jacjohn wrote:
Ok...
With all the talk of "non-federal" towers, I got to thinking. What exactly
does that mean
to us pilots?

IME, it's kind of transparent to the users.

It means the controllers are not federal employees but private,
employed by whoever operates the airport (local municipality?).

So far, haven't really noticed any difference except the controllers
tend to be friendlier and if they do make a sequencing or other error,
less inclined to publically chew the pilot's butt for their own
mistake.

Maybe there are some differences in skill or training I don't see,
haven't met them yet though.

Cheers,
Sydney