A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/1093105
the offsite location from the JYO airport. The new location is situated approximately a half mile from the airport itself. Christopher Aymond (MSY) is the NATCA Article 114 Interval Management Representative working with the NextGen office for paired approaches. Recent demonstrations occurred on Saturday, Feb. 23 at SFO, and Tuesday, Feb. 26 at TUS, and was a success. The demo had two aircraft vectored on final, and the pilots of the trailing aircraft maintained their own interval from the aircraft they were following. From a controller's perspective, the two aircraft operated in a consistent and predictable manner keeping spacing well within tolerance of the assigned spacing goal (ASG). From a cockpit perspective, the flight crew did have to more "actively" fly the aircraft on final to maintain the spacing interval than they would do normally. Still, the assigned spacing goal was kept within tolerance. Consistent setup would likely be needed by Interval Management to conduct a real world paired approach operation; however, for demonstration purposes, this flight test was a success and data should be able to be reviewed in the coming months. PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS (PS) Garth Koleszar (ZLA), Lydia Baune (GEG), and Josh Cooper (SCT) are members of the National Professional Standards (MPS) Committee. Their report is below: The PS program is in its ninth year and continues to have a positive impact on the professionalism of controllers nationwide. The program has about 530 active members, with a total of nearly 1,000 trained to serve as committee members representing every facility in the National Airspace System. Committee members receive training on communication skills and conflict resolution during a three-day course taught by NATCA. We have two upcoming classes on the schedule: at ZHU May 7-9, and at ZAB May 14-16. We have one additional class for our district chairpersons; this will be held in Washington, D.C., May 29-30, and cover the implementation of the RESPECT initiative along with the restructuring of the PS program. To date, the PS program has received 2,959 submissions with 90 percent of those being resolved. That's 2,668 issues that NATCA was able to resolve the issue at the lowest level, peer-to-peer, without management involvement in the outcome. Approximately 70 percent of those cases are submitted by management, demonstrating the FAA's belief that the peer-to peer-method used by the program is working. The recidivism rate is very low, indicating that the one-on-one discussions between committee members and controllers has a long-lasting, positive effect on the safety of the system and the professionalism of our controllers. We now have an active PS tab on the NATCA website . It covers information for FacReps, members, and PS members, with contact information for all active PS committee members and district chairpersons. We also have a link to email us directly. Please take a moment and check it out! If you have any questions about the Professional Standards Program, please contact the NATCA National Professional Standards Committee members at ps@natca.net.