Originally published in 2001
By Phillip Savko
Airport Manager, Sugar Land
Sugar Land Airport’s role as a corporate aviation hub in southwest Texas continues to expand, as new tenants like Parker Drilling Company, Western Airways and Beeler Properties Inc. choose the airport based on the addition of amenities like a state- of-the-art air traffic control tower.
Officially opened for business on August 3, 2001, the tower was made possible through a unique partnership between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Aviation Division and City staff.
Sugar Land Airport is the first airport in the state to receive funding from TxDOT for construction of an air traffic control tower. TxDOT approved $500,000 toward the construction, with the remaining $500,000 paid through a loan from Sugar Land Development Corporation, a non-profit corporation whose purpose is to support economic development. The airport will repay these funds through revenues from fuel sales.
As part of the Contract Tower Program, the FAA will fund tower operations, saving the airport more than $250,000 annually. The tower is currently staffed by five full-time controllers, with a sixth controller to be added soon by the FAA. Robinson Vanburen Associates, Inc. is the new air traffic control contractor under an FAA contract that began funding the controllers’ salaries Aug. 1, 2001.
In addition to an Automated Surface Observation System and other standard equipment that is already operational, the following items will be installed in the tower:
- a Digital Bright Radar Indicator Tower Equipment system;
- a Flight Data Input Output system; and
- voice-switching gear.
Joining local dignitaries and airport staff for the official dedication of the air traffic control tower on August 22 were U.S. Representative Tom DeLay and Texas Department of Transportation Aviation Division Director, Dave Fulton. In addition to an F-16 fly-by, Captain Gene Cernan, a retired astronaut and the last man to walk on the moon, participated in the celebration as the first pilot to officially touch down on Sugar Land’s runway under direction from the new tower.