List of tallest air traffic control towers in the United States

The following table ranks the tallest air traffic control (ATC) towers at airports in the United States.

Air traffic control towers are elevated structures for the visual observation and control of the air and ground traffic at an airport. ^[1] The placement and height of an ATC tower are determined by addressing the many FAA requirements and site-specific considerations to ensure safety within the National Airspace System (NAS). The FAA has stated that new towers should be constructed with a goal of providing the shortest possible tower required to meet siting criteria for that specific airport. ^[2] These criteria result in a wide variation of tower height with some rivaling or surpassing the tallest office buildings in their respective cities. ATC towers however are generally not recognized by The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) as buildings because they do not meet the criteria of having at least 50 percent of their height as occupiable. ^[3] For this reason, they are not ranked among a city's tallest buildings but fall under the category of "telecommunications/observation tower."

Rank	Airport	Image	Height ft (m)	Year built	Ref.
1	Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport		398 (121.3)	2006	[4]
2	Charlotte Douglas International Airport		370 (112.8)	2022	[5]
3	Harry Reid International Airport		352 (107.3)	2016	[6]
4	Indianapolis International Airport		348 (106.1)	2006	[7]
5	Orlando International Airport		345 (105.2)	2002	[8]
6t.	Memphis International Airport		336 (102.4)	2012	[9]
6t.	George Bush (Houston) Intercontinental Airport		336 (102.4)	1997	[10]
8	Miami International Airport		333 (101.5)	2002	[11]
9	Salt Lake City International Airport		328 (99.9)	1999	[12]
10	Denver International Airport		327 (99.7)	1995	[13]
11	Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport		326 (99.4)	2007	[14]
12t.	Washington Dulles International Airport		325 (99.1)	2007	[15]
12t.	Newark International Airport		325 (99.1)	2003	[16]
14	Cleveland Hopkins International Airport		324 (98.8)	2015	[17] [18]
15	John F. Kennedy International Airport		320 (97.5)	1992	[19]

References

1. "Definition of 'traffic control tower'" . Retrieved December 22, 2022.
2. "AIRPORT TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWER SITING PROCESS" (PDF). Retrieved December 22, 2022.
3. "Tall Building Criteria" . Retrieved December 22, 2022.
4. "Atlanta Airport Demolishes Old Air Traffic Control Tower". August 7, 2006. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
5. "FAA Commissions New Air Traffic Control Tower at Charlotte Douglas International Airport" . Retrieved December 22, 2022.
6. "New McCarran air traffic control tower to debut Aug. 28". July 10, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
7. "Indianapolis International Airport History" . Retrieved December 22, 2022.
8. "Orlando International Airport Tallest Air Traffic Control Tower" . Retrieved December 22, 2022.
9. "Memphis International Airport Air Traffic Control Tower" . Retrieved December 22, 2022.
10. "The Nations Tallest Control Tower Is Online" . Retrieved December 22, 2022.
11. "In Pictures: A Look At Miami Intl Tower, Inside And Out" . Retrieved December 22, 2022.
12. "Airport History". Salt Lake City Department of Airports. Archived from the original on April 13, 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
13. "Literally just 113 facts about DIA" . Retrieved December 22, 2022.
14. "PHOENIX SKY HARBOR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – FAA TOWER" . Retrieved December 22, 2022.
15. "Tour of the Air Traffic Control Tower at IAD". February 17, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
16. "Infrastructure New Jersey (NJ) Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)" . Retrieved December 22, 2022.
17. "Cleveland Airport Control Tower & TRACON Building" . Retrieved December 22, 2022.
18. "New air traffic control tower at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport: Whatever happened to ...?". July 21, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
19. "In Pictures: A Look At New York JFK Tower, Inside And Out" . Retrieved December 22, 2022.