FAA puts off decision on location of new air traffic control center
Town officials are hoping the FAA chooses Long Island MacArthur Airport as the site for a new air traffic control facility. Videojournalist: Jim Staubitser (July 12, 2012) Credit: Jim Staubitser
The FAA is delaying a decision on where it might build a new air control traffic facility in the Northeast, according to a report from the Department of Transportation's inspector general issued on Tuesday.
Multiple locations on Long Island have been floated by officials as possible choices for the new facility. The FAA had originally planned on announcing the location in November, but that date has been pushed back to May 2013.
The new air traffic center is part of the FAA's effort to consolidate and update its facilities and could affect 950 local jobs -- those employed at the two current air traffic operations on Long Island. Building the new center on the island would mean keeping those jobs and possibly adding more than 1,000 new ones.
Last week, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he had received verbal confirmation from FAA officials that the new facility would be located in New York State.
In the past month, local politicians and officials have also rallied behind the effort for the new facility to be located on Long Island, with many suggesting MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma as a suitable choice.
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