Each year, hundreds of thousands of air travelers arrive at and depart from University Park Airport — the sixth busiest airport in Pennsylvania. For the past 10 years, superior air traffic control operations have helped see arrivals and departures safely through.
Sept.1, marked the 10-year anniversary of the air traffic control tower being in operation at the airport. “That was a quick 10 years!” said Bryan Rodgers, director of University Park Airport and the Penn State Aviation Center. “Midwest Air Traffic Control has been with us from the very beginning, including the planning stage for the tower, and we are grateful to them for their leadership and support over this decade of air traffic control service. The reality of an air traffic control tower at the airport would not have happened without them.”
With the addition of the air traffic control tower in 2011, the University Park Airport operations team and Midwest Air Traffic Control created a safer, more efficient use of the airport and surrounding airspace.
“Midwest Air Traffic Control Service takes great pride in celebrating this milestone with University Park Airport,” said Scott Timko of Midwest. “The construction of the control tower closed the missing safety link and has, during the last 10 years, seen more than 2 million passenger movements and 400,000 aircraft operations. Having been the air traffic manager since day one, I continue to see this airport grow and thrive year after year.”
“It has been Midwest’s honor and privilege to serve the airport and its flying community over the past 10 years,” added Shane Cordes, president and CEO of Midwest. “Our team looks forward to providing University Park Airport with quality air traffic control service for many years to come.”