FAA Reportedly Denies Austin Airspace Upgrade

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport falls short of some Class B standards but exceeds others.

Zach Vasile

Friday, August 22, 2025 at 03:00 PM ET

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Edited By:

Travis Tingle

A Southwest aircraft taxis in Austin. [Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

The FAA has reportedly denied a request to upgrade Austin-Bergstrom International Airport's (KAUS) airspace from Class C to Class B, despite official claims the request is still under review.
Local FAA staff and a congressman advocated for the upgrade to improve air traffic control safety, manage the airport's growing workload, and help alleviate a severe air traffic controller shortage by significantly increasing their pay.
While the FAA cited KAUS falling short of one Class B operational requirement, proponents argue the airport exceeds other Class B standards (like passenger traffic), is rapidly growing, and some existing Class B airports have fewer operations.

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The FAA has reportedly turned down a request to upgrade the airspace over Austin, Texas, to the same category as many of the nation’s busiest airports.

According to documents secured by public radio station KUT in Austin through the Freedom of Information Act, the FAA’s air traffic manager in Austin and some regional agency staff support elevating Austin from Class C airspace to Class B, which would trigger tighter regulation and automatically raise pay for air traffic controllers (ATCs) there by 15 percent.