Aviation View | April 2021

93 AVIATION VIEW APRIL 2021 NORTHEAST PHI LADELPHI A A I RPORT morning not closing until 11 at night. When COVID hit, the FAA reduced the operating hours of the tower with it now opening at 8 in the morning and closing at 4 in the afternoon. So where the tower had been operational for 17 hours a day, they were now only open for eight hours a day. The significance is that the tower controllers count and report the air traffic operations. There were many air traffic operations not being counted during the 16 hours a day the tower was closed. Using noise detection software at Philadelphia International Airport, we could see those operations and determined approximately 1,000 air traffic operations were not being counted on a monthly basis. So, while the official FAA count appeared bad on paper, and was still quite an alarming reduction, it turns out the reduction in air traffic was not as drastic as we initially thought.” The Northeast Philadelphia Airport has a long history of bouncing back. Originally known as the North Philadelphia Airport, it housed the