Waukesha County Airport's control tower one of 149 on final closure list

The list is now official and it wasn't good news for eight airports in Wisconsin.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced today that the airport control towers at Waukesha County's Crites Field and Milwaukee County's Timmerman Field on Milwaukee's northwest side are among the 149 that will begin a four-week closing process beginning April 7.

The other airport control towers that will close in the state are in Mosinee, Eau Claire, Kenosha, Janesville, La Crosse and Oshkosh. 

The tower closures are a result of the FAA having to cut nearly $600 million from its budget as part of $85 billion in across-the-board federal spending cuts.

According to a release from the FAA, the agency kept 24 federal contract towers open that had been previously proposed for closure as well as an additional 16 towers under the “cost share” program.

The Waukesha County Airport is part of the federal contract tower program.

Six workers will lose their jobs due to the closure.

Waukesha County has nearly 60,000 takeoffs and landings each year.

Waukesha County Airport Manager Kurt Stanich said before the decision was final that he worried about safety at airports that would lose control towers.