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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Boise airport to keep TRACON system

Here's a news item from The Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Boise Airport will keep an air-traffic control system that federal aviation officials had once aimed to relocate to Salt Lake City. The Federal Aviation Administration's announcement Tuesday that it has abandoned plans to uproot the Terminal Radar Approach Control system, or TRACON, is a victory for Idaho's U.S. congressional delegation, which lobbied hard to keep the system. A 2005 FAA study concluded moving the system that keeps track of air traffic between five and 65 miles outside Boise would save $24 million over the next 25 years. But Idaho air traffic controllers union members objected, saying the study inflated savings and ignored the safety needs of diverse air traffic over Idaho's capital. Boise Airport controllers oversee commercial and general aviation, the National Interagency Fire Center's wildfire-fighting planes, military aircraft and cargo planes.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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