QC Airport breaks 2nd tower movement record in 3 months
July 20, 2023
After record breaking tower movements in May, that record was shattered again in less than 3 months. The Quad Cities International Airport exceeded 5,000 tower movements in July – what could be a historic number for the airport. A tower movement is generally defined as any time a plane takes off or lands.
“Commercial aviation is our main function, but it’s not the only one,” said Ashleigh Davis, public relations and marketing manager, Quad Cities International Airport. “The airport supports cargo, private flights for major businesses like John Deere, and general aviation, and each are vital in supporting the health and sustainability of the aviation industry.”
The OshKosh AirVenture helped contribute to the increase in traffic, with aircraft quadrupling in a single day as pilots from around the world made their way to the weeklong air show and exhibition.
“Air traffic controllers have an incredibly important and stressful job so we commend the QC team for their good work keeping our increasingly busy skies safe,” said Davis. “Air traffic controllers are in high demand and could be the next major shortage in the aviation industry, similar to what we’re experiencing with pilots.”
The number of tower movements, regardless of the size of the aircraft, impacts many areas of an airport, the most essential being federal funding. Essentially, the busier the airport, the better the opportunity to receive grant funding from the FAA which helps buy equipment, support airport maintenance and improvement projects, and more.
Representatives from the local air traffic control tower will be present at Girls in Aviation Day, an event co-hosted between the airport, John Deere and Elliott Aviation. The goal of the event is to introduce myriad aviation careers to local students, especially girls as women are underrepresented in aviation.