Gwinnett Airport Tower To Remain Open

The control tower at Gwinnett County-owned Briscoe Field will remain open at least through September, according to a Federal Aviation Administration announcement Friday (May 10).

FAA Director Ray LaHood said in a statement:

 ... the recently enacted Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013 will allow the FAA to transfer sufficient funds to end employee furloughs and keep the 149 low activity contract towers originally slated for closure in June open for the remainder of fiscal year 2013.

The federal government's fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

Briscoe Field's control tower, which is maintained by the FAA, had been among 149 towers nationally that were slated to be closed under federal budget cuts known as sequestration.

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There's no word yet on whether county officials will continue that effort.

“This victory is thanks to a bipartisan coalition of senators and congressmen and -women who came together to demonstrate that there are more responsible ways to cut spending than by compromising safety,” Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), a critic of earlier plans to shut the towers, told the Los Angeles Times.

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