Federal budget-cutting has reached into the tower at Idaho Falls Airport. Air traffic control at Fanning Field, now done by the Federal Aviation Administration, will be privatized in 1996.
That probably means a change in personnel and lower wages for the controllers who take over, but federal officials say that neither pilots nor passengers will notice any difference in service.The contractor that will take over in Idaho Falls is Barton ATC International, based in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
The program affects only airports classified by the FAA as Level 1, meaning they have little traffic.
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The FAA said the Idaho Falls tower operates 12-16 hours a day and handles fewer than 35 takeoffs and landings per peak hour, mostly non-airline traffic.