NATCA Bookshelf

43 I s s u e s N A T I O N A L A I R T R A F F I C C O N T R O L L E R S A S S O C I A T I O N | W W W . N AT C A . O R G N i W To d a y and FAA's own chronically insufficient budget requests. While this vicious cycle continues, the NAS also continues to grow and evolve, leaving the FAA behind and ill-equipped to sustain or advance NAS technology. Existing programs will remain in a sustainment-only posture with zero enhancements that could assist in increasing safety and efficiency. Specifically, F&E funding in FY 2024 appears to underfund telecommunications work by about $19 million, meaning that the FAA will take money from some other existing F&E programs to fund that telecommunications work. In addition, although STARS and TFDM appear to be appropriately funded based on FAA's request, ERAM and FAA's airborne surveillance portfolio are underfunded by $4.5 million and $10 million, respectively, despite each of these programs operating in sustainment-only posture. N e g a t i ve Ef fe c t s of t h e 3 5 - D a y S h u td o w n On Jan. 25, 2019, the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history ended after 35 days. However, no one should be under the illusion that it was business as usual for aviation during the shutdown. Although the NAS is the safest and most efficient system in the world, during the shutdown, many activities and processes that proactively reduce risk and increase safety were suspended. This is unacceptable considering that, just prior to the shutdown, approximately 70,000 flights and over two million passengers moved through the NAS every day. For instance, during the shutdown, safety enhancements that prevent wrong surface landings were suspended. Each year, there are more than 300 events in which an aircraft lands or attempts to land on the wrong runway, on a taxiway, or at the wrong airport entirely. Development of this technology was significantly delayed because of the shutdown. However, NATCA and the FAA worked collaboratively to develop and implement software enhancements for existing surface surveillance systems that now provide an early warning to controllers to mitigate the risk of an aircraft landing on an incorrect surface (i.e. wrong runway or taxiway). M o d e r n i za t i o n P r o g r a m s NextGen has been the term to describe the primary, comprehensive modernization project that is shifting the FAA from its current ground-based radar system to a smarter, satellite-based aircraft tracking system and digital technologies, along with new procedures that will enable the FAA to guide and track aircraft more precisely on more direct routes. Modernization is producing efficiencies that enhance safety, reduce delays, save fuel, and reduce aircraft exhaust emissions. Modernization is also vital to preserving the United States' position as the world leader in aviation. This investment is important due to the significant contribution that aviation makes to our economy. Many modernization programs were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, even before the pandemic, these programs faced delays and funding challenges as a result of an unpredictable stop-and-go funding stream hampered by threatened shutdowns and continuing resolutions. For instance, during the 35-day shutdown, all FAA modernization work and new user integration stopped. That shutdown caused significant delays to these projects and wasted critical resources and federal taxpayer money. Delays to the timelines for each project had a cascading effect on other projects even after the FAA restarted programs and deconflicted waterfall timelines. Although the FAA has been criticized for its management of NextGen, NATCA takes great pride in its role as a partner on the leading edge of these important modernization projects. In fact, the FAA and NATCA have developed a strong collaborative relationship and are experiencing meaningful progress within many of the key modernization programs. In collaboration with NATCA and industry stakeholders, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FAA had delivered $2.7 billion in benefits, completing 103 commitments of NextGen and the NextGen Advisory Committee (NAC) Prioritization Plan. Collaboration between the FAA and NATCA allows the Agency to deliver cost savings on modernization projects that otherwise would not be possible. If NATCA representatives were not involved, many modernization programs would need to go through extensive, costly, and time- consuming revisions following testing and/or implementation. Through collaboration, the FAA is on or ahead of schedule with some of its most critical modernization programs. 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

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