United States: a hypothetical future state
3,195 airports assessed. 1,682 have no tower and meet a tier 1 to 3 rule (453 / 1,064 / 165). 471 towered airports fit tiers 1 to 3. A hypothetical set of 92 centres covers them. 1 public traffic source loaded.
3,195airports assessed
1,682no tower, tier 1 to 3
471towered, tier 1 to 3
11isolated, tier 4
92hypothetical centres
200.1 millionpeople near a gap airport
Orange, teal, pink and grey dots are suggested tiers. Hollow rings are towered airports that fit a tier. White-ringed orange dots are hypothetical centres. Green outlined dots are remote or digital towers already listed on this site. Basemap: OpenStreetMap data via Protomaps.
What it could enable
- Service where there is none. 1,682 airports have no tower but meet a traffic or infrastructure rule. Remote service could give them separation or advisory service they cannot justify as a conventional tower. About 5.9 million people live within 50 km of one of them and of no towered airport.
- Fewer, shared positions. 471 towered airports fit tiers 1 to 3. Serving some of them from 92 shared centres could change how towers are staffed, equipped and replaced when they age.
- Different working pattern. A centre of about 23.4 airports lets part-time airports share a controller across the day, and lets busy periods at different airports fall on different positions.
- Awareness for isolated fields. 11 isolated airfields could get surface awareness (cameras and surveillance) without any air traffic service.
- Already moving. 4 airports here are listed on this site as remote or digital (operational, trial or planned). See them.
The gap in numbers
| Tier | No tower today | Towered today |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1: Full remote tower service | 453 | 423 |
| Tier 2: Part-time remote tower | 1,064 | 46 |
| Tier 3: Remote advisory (AFIS-like) | 165 | 2 |
| Tier 4: Surface awareness only | 11 | n/a |
| Large hub, left alone | n/a | 117 |
- Traffic on gap airports
- 7.2 million passengers (1663 airports with a figure), 39.8 million movements (1663 airports)
- Population
- 340.0 million (World Bank 2024)
- People in cities of 15,000+
- 217.1 million
- Within 50 km of a gap airport
- 200.1 million
- ... and of no towered airport
- 5.9 million
- Near only an isolated airfield
- 0
- Airports with air-ground service already
- 0 of the gap airports have an AFIS-type frequency listed
Data quality. 1663 of the 1682 airports without a tower that meet a rule have a traffic figure; the rest are placed by runway, size class and scheduled-service flag only. Operations at non-towered airports are FAA estimates. Passengers are enplanements times two.
Candidate airports
| Airport | Tier | Class | Passengers | Movements | Centre |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montrose Regional Airport KMTJ · Montrose | Tier 1 | No tower, scheduled passenger service | 519,786 | 22,960 | |
| Durango La Plata County Airport KDRO · Durango | Tier 1 | No tower, scheduled passenger service | 484,800 | 19,503 | |
| Yampa Valley Airport KHDN · Hayden | Tier 1 | No tower, scheduled passenger service | 451,068 | 13,552 | |
| Ketchikan International Airport PAKT · Ketchikan | Tier 1 | No tower, scheduled passenger service | 305,318 | 14,917 | |
| St George Regional Airport KSGU · St George | Tier 1 | No tower, scheduled passenger service | 301,028 | 75,586 | |
| California Redwood Coast-Humboldt County Airport KACV · Arcata/Eureka | Tier 1 | No tower, scheduled passenger service | 260,840 | 48,943 | |
| Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport PASI · Sitka | Tier 1 | No tower, scheduled passenger service | 196,572 | 23,327 | |
| Williston Basin International Airport KXWA · Williston | Tier 1 | No tower, scheduled passenger service | 193,884 | 3,888 | |
| Deadhorse Airport PASC · Deadhorse | Tier 1 | No tower, scheduled passenger service | 186,300 | 21,324 | |
| Plattsburgh International Airport KPBG · Plattsburgh | Tier 1 | No tower, scheduled passenger service | 174,700 | 13,154 | |
| Nome Airport PAOM · Nome | Tier 1 | No tower, scheduled passenger service | 136,044 | 27,450 | |
| Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport KPUW · Pullman | Tier 1 | No tower, scheduled passenger service | 127,296 | 29,370 | |
| Boulder City Municipal Airport KBVU · Boulder City | Tier 1 | No tower, scheduled passenger service | 121,828 | 44,521 | |
| Ralph Wien Memorial Airport PAOT · Kotzebue | Tier 1 | No tower, scheduled passenger service | 121,612 | 60,000 | |
| Gunnison Crested Butte Regional Airport KGUC · Gunnison | Tier 1 | No tower, scheduled passenger service | 111,948 | 8,717 |
Hypothetical centres
| Centre site | Airports | Tier 1 / 2 / 3 | Farthest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trenton Mercer Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 24 | 16 / 8 / 0 | 86 km |
| Wilmington Airpark Existing staffed tower facility | 23 | 17 / 6 / 0 | 96 km |
| Kenosha Regional Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 23 | 17 / 6 / 0 | 101 km |
| Norwood Memorial Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 26 | 14 / 12 / 0 | 101 km |
| Stockton Metropolitan Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 23 | 17 / 6 / 0 | 91 km |
| DeKalb Peachtree Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 24 | 16 / 8 / 0 | 103 km |
| Dallas Love Field Existing staffed tower facility | 24 | 16 / 8 / 0 | 114 km |
| Willow Run Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 27 | 13 / 14 / 0 | 112 km |
| Saint Paul Downtown Holman Field Existing staffed tower facility | 29 | 11 / 18 / 0 | 122 km |
| Duke Field Existing staffed tower facility | 23 | 17 / 6 / 0 | 127 km |
| Washington Dulles International Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 23 | 17 / 6 / 0 | 121 km |
| Danbury Municipal Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 24 | 16 / 8 / 0 | 120 km |
| Lakeland Linder International Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 22 | 18 / 4 / 0 | 133 km |
| Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 26 | 14 / 12 / 0 | 119 km |
| Allegheny County Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 26 | 14 / 12 / 0 | 128 km |
| Hickory Regional Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 25 | 15 / 10 / 0 | 123 km |
| Millington-Memphis Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 31 | 9 / 22 / 0 | 133 km |
| Huntsville International Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 29 | 11 / 18 / 0 | 143 km |
| Seattle Paine Field International Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 28 | 16 / 4 / 8 | 164 km |
| Pope Field Existing staffed tower facility | 26 | 14 / 12 / 0 | 142 km |
| Meadows Field Existing staffed tower facility | 25 | 15 / 10 / 0 | 145 km |
| Delaware County Johnson Field Existing staffed tower facility | 32 | 8 / 24 / 0 | 146 km |
| OKC Will Rogers World Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 26 | 14 / 12 / 0 | 171 km |
| Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois Existing staffed tower facility | 32 | 8 / 24 / 0 | 147 km |
| Northwest Arkansas National Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 31 | 9 / 22 / 0 | 169 km |
| Bill & Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field Existing staffed tower facility | 27 | 13 / 14 / 0 | 175 km |
| Volk Field Existing staffed tower facility | 31 | 9 / 22 / 0 | 146 km |
| Austin Bergstrom International Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 28 | 12 / 16 / 0 | 163 km |
| Quad City International Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 29 | 11 / 18 / 0 | 173 km |
| Lafayette Regional Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 25 | 15 / 10 / 0 | 168 km |
| Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 31 | 9 / 22 / 0 | 171 km |
| Treasure Coast International Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 22 | 18 / 4 / 0 | 196 km |
| Portland Troutdale Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 25 | 15 / 10 / 0 | 187 km |
| Newport News Williamsburg International Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 27 | 13 / 14 / 0 | 178 km |
| Topeka Regional Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 28 | 12 / 16 / 0 | 173 km |
| Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 30 | 10 / 20 / 0 | 169 km |
| Southwest Georgia Regional Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 31 | 9 / 22 / 0 | 174 km |
| Capital Region International Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 33 | 7 / 26 / 0 | 176 km |
| Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 22 | 18 / 4 / 0 | 169 km |
| Lebanon Municipal Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 28 | 12 / 16 / 0 | 172 km |
| Augusta Regional At Bush Field Existing staffed tower facility | 31 | 9 / 22 / 0 | 174 km |
| Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 32 | 8 / 24 / 0 | 189 km |
| Shreveport Regional Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 31 | 9 / 22 / 0 | 226 km |
| Decatur Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 28 | 12 / 16 / 0 | 221 km |
| Mesa Gateway Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 23 | 17 / 6 / 0 | 223 km |
| Grant County International Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 26 | 14 / 12 / 0 | 239 km |
| Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 25 | 15 / 10 / 0 | 249 km |
| McGhee Tyson Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 29 | 11 / 18 / 0 | 299 km |
| Redding Municipal Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 30 | 10 / 20 / 0 | 226 km |
| Eppley Airfield Existing staffed tower facility | 34 | 6 / 28 / 0 | 243 km |
| Martin State Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 27 | 13 / 14 / 0 | 245 km |
| Hector International Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 36 | 4 / 32 / 0 | 252 km |
| Tuscaloosa National Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 28 | 12 / 16 / 0 | 309 km |
| Laughlin Bullhead International Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 27 | 13 / 14 / 0 | 274 km |
| Hutchinson Municipal Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 35 | 5 / 30 / 0 | 362 km |
| Meadows Field Existing staffed tower facility | 24 | 17 / 5 / 2 | 265 km |
| Lea County Regional Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 26 | 14 / 12 / 0 | 362 km |
| Cherry Capital Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 35 | 6 / 27 / 2 | 378 km |
| Bethel Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 64 | 3 / 7 / 54 | 401 km |
| Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport Existing staffed tower facility | 30 | 10 / 20 / 0 | 435 km |
First 60 of 92 centres shown. All are in the data file.
Responsible implementation
A tier on this page is a starting question. These are the topics any real plan would need to answer. Public guidance:
- EASA ED Decision 2023/005/R, guidance material on remote aerodrome air traffic services
- UK CAA: remote aerodrome air traffic services (CAP 670 and approval policy)
- EUROCAE ED-240A, minimum performance standards for remote tower optical systems
- FAA Digital Tower Systems page
- FAA AIP Program Guidance Letter 26-06 (design approval is not operational approval)
- ICAO Doc 4444, PANS-ATM, the procedures that remote services must still meet
Safety case and regulator approval
Each service needs its own safety case and approval before it carries traffic. A design approval for equipment is a different step from permission to run a service. This site's records name no regulator for United States yet; the national supervisory authority would decide.
Controller workforce and training
Remote work changes the job: new displays, new failure modes, and new competence checks. A plan would cover who moves, who trains, how existing controllers choose, and what happens to current staff and their conditions.
Communications and surveillance
Radio, video and surveillance links must meet the latency and quality the safety case assumes. Tier 1 and 2 airports need reliable cameras, redundant links and a surveillance picture for traffic that radar or ADS-B cannot see from the ground.
Contingency and redundancy
Every centre needs a fallback: a second path for data, a backup position, and a rule for what the airport does when a link fails (hold, divert, revert to advisory). Centres that serve many airports need a plan for losing all of them at once.
Cybersecurity
A centre is a single high-value target. It needs the same protections as other air traffic systems: segmented networks, supply-chain checks, logging, and tested recovery.
Community and labour engagement
Airports, airlines, pilots, unions, local governments and neighbours should be in the process before decisions, not after. Jobs can move away from small airports, and that is a real cost to a community.
Sources
- OurAirports: airports, runways, frequencies.
- GeoNames cities of 15,000 or more; World Bank population.
- FAA Terminal Area Forecast, 2025 final (airport operations and enplanements, base year 2024, tower flag)
Towers already listed for United States: remote and digital sites in United States.