The Albert J. Ellis Airport

THE ALBERT J . ELL I S A I RPORT million, six-story, control tower, which opened last November - the 256th tower operating under the U.S. Contract Tower Program, meaning that the air traffic controllers work for a private firm under contract to the FAA to provide air traffic services. “There are over 19,000 airports in the United States; 5,000 of them are publicly-owned,” White explains. “There are only a little over 600 airports with air traffic control towers, and there are approximately 440 commercial service airports, but approximately half of the commercial service airports out there do not have air traffic services – only the busiest airports have them. And there are a number of general aviation airports that have control towers, but don’t have commercial service.” Up until the new tower opened, pilots at OAJ - as they did and still do at all other airports without towers - communicated on what is known as a common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF). “They announce their intentions and everyone who operates in the airspace communicates on the frequency, so they know to watch out for each other and they can operate without the intervention of air traffic control,” White observes. “It’s a perfectly safe system. Our Airport operated for 48 years and has not had any kind of accidents, so it’s a safe environment for pilots and passengers to operate in. What air traffic does is improve safety and efficiency. As the airspace gets a little more crowded, the air traffic controllers are able to manage the air traffic, better.” While White believes that all the airports in North Carolina generally support one another, he admits that there does exist a friendly competition among nearby facilities. “For success, airports require other airports for arrival and departure destinations,” he avers. “If you have a good, diverse group of airports that people want to travel to and from, that’s a necessary element in a healthy system. So, we kind of depend on the other airports, as well, for our success. That being said, we do compete in both the general aviation realm, as well as the commercial realm. If you look at nearby airports, from a commercial perspective, we compete with New Bern and Wilmington, as well as Raleigh. We believe we have an advantage because we have