WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration is keeping open for now the 149 control towers at small airports that were slated to close as the result of governmentwide automatic spending cuts.

The towers, which are operated by contractors for the FAA at low-traffic airports, had been scheduled to close June 15. They will now remain open at least through Sept. 30, the end of the federal budget year, the Transportation Department said Friday.

A bill hastily passed by Congress last month to end air traffic controller furloughs also makes enough money available to keep the towers open, the statement said. The bill gave the FAA authority to shift $253 million from accounts with unspent funds to keep controllers on the job. The furloughs at all FAA-operated airport towers and air traffic control facilities caused widespread flight delays across the country for nearly a week before Congress stepped in.

The FAA will put $10 million toward reducing cuts and delays in its program to move from a radar-based air traffic control system to one based on satellite navigation, the statement said, while another $11 million will go to “partially restore the support of infrastructure in the national airspace system.”

While the decision gives the small airports a temporary reprieve, FAA officials will still be under pressure to find ways to further cut spending in next year’s budget.