Countywide : Control Tower Manager Tom Rea Is Promoted
John Wayne Airport control tower Manager Tom Rea has been promoted to assistant air traffic manager at the Federal Aviation Administration’s regional control center in El Toro, officials said Friday.
Rea’s move was not connected with recent criticism of El Toro center, known as Coast TRACON, by the National Transportation Safety Board, officials said.
Joe Fowler, a member of the operations staff at the FAA’s western regional headquarters in Los Angeles, has replaced Rea at the FAA’s John Wayne Airport tower.
Fowler also worked previously as an air traffic controller at Los Angeles International Airport. At John Wayne Airport, he will supervise a staff of 26 controllers. He said Friday that he might ask for one or two more controllers later this year, when new air safety zones are scheduled to be implemented around John Wayne Airport.
Takeoffs and landings totaled 533,484 at John Wayne Airport in 1988, compared to 623,519 at Los Angeles International Airport.
Aircraft arriving and departing John Wayne Airport are controlled within a five-mile radius by the FAA tower there. Beyond that radius, aircraft are controlled by Coast TRACON.
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