Five Massachusetts airports will soon lose their air traffic controllers as part of massive budget cutting at the Federal Aviation Administration
The towers at airports in Beverly, New Bedford, Lawrence, Worcester and Norwood will lose the controllers early next month.
The airports are among 149 nationwide facing similar cutbacks. The FAA was forced to chop $637 million from its budget as part of $85 billion in across-the-board federal spending cuts.
None of the airports will shut down. In many cases, pilots will instead coordinate takeoffs and landings among themselves over a shared radio frequency.
The five towers were among six facing the budget ax. The tower at a Westfield airport was spared.
The director at Worcester airport said it already operates without air traffic control for several hours daily and has established procedures it can rely on.
