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With a deadline looming and air safety at the forefront of many Americans’ minds after a spate of recent airplane crashes, San Mateo County politicians are calling on the Federal Aviation Administration to expedite negotiations to staff San Carlos Airport with qualified air traffic controllers. Meanwhile, airport officials say they have recently been left in the dark about labor talks.
San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller urged the FAA in a Wednesday, Feb. 19, press release to press forward with negotiations between a new contractor charged with staffing air traffic controllers at the airport after sources told him talks had stalled. By Thursday morning, Feb. 20, he told this news organization that he was “cautiously optimistic” that the situation would be resolved after hearing that talks had started the day prior.
“We just have to get it resolved,” he said Thursday. He noted in the press release that given the proximity of the airport, located at 620 Airport Drive along the Bay, to San Francisco International Airport, the FAA “must prioritize this air traffic controller agreement.” There could be “catastrophic consequences” if pilots are forced to navigate a complex airspace without professional assistance, he said.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin told this news organization that his office has contacted the FAA to request a meeting and status update on negotiations. The FAA did not answer this news organization’s questions about the status of negotiations with the new contractor, Oklahoma-based Robinson Aviation (RVA), but said that “RVA is contractually responsible for ensuring the continuity of air traffic services when it takes over.”
“This is a highly-skilled, specialty job that the FAA is responsible for staffing, even if they contract out,” Mullin said in a prepared statement. “It is well known that the San Francisco Bay Area has a high cost of living, and federal agencies need to account for regional differences when evaluating how to establish contracts for critical services. … I will continue to be a collaborative partner with the airport and the FAA to help ensure that this situation is resolved.”
The air traffic control tower at the San Carlos Airport on Feb. 20, 2025. Photo by Anna Hoch-Kenney. 
An airplane takes off from the San Carlos Airport on Feb. 20, 2025. Photo by Anna Hoch-Kenney. 
A plane is parked just beyond the entrance to the San Carlos Airport on Feb. 20, 2025. Photo by Anna Hoch-Kenney.
Near-disruption to service
The airport’s longtime provider, Serco, reached a 60-day deal at the end of January to extend its services in San Carlos after controllers for RVA refused to begin work there on Feb. 1 because of a pay dispute, San Mateo County airports spokesperson Davi Howard said. San Mateo County owns and operates the airport, but the FAA oversees staffing it.
The near-disruption to service was, in part, because RVA declined to give controllers an $18,000 annual housing stipend to account for the Bay Area’s high cost of living, according to Howard.
The FAA, through a bid process, awarded RVA a contract to staff the tower, according to an FAA spokesperson. RVA nor Serco could be reached for comment.
Since Jan. 31, Howard said neither the FAA nor air traffic controllers have been willing to speak to him about negotiations. He said either the contractor or the FAA has told controllers to “just be mute” about the contract.
“We don’t have a seat at the table and we’re not party to the contract,” said Howard on Thursday. “Of course it’s frustrating; the control tower is on our airport and we have absolutely no say in the way the tower is being run.”
‘We don’t have a seat at the table and we’re not party to the contract.’
davi howard, San Mateo County airports spokesperson
The staffing challenges come the same week President Donald Trump announced the firing of hundreds of FAA employees who maintain air traffic control infrastructure.
Mueller said he heard staffing of the San Carlos control tower is being supplemented with temporary air traffic controller support, which is “not sustainable.”
San Carlos is a small but busy airport. Its airspace is congested during prime hours. The airport is host to over 500 aircraft and 25 aviation-related businesses, according to the press release from Mueller’s office.
In 2024, the airport saw 90,000 operations, according to the county website. That’s 90,000 times that the tower interacted with a pilot to give information during take-offs or landings at the one-runway airport, said Bob Kearn, a pilot who’s flown out of the airport for over 35 years and board member for the nonprofit San Carlos Airport Association.
“Competent, quality air traffic controllers keep airports safer,” Kearn said. He said that he and other pilots are very supportive of retaining air traffic control staff. “They’re kind of like the traffic cops, they direct traffic coming into the airport.”
