A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/1519334
36 I s s u e s N A T C A I N W A S H I N G T O N 2 0 2 4 N i W To d a y B u d g e t a r y S h o r t fa l l s P l a g u e M o d e r n i z a t i o n a n d I n f ra s t r u c t u re E f fo r t s Issue u Quick Reference 1 The FAA requires stable and sufficient funding to repair, maintain, and modernize the NAS while continuing to improve its physical infrastructure. Funding disruptions and a flat Facilities & Equipment (F&E) budget that has failed to keep pace with inflation for much of the past decade have required the FAA to play program whack-a-mole by spending the bare minimum to sustain certain programs, while diverting the remainder of money to whatever program needs it the most. This process has stifled FAA modernization program development, testing, and deployment, and caused significant delays in their implementation. Despite collaborative success between NATCA and the FAA on several modernization programs, the Agency is still lagging behind in efforts to modernize outdated technology, keep pace with system sustainment needs, and replace or repair its rapidly aging infrastructure. 2 3 How This Issue Affects NATCA Members For more than a decade, NATCA and the FAA have achieved collaborative successes on modernization programs such as En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM), DataComm, and Metroplex. Despite these achievements, the FAA continues to lag behind in its effort to maintain its current technology, modernize its outdated technology, and upgrade its physical infrastructure. Stop-and-go funding has delayed many of these programs. More importantly, the FAA has consistently, across several administrations, requested far less Facilities and Equipment (F&E) funding than it needed to meet programmatic demands. Additionally, any further degradation to the number of certified professional controllers (CPCs) could cripple the FAA's ability to deliver modernization programs on time and within budget, because only CPCs can provide the subject matter expertise necessary to perform this critical work.