Flight control tower approved for one of the busiest public airports in Pa., Butler’s
PENN TWP — After years working with the Federal Aviation Administration, Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport could have a flight control tower by 2029.
Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport was deemed the fifth-busiest public use airport in Pennsylvania in 2023. Two years later in 2025, there were more than 90,000 operations recorded. That same year, the Butler County airport authority had the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) perform a cost-benefit analysis on the addition of a flight control tower at the airport.
The airport had earlier been accepted by the FAA as a candidate for its federal contract tower program, which would allow for certified air traffic controllers to staff the tower and be paid by the FAA. The airport was given seven years to construct a tower and get it to the point of being operational.
Once officially a candidate for the program, the airport authority board prepared the necessary paperwork for the FAA so the airport could build the tower to its specifications.
The Butler County authority approved federal documents on June 11.
The airport’s administrators and the authority board of directors are aiming for construction to start sometime in 2028 and to be completed in 2029, said airport manager Stephanie Saracco.
According to Saracco, despite the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport being an “uncontrolled airspace” because of its lack of a control tower, it boasts diverse traffic, including jets, multiengine aircraft, flight training and helicopter operations.
A control tower, she said, will have staff who “speak to other aircraft in the area, let them know what's going on and then that coordination happens between the pilots.”
“It is necessary for safety. We have much more traffic here at the airport,” Saracco said. “The control tower knows who’s doing what and they can advise pilots as to what’s going on. They can move air traffic to different positions if necessary.”
Saracco said the Airport Authority board will still need to bid out the construction of the control tower, but its exact location on the airstrip is still being considered.
Once the tower is completed, however, it will be staffed by “contract controllers,” who are certified air traffic controllers who are paid by the FAA, but not technically federal employees. The FAA will determine how many are necessary to staff the airport, but Saracco suspects there will be at least five full-time staffers at the tower.
Without an air traffic control tower, pilots have had to do the communications themselves — using a radio frequency to announce themselves and their approach to the Penn Township airport.
“There is a radio frequency assigned to this airport that the pilots use when they get into our airspace and they announce their intentions,” Saracco said. “Then they can speak to other aircraft in the area, let them know what’s going on and then that coordination happens between the pilots. The FAA has very specific rules on the ground and in the air.”
Jim Harjer, a member of the airport authority board of directors, said there is a definite need for an air traffic control tower because of the number of operations that take place on the airport.
“The total number of airplanes in one year is phenomenal for an airport without a tower,” Harjer said.
Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport was founded in 1929 and now has 141 aircraft based on its airfield, more than 100 leases at the airport and 146 employees at businesses located on the airport property.
Mike Walsh, another member of the authority board, noted Allegheny Health Network operates its LifeFlight from the airport, High Flight Academy teaches hundreds of people how to fly each year, Air Quest Aviation offers many flight-based services and there are two flying clubs at the field. So the skies above Butler County are regularly swarming with aircraft.
Saracco said the Butler airport is busier than most public use airports in other cities including Erie, Harrisburg and State College.
Walsh said there are also mechanics based at the airport, which brings people in for landings to get maintenance and certification checks done.
“It’s a pretty active place,” Walsh said. “This is a busy airport, which is why we’re so happy we recently got approved for a control tower.”
The airport only has four staff members itself, but Saracco said professionals in flying and air travel fields are always needed.
“With everything growing, there is a huge shortage of pilots, mechanics and technicians all across the country and the same is true here,” she said. “These are five good paying jobs.”
Saracco said although the completion of the control tower is still years away, it’s the next step in the growth of the airport and Butler County. Saracco said it will further cement Butler County as a destination for air travelers.
“It’s been a long time coming and it’s being done for the safety of our pilots and our community,” Saracco said. “We’re looking forward to having it done.”
