NATCA Bookshelf

N A T C A I N W A S H I N G T O N 2 0 2 5 N i W To d a y 44 44 44 44 REFERENCES Q & A FAA Reauthorization Legislation What is the status of FAA Reauthorization? n The FAA is authorized until 2029 as a result of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, which passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support and was signed into law in May 2024. This five-year reauthorization act authorized the FAA to continue to operate, while also establishing, continuing, and/or modifying FAA programs, activities, and policy priorities. It also authorized the collection of taxes into and expenditure of funds from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (Trust Fund). n Importantly, this law requires the FAA, for the first time, to conduct maximum hiring of new air traffic controller trainees for five years (the duration of this bill) and to adopt an updated controller staffing model once the National Academies of Science's Transportation Review Board completes its study. The law also requires the FAA to use the NATCA and FAA Air Traffic Organization's jointly developed Collaborative Resources Workgroup (CRWG) CPC staffing targets as the basis for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Controller Workforce Plan (CWP). n FAA reauthorization was one of NATCA's top legislative priorities and NATCA is thankful to all members of Congress who championed, supported, and voted in favor of the bill. The 35-Day Government Shutdown How did the government shutdown affect NATCA members? n The 35-day shutdown, which started in December 2018 and went through January 2019, was a nightmare for the FAA workforce, including air traffic controllers, traffic management coordinators, and other aviation safety professionals who worked without pay for more than a month. It also was disastrous for more than 3,000 NATCA-represented FAA employees who were furloughed without pay. Congress and the White House must not allow another shutdown to happen. n The shutdown eroded layers of safety within the NAS. Many safety activities that proactively reduce risk and increase the safety of the system were suspended. The NAS was less safe during the shutdown and in the months after it ended than before it began. n NATCA worked with the FAA to bring safety processes back online that were suspended because of the shutdown, but it is harder to restart these programs and processes than it is to shut them down. n The shutdown reinforced our strong belief that the FAA needs a stable and sufficient funding stream to adequately support air traffic control services, staffing, hiring and training, long- term modernization projects, preventative maintenance, ongoing modernization to the physical infrastructure, integration of new entrants, and the timely implementation of modernization projects. How did the 35-day government shutdown affect hiring, staffing, and training? n The FAA Training Academy in Oklahoma City was closed during the shutdown, and it took the FAA several weeks to restart those classes after the shutdown ended. n The FAA suspended hiring and training for all new hires. Controller advanced skills classes also were canceled throughout the shutdown. n Initially, the FAA's hiring target for FY 2019 was 1,431, but following the shutdown, the Agency reduced its target to 907.

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