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 36 36 36 36 ISSUES Increased Funding Critical for Modernization and Infrastructure Efforts Issue capabilities through a service-based contract, in which the service provider continually updates the underlying technologies. The majority of FTI's telecommunication lines function on an aging copper wire infrastructure, which is outdated and no longer readily supported, as many local phone companies are discontinuing service to copper wire equipment throughout the country. As a result, air traffic controllers throughout the NAS are experiencing a steady increase in unexpected outages of air traffic systems. Recent ground stops at airports in the New York and Washington, D.C. areas highlight the risks and consequences of telecommunication network failures. To date, there are over 30,000 services at over 4,600 FAA sites that must transition away from copper wire and onto a fiber optic cable network in order to avoid severe service disruptions and extensive flight delays. NATCA also remains concerned about airport surface detection systems and situational awareness tools that can help air traffic controllers address runway incursions and mitigate the risk of aircraft landing on an incorrect surface. Each year, the NAS experiences hundreds of safety events such as wrong-surface landings and runway incursions. Recently, the Agency and NATCA were able to fast-track a surface surveillance situational awareness tool (SAI) that helps controllers mitigate the risks associated with wrong-surface landings and runway incursions. This situational awareness tool helps fulfill a similar role as the Airport Surface Detection System – Model X (ASDE-X) and Airport Surface Surveillance Capability (ASSC) at airports that do not currently have any surface surveillance technology. However, unlike ASDE-X and ASSC, this tool is limited only to visual indicators and does not include "safety logic" enhancements, which is the predictive software that alerts controllers and provides an audible alarm as soon as the safety risk is detected by the program. Only 44 airports across the NAS have either ASDE-X or ASSC, and despite being a recent technological upgrade, these programs are in a sustainment-only posture within the FAA. The FAA does not have the funding nor contractual capability to expand these programs to new facilities. NATCA is also concerned about the funding for other modernization and infrastructure priorities in the areas of communications, support tools in automation, and traffic management tools for existing users and new entrants like Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), and Commercial Space. Although the FAA's development and deployment of modernization programs has improved over time, the COVID-19 pandemic and the 35-day government shutdown stifled FAA modernization work and new user integration. The lasting effects of these events caused significant delays to these programs and projects, wasting critical resources and federal taxpayer dollars. Physical Infrastructure Needs The FAA's physical infrastructure also continues to need attention. Each of the FAA's air route traffic control centers is more than 60 years old. The FAA has many towers and TRACONs that need repair or replacement. Many of these facilities have exceeded their expected lifecycle, while others need replacement of critical systems including roofs, windows, HVAC systems, elevators, and plumbing. In order for modernization and infrastructure programs to be successfully completed in a timely fashion and at the lowest possible cost to taxpayers, the FAA needs stable and sufficient funding. Without stable and sufficient funding, modernization programs and new user integration will continue to be threatened by delays and budget shortfalls that will jeopardize their timely deployment and success. Message In the coming years, the FAA will face unprece- dented safety and technological challenges. The continued development and rapid proliferation of commercial space operations, advanced air mobility, unmanned aerial systems (drones), and other new entrants must be integrated into the existing NAS while maintaining safety and efficiency. It is critical that NATCA remain involved with the safe and effi- cient integration of these new technologies. For the past 15 years, the FAA and NATCA have worked together to develop and implement safety-critical modernization programs that would not be possible without our joint efforts. For instance, NATCA and the FAA have achieved collaborative and cost-saving successes on

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