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City Government

Boise FAA Tower To Control Bozeman

 March 4, 2013 ⋅  Post a comment

In what can only be an “ironic irony” the new Boise air traffic control tower which is head and shoulders above most any building in the state will serve as the approach control radar service for Bozeman, Montana.

Before the politicos got involved, the plan was to have Boise’s TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control) operated remotely out of Salt Lake Center. Idaho’s Congressional delegation and city mothers and fathers lobbied to house it in the new control tower (which has stood idle and unoccupied for several years). The reason: SAFETY. They claimed even though radar controllers sit in a dark windowless room, they need to know the local area and having the controllers in Salt Lake was not as good as housing them at the Boise facility.

You guessed it. It is perfectly safe–and cost effective–according to the FAA to have Boise’s new TRACON handle air traffic approach control at Bozeman. An FAA spokesman told the GUARDIAN, “The stars lined up in our favor.” Those “stars” are commonly known as politicos.

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