Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

The FAA has stepped up activity surrounding digital remote towers, with systems undergoing testing at the agency’s William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City. Winter Haven Regional Airport/Gilbert Field (KGIF) in Florida is working toward becoming the first in the U.S. to receive approval for an installed remote tower system.
While the timeline for approval is not certain, testing activity marks a step forward for the program that had sputtered earlier this decade after the FAA had changed certification standards for the technology. That change had upended two of the most advanced projects in the U.S.—at Leesburg Executive Airport in Virginia and Northern Colorado Regional Airport near Fort Collins, with the respective vendors Saab and Searidge halting their efforts.
Meanwhile, remote towers have been expanding in numbers globally. Think tank Reason Foundation noted that some 30 are in operation, with nearly a dozen more in the works. A concentration of them is found in Norway and Sweden, but interest spreads as far as Asia.
In the U.S., however, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 included provisions designed to reenergize remote tower activity, including directives for the FAA to create a program for the design and operational approval of them.
The FAA told AIN that several vendors have submitted proposals for remote tower systems, and the agency selected RTX-Frequentis for full system design approval evaluation and operational testing. It is assessing them solely for use in Class D airspace, where entities such as contract towers would own and operate them. However, the agency added that it has not yet issued any system design approvals.
In Winter Haven, the Florida Department of Transportation is funding the remote tower system. Operated from a control center at Bartow Executive Airport (KBOW), the remote tower system will use sensors and high-definition cameras to provide a view of the airspace at KGIF. Officials hope for approval in 2026.
Aviation groups such as the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association have been following the progress. “We believe remote towers can help increase safety and provide a viable option for some airports,” the association said.

News, issues, personnel, equipment and developments about air traffic management.

FAA Runs Tests while Winter Haven Preps for Remote Tower

FAA reauthorization bill directs FAA to move forward on testing and operational approval

FAA is stepping up remote tower testing as Winter Haven, Florida, hopes to become the first in the nation with an approved system.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Matt Thurber

News and information on safety procedures and concerns.

News and information about crew, passenger, aircraft and airport security issues.

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Audio engineer demonstrates how easy it is to replicate controllers’ voices

DEF CON Talk Warns of ATC Voice Cloning ‘Nightmare’

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

Big Beautiful Bill calls for spectrum reallocation

DOT Watchdog To Probe FAA's Spectrum Safety Communications

FAA moved air traffic responsibilities from New York to Philadelphia before outages

DOT Watchdog To Probe Shift of Newark ATC Management

Duffy says FAA needs $31.5 billion to completely upgrade ATC

DOT Chief Continues Push for More ATC Funding

Lawmakers and aviation leaders aligned on ATC modernization

Aviation Stakeholders Eye Funding Needs for ATC Overhaul

Charles Alcock

New developments at airports including regulations and noise issues; legal disputes; openings, acquisitions and mergers.

News about simulators and training procedures, as well as workforce.

Aviation safety agency ordered cancellation of at least 40% of flights

French Controllers Strike Disrupts Traffic at Multiple Airports

FAA has issued a request for information on potential modernization integrator

DOT Meets with Stakeholders To Map Out Modernization

Curt Epstein

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

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