St. Petersburg flight tower shut simply because staff has coronavirus

The air targeted visitors manage tower at St. Pete-Clearwater Global Airport was shut until eventually at the very least Jan. 31 by the Federal Aviation Administration just after staff customers tested positive for the coronavirus.

© Shadd, Dirk/Tampa Bay Instances/Tampa Bay Occasions/TNS
An Allegiant aircraft arrives in for a landing at St. Pete-Clearwater Global Airport.

In a quick assertion, the FAA explained the short term closure must not have an impact on vacation in and out of the airport, at 14700 Terminal Boulevard in Clearwater. The airspace will be monitored by the air traffic regulate tower at close by Tampa Global Airport.

“The FAA has a robust contingency program for every air traffic management facility, and stays positioned to quickly tackle the results of the COVID-19 community wellbeing crisis,” the agency reported in a statement.

“The company frequently screens controller staffing and targeted traffic desire, and remains in shut call with airports, airways and other stakeholders so we can prioritize our resources to fulfill the greatest demand.”

According to a actual-time coronavirus monitoring map on the FAA’s internet site, staff working in the tower at St. Pete-Clearwater Intercontinental analyzed good for the coronavirus Jan. 20. No information was immediately accessible on how a lot of personnel contracted or the disease or are at risk owing to publicity.

As of mid-working day Sunday, the tower at the airport — abbreviated as PIE — was the only tower in Florida shut because of to the coronavirus.

In the launch, the FAA stated COVID-19 cleaning proceeds in all air targeted traffic handle amenities, typically right away when much less team users are doing work.

For the duration of the cleanings, individuals on the career get the job done from selected backup spots, these as airline ramp towers.

The cleanings in the beginning took six to 8 several hours to comprehensive, but through partnerships with area healthcare professionals and cleaning businesses the process now will take as minimal as 90 minutes, the agency said.

“Every ATC (air visitors regulate) facility has a backup system in situation it has to quickly shut,” the FAA claimed. “This has been the circumstance for numerous years and is not related to COVID-19.”

Passengers preparing to vacation via the St. Pete-Clearwater Global Airport in the course of the pandemic can assessment the PIE COVID-19 Motion Strategy on line at www.flytopie.com.