NATCA Bookshelf

Though we have a lot of tools to help us get to TBO, we know that it is our people who will help us operationally integrate them. We need to do a good job of educating and training the people who will use these tools in the field, putting the right procedures in place, and supporting the facilities so that technology and other processes are all working together. We've been working with other lines of business as well as the National Air Traffic Controllers Association who agree that this transformation is necessary. The aviation industry likes it too because it will reduce operation costs, fuel burn, and delay. It won't happen all at once, but I need all of you to be ready to embrace these changes and adopt TBO so we can maximize the benefits of our investments and provide the most efficient airspace possible. Oct. 19, 2018 You Say Service Area, I Say Service Center – They Get the Job Done Hi everyone, I get this question a lot: What's the difference between a Service Center and a Service Area? The answer is actually pretty simple. Our ATO Service Centers in Atlanta, Fort Worth, and Seattle are the office buildings that house the people who provide shared services to employees across each of the three larger geographic Service Areas known as Eastern, Central, and Western. We used to have nine Air Traffic and Technical Operations regions across our national airspace system, and each had their own set of employees providing training and staffing support, business planning, flight procedures and other services in every location. About a dozen years ago, we realized there was duplication in the system and we could provide enhanced services by combining people with these similar areas of expertise into fewer locations. Our facilities are still getting the same great services, but the providers aren't necessarily sitting in the same regions with them anymore. Now that we have more than a decade of experience with matrixed teams and the shared services model, and the Service Centers' responsibilities have grown, our Mission Support Services organization is taking a look at how we can enhance the services from our technical shared-service providers even more, especially under constrained budgets. Kim Stover, most recently the director of air traffic operations for the Western Service Area, and Natasha Durkins, recently acting director of the Central Service Center, are at headquarters working with Mission Support Vice President Jodi McCarthy to ensure that the Service Centers are fully leveraged for the skills and knowledge they provide. They're working closely with Service Center directors Angela McCullough in Eastern, Andy Atchley in Central, and Clark Desing (on detail) and Kevin Stewart (acting) in Western.

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