A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/1093105
Traffic Flow Management which could advance the use of data storage solutions and advanced coordination to drive operational analysis of Traffic Management. • AIXM – The objective of Aeronautical Information Exchange Model (AIXM) is to enable the provision in digital format of the aeronautical information that is in the scope of Aeronautical Information Services (AIS). A breakdown of aeronautical information within AIXM include ground infrastructure (airports, navaids), airspace structure and routes, rules and procedures, obstacles, NOTAMs, etc. There are currently 114 systems in the NAS which exchange aeronautical information. • FIXM – Flight Information Exchange Model (FIXM) is the standard format of flight object data sent between systems, allowing more users to share flight information and coordinate on the various activities concerning a flight. • ESI – Enterprise Services Infrastructure (ESI) is performing engineering analysis on the enterprise services infrastructure required to support NextGen future capabilities and new air traffic management requirements. The result of this work is to provide a framework for evaluating NAS requirement allocation to enterprise (cloud) capabilities. This framework would help support decisions regarding potential NAS enterprise services including information services, applications, and infrastructure architectures. • Information Management – Information Management is performing engineering analysis on the information sharing infrastructure in order to address future needs for System Wide Information Management (SWIM). Additionally, this program will assess the performance needs of the cloud as well as the feasibility of transitioning existing FAA information services to a cloud infrastructure. • Spectrum Opportunities – Spectrum Opportunities will assess reallocation opportunities across the CNS and weather areas. Assessments of proposed spectrum reallocation opportunities from this study will cover a wide range of political, operational, economic, and technical factors. These assessments will be used to inform a set of recommendations for various spectrum reallocation opportunities to pursue for implementation. This will include capturing the need for potential legislative, regulatory, and policy changes. In January, NATCA participated in a joint meeting between the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) and the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations (IFATCA). Both organizations agreed to align resources to help support a joint academic study on remote towers. • Remote Tower Ops Requirements – NATCA participated in a second workshop at the end of February to help define operational requirements for remote tower systems (RTS). The next workshop was scheduled for mid-March. These requirements will be laid out in a draft Advisory Circular tentatively by the end of July 2019. The official Advisory Circular is tentatively scheduled release during the first quarter of 2020. • Fort Collins, Colo. (FNL) – In October 2018, NATCA, and others within the FAA, participated in a site visit to Fort Collins to evaluate the initial set up of the Remote Tower System (RTS). We identified a five-page list of discrepancies that needed to be addressed prior to beginning the next phase of testing. A limited team will travel to FNL the first week of April to determine if all the discrepancies have been addressed. If the visit is satisfactory, we will begin the next phase of testing at FNL. • Leesburg, Va. (JYO) – Testing will start up again at JYO as part of the operations evaluations. The city of Leesburg and NextGen should have a lease agreement by the beginning of April for an offsite location of the RTS. Once the lease agreement is in place, NextGen will begin the work to configure the new space to move the JYO RTS to