Fed budget cuts may shut Miss. control towers

Automatic federal budget cuts could shut down control towers at seven Mississippi airports including the Golden Triangle Regional Airport at Columbus which also could possibly affect Columbus Air Force Base’s training aircraft missions based there, according to the airport’s executive director. Among some of the other North Central Mississippi airports that could be affected as soon as March 1 are Jackson’s Hawkins Field, Meridian’s Key Field, Tupelo Regional and the Olive Branch Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Source: The AP, Feb. 22, 2013.