GEORGETOWN, TExas (KXAN) – Major cuts from the federal government mean airports here won’t have a safety measure many have gotten used to.

The FAA has to cut 637-million dollars so they’re shutting down control towers at 149 airports. That includes the city airports in New Braunfels, San Marcos, and Georgetown.

Pilots say on beautiful days like we saw Saturday there’s a lot of traffic on the runway and in the air.

The Georgetown Municipal Airport got a control tower about 5 years ago. There was a major push to get it because of a mid-air collision that happened back in 2004.

Some say the government cutting funding for the tower is taking several steps back.

Clark Thurmond has been flying planes at the Georgetown Municipal Airport for years.

He’s seen it change and even know what it’s like to fly without an air traffic control tower.

“We all flew here for decades without a tower and the pilots who were flying then are accustomed to using common frequency that they announce their positions on but everybody knows where everybody else is but that’s not always perfect and the tower made that a lot more rigorous,”  Said Thurmond. “It’s definitely much safer with the tower.”

Pilots are going to have to go back to the old ways.

The Federal Aviation Administration will close 149 control towers across the country at small airports, including the tower in Georgetown.

It’s part of the government’s effort to tighten its belt when it comes to spending.

Flight supervisor Wade Castellanos says pilots will have to be more vigilant with their radios, communication and visuals while in the air and on the ground.

“There maybe a little transition phase.” Castellanos said. “The tower itself just organized everything further out so that everything flowed into the airport with some measure of safety there will still be safety without the tower it’s just the responsibility shifts onto the pilots.”

For pilots like Thurmond the changes won’t stop him from hitting the open skies. 

The cuts are not only impacting pilots. Six air traffic controllers will be without a job.

The closures are supposed to happen on April 7th which is in two weeks.