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47 R e f e r e n c 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 Q & A n In 2019, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., introduced S. 1148, the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) Hiring Reform Act of 2019, bipartisan legislation that improved the FAA's controller hiring process by making technical changes that made it less bureaucratic and more accountable. NATCA strongly supported this legislation. n Although these changes were steps in the right direction, we still need to do more to improve the process. The FAA must continue to hire the next generation of controllers at a rate that exceeds controller attrition, and we must continue our commitment to training developmental controllers. n Although the FAA upwardly adjusted its hiring goal for each of FY 2024 through FY 2026 to 1,800 new trainees (and plans to hire 2,000 new trainees in FY 2025 if funding is made available by Congress), only 60% of all controller trainees reach full certification within five years (almost all of those who do not are removed or resign from employment with the FAA). Thus, this increased hiring goal will take several years to have a positive effect on CPC totals. FA A R E AU T H O R I Z AT I O N L E G I S L AT I O N What is the status of FAA Reauthorization? n The FAA currently is operating under a short-term extension to 2018 FAA authorization. The 2018 FAA bill helped to provide a more stable and predictable funding stream for the FAA and the Airport & Airway Trust Fund, but it needs to be updated. The current extension to the reauthorization bill runs through May 10, 2024. n Last summer, the House passed its version of FAA reauthorization that would require the FAA to hire the maximum controller candidates from FY 2024 through FY 2028, as well as require the FAA's interim adoption of the CRWG's "staffing models and methodologies" as the basis for the CWP until the Transportation Research Board (TRB) completes an assessment and the FAA adopts a new controller staffing model. NATCA strongly supports these provisions. n The Senate's version of FAA Reauthorization also requires the FAA to adopt the CRWG staffing standard as the basis for the CWP, but it would delay the adoption until after Sept. 30, 2024. In the meantime, the Senate bill would require a study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (of which the TRB is a subsidiary division) to review the differences and similarities between the "methodologies used by the [CRWG] to determine CPC operational staffing targets" and FAA Finance's (AFN) failed staffing model. n However, unlike the House bill, the Senate base bill does not currently contain a provision directing the FAA to engage in maximum controller hiring for the duration of the bill. (But a standalone bipartisan bill, the Air Traffic Controllers Hiring Act of 2023, sponsored by Senator Mike Braun (R-IN), along with over 31 additional bipartisan cosponsors, would require maximum controller hiring for the duration of the bill.) n The Senate bill also includes deployment of tower simulator systems at all FAA air traffic control towers, which will (1) improve training times for developmental stage trainees, and (2) provide CPCs with the opportunity to participate in recurrent and refresher training on scenarios that are infrequent, such as emergency landings and missed approaches. n NATCA is committed to continuing to work with members of Congress, their staffs, and the relevant committees of jurisdiction in the House and Senate until a new five-year reauthorization is signed into law. T h e 3 5 - D a y G ove r n m e n t S h u t d o w n How did the government shutdown affect NATCA members? n The shutdown was a disaster for the FAA workforce, including air traffic controllers, traffic management coordinators, and other aviation safety professionals who worked without pay for

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