The Federal Aviation Administration has denied a request to upgrade Austin-Bergstrom International Airport’s airspace from Class C to the more restricted Class B designation, despite safety concerns raised by local leaders and air traffic officials. The decision follows nearly two years of appeals from U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, who has pressed the agency to act after a series of near collisions at the airport.

“An unresponsive FAA took almost a year to deny an application to make our airport safer,” Doggett said in a statement reported by the Austin American-Statesman.

Doggett added that the move could have helped prevent a 2024 runway incident involving an American Airlines jet and a small Cessna.

Class B airspace, which surrounds the nation’s busiest airports, requires strict

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