NATCA Bookshelf

caused air traffic controller furloughs led to massive flight delays: During the week of April 21‐27, 2013, delays nearly tripled from 5,103 delays to 13,694. After just one week of furloughs, it became abundantly clear that a fully‐staffed air traffic control workforce is necessary for our National Airspace System (NAS) to operate at full capacity. H.R. 1765, signed into Public Law on May 1, 2013, gave the FAA the ability to transfer $253 million in funding from the Airport Improvement Program account to the FAA's Operations account in order to end the FAA furloughs and allow aviation safety professionals to return to work full time. This legislative campaign was recognized as one of the top lobbying victories for the 113th Congress. Since NATCA's legislative victory in 2013 to end the FAA furloughs, NATCA has remained steadfast, continuing to raise the volume and vigorously oppose sequestration cuts to the FAA. Pointing to the 2013 sequester cuts to the FAA Operations budget that caused air traffic controller furloughs that led to massive flight delays, NATCA has consistently reminded the U.S. Congress and the Trump Administration of these real- world impacts that sequestration has on the National Airspace System and NATCA members. NATCA's collective voice has encouraged Congress to blunt the effect of sequestration, as they have voted to minimize the impact of sequestration every year since 2013, and eventually voted to kill sequestration when the budget deal was signed into Public Law on Aug. 2, 2019. NATCA is proud to have played a key role in the death of sequestration. FAA APPROPRIATIONS The federal government is currently funded until Sept. 30, but the FY 2020 appropriations process has been stalled in Congress while Congress and the White House are negotiating a budget deal. So far, the House has passed 10 out of 12 appropriations bills, whereas the Senate has not acted on any appropriations bills. Most important to NATCA, the House passed its Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations bill, which provides funding for the FAA, as well as the Financial Services appropriations bill, which proposes a 3.1% pay raise for federal employees. The Senate plans to move forward with appropriations when the chamber returns in September. House Appropriations Agenda: In June, the House considered two "minibus" packages, which are bundles of appropriations bills. The first minibus included four appropriations bills and passed the House on Wednesday, June 19. The second minibus included five appropriations bills, including the THUD appropriations bill, and passed the House on Tuesday, June 25. Following consideration of those two minibuses, the House also passed the Financial Services Appropriations bill. House leadership attempted to combine bills in a targeted manner, with certain controversial bills paired with more popular bills to ensure a smoother process on the House floor. Consideration of the two remaining appropriations bills, Homeland Security and Legislative Branch, has been postponed until at least September due to disagreement on issues within those bills. Senate Appropriations Agenda: The Senate was waiting for an enacted budget deal to set spending limits before considering any FY 2020 funding measures. As such, a Senate version of the THUD and Financial Services spending bills has not yet been introduced or acted on. The Senate Appropriations Committee expects to start consideration of appropriations bills when the chamber returns in September. NATCA Impacts in FY 2020 Appropriations: NATCA Government Affairs staff has been aggressively advocating for full funding for the FAA in the THUD appropriations

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• SAFETY AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT
• RUNWAY SAFETY
• Bridget Singratanakul (Gee) (DFW) is NATCA's Runway Safety Action Team (RSAT) Rep. She also serves as the Article 114 Rep to the Runway Status Lights (RWSL) program. Her report is below:
• Runway Status Lights (RWSL)
• BOS:
• Phase 2: Lighting computer was replaced. JAI is scheduled for August, and ORD for September.
• Phase 4: Planned IOC date was June 19. Presently, all testing is checking out well, however there is still more construction work being completed on the airfield. The system is online, but the additional arrays were not available until June.