Concerned Employee Sounds Off On FAA Downgrade Of Lubbock International Airport [AUDIO]

An employee of Lubbock international Airport voiced his concerns about the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) getting rid of the airport's weather office on the Monday edition of The Chad Hasty Show.

According to KCBD.com, the FAA will be downgrading the Preston Smith Lubbock International Airport and will be taking away its contracted weather office. The FAA explained that since Lubbock does not meet certain traffic requirements, they decided the weather service would not be necessary. The weather service will now be regulated to a computer and the air traffic controller.

Kenneth, a employee who would be laid off as a result of the downgrade, called in to The Chad Hasty Show and explained why this would be a dangerous decision for Lubbock International Airport. He said that the ASUS computer system the airport uses, while it's a good system, is not as sophisticated as people would have you believe. He said the system can sometimes take up to 20 minutes to report changes in the weather, and cannot detect certain weather patterns like lightning and hail.

He also mentioned that the air traffic controllers are busy enough as it is and that they don't have the time to run down and check the weather in addition to guiding planes safely to the runway.