WASHINGTON — The federal government Thursday moved forward with a controversial proposal that would close weather offices at 20 regional air-traffic-control centers across the country — including one in Denver — and instead provide controllers with forecasts from two central units in Maryland and Missouri.
The consolidation plan came under immediate fire from the union representing National Weather Service employees, which charged that the change will endanger aviation safety.
“Air-traffic controllers will no longer have the immediate expertise of an on-site meteorologist to advise them where to route aircraft experiencing difficulty when weather conditions play a critical role in that decision,” said Dan Sobien, National Weather Service Employees Organization president.
But the Federal Aviation Administration, which sought the changes, says advances in technology make face-to-face contact between controllers and forecasters unnecessarily expensive. No Weather Service employees will lose jobs under the consolidation plan, according to federal officials, though job locations would change.
The proposal comes in response to pressure from the FAA, which pays for the weather stations and has pressed the Weather Service to come up with less costly ways of providing forecasts to the regional air-traffic-control centers.
