Hastings Calls on FAA to Reverse Palm Beach International Airport Radar Relocation Plan FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, March 22, 2006   West Palm Beach, FL – Following the lead of U.S. Representative Alcee L. Hastings (D-Miramar), the Palm Beach County Congressional Delegation today expressed its opposition to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) plan to transition the airport’s Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) from Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) to Miami International Airport (MIA). In a letter to FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, Representative Hastings and others noted that the FAA’s decision “has great potential to limit the ability to fly-in emergency relief supplies during natural disasters and possible terrorist attacks, force many PBI air traffic controllers to relocate, and make South Florida’s skies a dangerous place to be.” PBI’s TRACON system guides planes within a 40 mile radius of the airport on their final approaches to PBI, Stuart, Witham Field, Boca Raton Executive Airport, and North Palm Beach County General Aviation Airport as well as over-flight, in-route air traffic in PBI’s airspace. The full text of the delegation letter follows. --- March 22, 2006 The Honorable Marion C. Blakey Administrator Federal Aviation Administration 800 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20591 Dear Administrator Blakey: We write to thank you for your letter of February 13, 2006 indicating that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is planning on constructing a new control tower at Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) between 2007 and 2009. This is an issue on which all of us have been working for many years. We also write to express our deep concerns about the FAA’s decision to transition the airport’s Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) from PBI to Miami International Airport (MIA). If implemented, this decision has great potential to limit the ability to fly-in emergency relief supplies during natural disasters and possible terrorist attacks, force many PBI air traffic controllers to relocate, and make South Florida’s skies a dangerous place to be. The FAA’s plan to essentially place all of South Florida’s major radar functions under one roof at MIA is a very dangerous scenario, especially considering the region’s vulnerability to hurricanes and its federal designation as a high-risk urban area. PBI was greatly utilized during the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons to fly in emergency supplies to Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Hendry Counties, Broward, and Monroe Counties. Additionally, PBI was used extensively following Hurricane Andrew in 1992 as a distribution point for federal and local officials shuttling relief supplies to southern counties which had been completely devastated by the storm. If a hurricane were to barrel through Miami-Dade County and damage MIA’s control tower and subsequent radar system, as Hurricane Andrew did, then it is highly possible, indeed likely, that emergency efforts in Palm Beach and the aforementioned counties could be dramatically hindered. We are well aware of the financial limitations under which the FAA finds itself. Nevertheless, your February 13 letter noting that the FAA can take advantage of an already existing radar system at MIA “without duplicating expenses at West Palm Beach” is quite troubling and confusing. As you know, the FAA is preparing to begin construction of a new control tower at PBI. In turn, if the FAA is going to spend more than $18 million on this tower, then why is it unwilling to include every state-of-the-art radar system available in that tower? These systems would include the modernization of PBI’s TRACON and also purchasing a Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STAR), the system which you maintain is the reason for relocating PBI’s TRACON to MIA. Finally, it is widely accepted that the job of an air traffic controller is a very stressful occupation. Given the current driving conditions on South Florida highways and the distance involved, requiring PBIA controllers to travel to Miami every day to work would put even greater stress on these people on whom we, as air passengers, depend for our safety. Furthermore, recalling the hurricane disasters of the last year alone, asking PBI’s current air traffic controllers to travel between at least 60 and 70 miles to their workplace in such a situation is not a good idea and runs the risk of losing many qualified air traffic controllers with years of experience who may leave the profession rather than relocate south. By its very name, PBI is not a small regional airport. Its size and importance, to the people of South Florida and the Treasure Coast and the thousands of American and international travelers who use it, dictate that it remain staffed as it has since its inception. We submit that your proposal to move transition PBI’s TRACON to MIA is short-sighted and request that it be reconsidered. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and we look forward to your response. Sincerely, Alcee L. Hastings, MC Mark Foley, MC Robert Wexler, MC E. Clay Shaw, Jr., MC ###