Councils join push for airport

SUPPORT for a second airport at Badgerys Creek has received another significant boost, with a key group of councils backing calls for the first steps to be taken in its development.

The Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC), representing 10 local government areas and incorporating more than 1.5 million residents, yesterday threw its support behind calls by a coalition of unions and business groups for a new environmental impact statement to be prepared on the Badgerys Creek site.

"Attitudes in the region are changing from what they were almost two decades ago when the issue was last raised," WSROC president Tony Hadchiti said.

"It's time the government took these changes into account.

"The Greater Western Sydney Region is already home to 1.9 million people . . . these people are going to need jobs and access to transport."

Mr Hadchiti said support for Badgerys Creek as the location for a second airport was at a high.

The Daily Telegraph yesterday revealed about 60 NSW Labor-affiliated unions, representing 600,000 workers, had allied with business groups to back an airport at Badgerys Creek.

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Councils join push for airport

SUPPORT for a second airport at Badgerys Creek has received another significant boost, with a key group of councils backing calls for the first steps to be taken in its development.

The Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC), representing 10 local government areas and incorporating more than 1.5 million residents, yesterday threw its support behind calls by a coalition of unions and business groups for a new environmental impact statement to be prepared on the Badgerys Creek site.

"Attitudes in the region are changing from what they were almost two decades ago when the issue was last raised," WSROC president Tony Hadchiti said.

"It's time the government took these changes into account.

"The Greater Western Sydney Region is already home to 1.9 million people . . . these people are going to need jobs and access to transport."

Mr Hadchiti said support for Badgerys Creek as the location for a second airport was at a high.

The Daily Telegraph yesterday revealed about 60 NSW Labor-affiliated unions, representing 600,000 workers, had allied with business groups to back an airport at Badgerys Creek.

View the original article here

Mom, 2 sons improving after Ala. airport sign fell

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A woman and two of her sons are improving at hospitals after they were seriously injured when a flight information billboard fell on them at an airport in Alabama.

A third son was killed Friday when the electronic board, weighing at least 300 pounds, fell at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport.

The boys' mother, Heather Bresette, had broken ankles and a crushed pelvis. A hospital spokeswoman says she had surgeries over the weekend and was getting better. However, she was still unconscious Sunday and does not know that her son died.

The Bresettes, a family of seven, took a weeklong vacation in Destin, Fla., and were about to fly home to Overland Park, Kan., when the sign fell.

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Airport control towers closed in budget cuts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday it will close 149 air traffic control towers beginning on April 7 to meet required automatic spending cuts.

Another 40 towers previously slated for closure will remain open, the agency said in a statement.

"We heard from communities across the country about the importance of their towers and these were very tough decisions," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. "Unfortunately we are faced with a series of difficult choices that we have to make to reach the required cuts under sequestration."

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said the agency would work with affected airports and operators to ensure procedures are in place to maintain a high level of safety.

In early March, the FAA proposed closing 189 contract air traffic control towers as part of its plan to meet the $637 million in cuts required under budget sequestration.

The agency said on Friday it had decided to keep 24 of the towers open because closing them would have a negative impact on the national interest.

Another 16 towers under a "cost-share" program were spared because the required 5 percent cut to that portion of the budget did not require the towers to be closed.

(Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Todd Eastham)

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