LCH

Lake Charles Tower

FAA Control Tower and Approach Control Lake Charles, Louisiana

Facility Information

Facility Overview
Identifier LCH
Facility Name Lake Charles Tower
Airport Name Lake Charles Rgnl
Type Tower and Approach Control
Leveli Level 5 History
Core 30 Airporti No
Airspace & Operations
Hours of Operationi 0600-2200
Airspace Class Class D
Overlying ARTCC ZHU
Airport Diagram View Airport Diagram (PDF)

Salary Information

2026 Pay for Lake Charles Tower

Career Leveli Hourly Min. Hourly Max. Salary Min. Salary Max.i
CPC $38.93 $52.56 $81,249 $109,685
D3 $35.79 $38.93 $74,698 $81,249
AG $26.38 $26.38 $55,049 $55,049
Includes everything except premium pay.

ATC pay has stalled over the past decade. Marangos & Brown are on a mission to increase pay.

Pay Factors
Facility Leveli Level 5
Locality Area Rest of U.S.
Locality Payi 17.06%
Local Affordability
Cost of Living Indexi 85.9 (14.2% below avg)
Cost-Adjusted CPC Mini $94,641

Staffing and Training

Staffing Information, June 2026
CPCs on Boardi 13 CPCs
CPC Target (CWP)i 16 CPCs
Current Staffingi 81%
↳ Est. Trainee Certifications+ 5
↳ Projected Retirements/Losses- 1
↳ Academy Graduates2
↳ Developmental 34
Training Information, June 2026
Training Time (Avg)i 1.78 years
↳ New Hires 1.86 years
↳ Transfers (CPC-IT) 0.62 years
Training Success Rate (Avg)i 83%
↳ New Hires 82%
↳ Transfers (CPC-IT) 89%
Travel Days from Academyi 2 days

Historical Trends

LCH Staffing Percentages

LCH Personnel Counts

LCH Training Metrics

NCEPT

NCEPT manages controller-requested transfers between FAA facilities.

Eligibility & Staffing, June 2026
Staffing Sourcei Academy Sourced
TSL (One Training Time)i 91.27%
Gaining Targeti 103.77%
Possible Gainsi 0
Primary Releases Avail.i 0
Secondary Releases Avail.i 0
Transfer Activity
Releases, Past 3 Yrs 0
↳ Standardi 0
↳ Priority/Otheri 0
Gains, Past 3 Yrsi 0
ERR Demand History
Priority / Draft Order
Mar 2026
#176
Inbound ERRs on File
Feb 2026
0
Employees with Outbound ERRs
Feb 2026
0 (0%)

Demand Trends

NCEPT Priority

Traffic

May 2025 - April 2026 (12 Months)
Tower Operations 30,502 operations/year
TRACON Operations 55,267 operations/year
Total Operations 85,769 operations/year
Average Daily Operations 235 operations/day
Peer Group Median
(Lvl 5 Up/Down)
77,405 operations/year
Relative Workloadi +10.8% vs peer median

Traffic History

Administration

Organizational Structure
Service Area Central
District Houston
HR Region Southern

Nearest Facilities

CWF Chennault Tower FCT 8 mi
BPT Beaumont Tower FAA 49 mi
POE Maks AAF DoD 64 mi
LFT Lafayette Tower FAA 74 mi
ARA Acadiana Tower FCT 80 mi
AEX Alexandria Tower DoD 92 mi
GLS Galveston Tower FCT 115 mi
EFD Ellington Tower DoD 121 mi
I90 Houston TRACON FAA 126 mi
ZHU Houston ARTCC FAA 127 mi