, which prompted increased media coverage of SQL’s air traffic staffing predicament.
Air-Ambulance, Medivac flights, and law enforcement patrols all operate from San Carlos Airport. San Carlos Airport, located 20 miles south of downtown San Francisco, is also on the flight path to SFO. There are more than 25 aviation-related businesses and about 500 aircraft at the airport.
The FAA is managing an ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers and has said it is short approximately 3,000 controllers nationwide.
