SAN CARLOS — An airport on the flight path into San Francisco may lose its air traffic controllers as soon as this weekend following a pay dispute, raising safety concerns on the Peninsula.
The general aviation airport is one of a few in the region staffed by controllers contracted by the Federal Aviation Administration, but not employed by the agency itself. The administration intended to switch contract providers to Robinson Aviation at the beginning of February, but all of the current controllers declined job offers since the new contract didn’t include additional pay to account for the high cost of living in the Bay Area.
The change has led to questions about safety, especially in the wake of the mid-air collision of a plane and a helicopter Wednesday night near Ronald Reagan National Airport, a commercial airport outside Washington, D.C. Sixty-seven people are believed to have died, with conflicting reports about whether control-tower staffing was appropriate at the time of the crash.
In San Carlos, it’s still possible that the FAA will bring in air traffic controllers from other parts of the country to staff the tower at San Carlos by Saturday.
The airport is the only general-aviation airport in the Bay Area with a contracted tower staff, said Alessandro Franco, owner of the San Carlos Flight Center flight school. Towers at other general-aviation airports in the area, including Reid-Hillview in San Jose, are staffed by FAA employees. Air control towers in Redding, Sacramento and Chico are also staffed by contracted controllers; they are among 21 such facilities in the state.
Not all general aviation airports have air control towers, including San Martin, Byron and Half Moon Bay. Pilots at such airports are advised to follow specific flight operations for such facilities, including directly communicating with each other on a shared frequency and organizing operations themselves, which usually works without incident at less busy airports.
According to a statement by the FAA, Robinson Aviation is responsible for ensuring the continuity of air traffic services when it takes over the contract. Given the staffing woes, however, the agency is working with the contractor to develop strategies to continue air traffic services.
A news release from the county of San Mateo stated that safety remained it’s top priority and it was in negotiations to resolve the issue without disruptions. San Carlos Airport is under the oversight of the FAA’s Northern California Terminal Radar Approach Control, or NorCal TRACON, which manages air traffic throughout the region.
Davi Howard, San Carlos Airport’s communications manager, said that Robinson Aviation called in controllers from other parts of the country to staff the tower by Saturday.
A plane takes off from San Carlos Airport on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 in San Carlos, Calif. The air control tower at San Carlos Airport will be unstaffed starting Feb., 1. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
“If there were no air traffic controllers in the tower, we would encourage that the pilots limit their use to the San Carlos Airport for the period of time that it would be unmanned, but we’re pretty confident that that’s not going to happen,” Howard said.
Franco said that an unmanned tower at the airport is a cause for concern, especially with the San Carlos Airport being so close to San Francisco International Airport. The main concern, he added, is the volume of traffic around the area because planes approaching SFO make their final descent near San Carlos.
“There’s going to be a lot of traffic, and the tower, when they’re operating, will usually help remind and advise pilots of that proximity,” Franco said.
The airport also handles charter operations and flight training, which involves repeated takeoffs and landings. Franco said that air traffic is the immediate concern right now, because operations would be “logistically more challenging and less safe,” and other airports in the area might have to take that traffic.
In 2024, San Carlos Airport had more than 98,000 operations — such as takeoffs and landings — and over 100,000 operations directed by the air control tower.
Franco also expressed concern about the funding of the airport in the long run if the issue of staffing was not resolved. Howard said the San Carlos Airport is funded by user fees, like hangar rentals and businesses that operate at the airport. But if the airport is deemed unsafe by its users, they might move elsewhere.
It’s possible for the FAA to defer or reverse the contract changeover to allow the staff that currently works in the tower to continue working, but Franco said it didn’t seem like the FAA was willing to do that. The FAA could also staff the tower with its own employees, but Franco said the FAA rejected that option.
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“Someone needs to do something, either reversing the contract or the FAA in places like this needs to assume the tower themselves and not leave it up to these contractors to provide services when they’re not doing so,” Franco said.
San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller, whose district includes San Carlos Airport, said that if an accident were to happen around the airport, the FAA and their contracted controllers would be responsible.
“The FAA needs to prioritize public safety over cost-saving measures. We need to ensure that air traffic controllers are properly compensated to reflect the high cost of living in the Bay Area,” Mueller said. “And the FAA’s contractor decision must be immediately reversed as to ensure San Carlos Airport is properly staffed with qualified controllers. Public safety demands it.”
Aviators tie down a plane at San Carlos Airport on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 in San Carlos, Calif. The air control tower at San Carlos Airport will be unstaffed starting Feb., 1. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
