US to close 149 airports control towers due to economic crisis

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says it will close air-traffic control towers at 149 airports across the United States due to budget cuts that have forced Washington to make ‘very tough decisions.’

“Unfortunately we are faced with a series of difficult choices that we have to make to reach the required cuts under sequestration,” the FAA said in a statement on Saturday, adding that the closures will begin on April 7.

Towers at regional airports in Frederick, Maryland, and near St. Petersburg, Florida are among those to be closed.

Meanwhile, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association has warned that the decision to close the towers “will have both short-term and long-term effects.”

The FAA also stated that it had decided not to close another 40 towers, which had been facing closure, because shutting them would have “a negative impact on the national interest.”

The FAA and airlines in the United States have warned that the closures could slow flight traffic around the country, especially during high season.

The Federal Aviation Administration is being forced to cut about $637 million from its current budget due to Washington’s latest spending cuts.

The closures were part of a US administration plan to slice $85 billion from spending in an attempt to reduce the federal deficit.