Tyler Airport Facing Cut In Funding

TYLER � Twenty-five Texas airports could face major cuts by the end of the week. The reason is the sequestration. One of those airports is Tyler-Pounds Regional. If the cuts do go into affect, the funding for the air traffic control tower will be cut. According to KETK, that will cause airport delays and, according some businesses owners, a cut back in the local economy. The air traffic control tower operator is the first one pilots call as they prepare to land at any airport.on the runway.

Mark Leathers is pilot from Austin who has been using the Jet Center of Tyler for nearly a decade. He says, if that tower is no longer operational, it will force many pilots to find other stops. If the military, and other aircraft decide not to stop in Tyler because of the sequester, it will have a chain reaction in East Texas. But among air traffic delays, Randa Conner from the Jet Center of Tyler feels it will increase the possibility of major accidents on the runway.

But no matter what decision is made, officials at Tyler-Pounds say the airport will remain open. The city of Tyler has already sent a letter to Washington, making the case why the Tyler-Pounds control tower should not lose funding, and why the airport is a big part of not just East Texas travelers, but travel across the state, and the country.