House Overwhelmingly Approves Hastings Amendment Blocking FAA from Moving PBI TRACON FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, June 15, 2006   Washington, DC – The U.S. House of Representatives today overwhelmingly approved an amendment authored by U.S. Representative Alcee L. Hastings (D-Miramar) blocking the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from moving Palm Beach International Airport’s Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) system to Miami International Airport. The final vote tally for Representative Hastings’ amendment was 261-166. “This vote sends a clear and strong message to the FAA that the House of Representatives does not support the FAA’s TRACON consolidation plan in South Florida and throughout the country,” said Representative Hastings after today’s vote. “I am pleased that the House chose today to place the safety of America’s flying public over flawed government reorganization.” The TRACON system guides planes within a 50 mile radius of the airport on their final approaches, and in an effort to save money, the FAA has embarked an ambitious plan to consolidate 24 TRACON systems throughout the country into 10. Under the FAA plan, TRACONs at Palm Beach International and Pensacola Regional Airports will be moved to Miami International and Tallahassee Regional Airports, respectively. During debate on his amendment, Representative Hastings noted that the FAA’s plan would leave all South Florida airports without an approach radar system if a natural disaster or terrorist attack were to destroy MIA’s TRACON. The FAA’s contingency plan, as presented to Representative Hastings, would require that controllers in Jacksonville, an airport more than 350 miles away, direct approaching aircraft not only in their assigned region, but throughout all of South Florida and virtually the entire state without additional staff and technology. “Contrary to what some have suggested, this has not been a debate just about jobs. This is a debate about public safety and whether or not limiting our air traffic capacities during natural and man-made disasters is a good idea. Eliminating 14 TRACONs across the country, including at Palm Beach International Airport, is not the recipe for ensuring that our air traffic needs are met during disasters, natural or man-made,” Representative Hastings noted. “If a terrorist attack or natural disaster were to destroy a consolidated TRACON anywhere in the country, the option to spread added workload amongst multiple Centers will not exist because those Centers will be completely gone if the FAA gets its way. Simply put, during these critical times, we should not be limiting our air traffic capacity.” ###