NATCA Bookshelf

REFERENCES 48 NiW Today NATCA in Washington 2026 Glossary Transportation by March 31. The CWP was originally intended to provide Congress with a comprehensive look at the FAA's hiring goals and attrition projections, as well as provide actual on-board numbers and staffing ranges for all FAA air traffic facilities. Debt Ceiling Crisis The gap between federal revenues and existing financial commitments is financed by issuing federal debt. The U.S. Treasury does this by selling various kinds of debt securities (such as bonds) to investors. Congress created the debt limit by statute, which places a constraint on the amount of money that the U.S. Treasury may borrow to fund federal obligations. On June 3, 2023, Congress passed, and the president signed a bill that suspended the debt limit until Jan. 1, 2025, and capped discretionary spending during fiscal year (FY) 2024 and FY 2025. In the event of a future default, the effect on NATCA members would depend on how Congress deals with the resulting appropriations restrictions. FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 This FAA reauthorization legislation was signed into law in July 2016 and ran through Sept. 30, 2017. In addition to providing a 14-month reauthorization extension for the FAA, the law also contained certain policy provisions such as drone regulations, security provisions, and customer protections. Equally important, the law also mandated the FAA adopt a new air traffic controller hiring process that was aimed at improving and streamlining that controller hiring process, while also reducing red tape. The hiring reform language that was included in the FAA bill was from H.R. 5292, the Air Traffic Controller Hiring Improvement Act of 2016, sponsored by former Rep. Carlos Curbelo (Fla.) and former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (N.Y.). NATCA strongly supported this legislation, which garnered 260 co-sponsors thanks to NATCA activists. FAA Authorization Every several years (depending on when the previous authorization expires), Congress enacts legislation to authorize funding and set policy priorities for the FAA. The FAA is currently operating under 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). 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. FAA Enterprise Network Services (FENS) is the program that will upgrade FAA's copper wiring infrastructure with fiber optic cable wiring. This program is critical because several major U.S. telecommunications carriers have begun discontinuing services supported by the current copper wiring, while others have accelerated their timelines for disconnecting copper wire networks. The FAA is highly dependent on these services to receive and transmit information at thousands of sites. Any discontinuation or disruption to these services without transitioning to internet protocol-based communication services would lead to potential safety risks and/or significant delays in air traffic services. Federal Contract Tower (FCT) Program Privately- operated, for-profit air traffic control towers under contract with the FAA. These towers often provide service to rural America. NATCA represents 183 of the 252 federal contract towers in the U.S., with several additional FCTs in the process of gaining recognition. Federal Employee Paid Leave Act (FEPA) This bill's provisions became law on Dec. 17, 2019, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2020. Although the intent of the law was to provide all federal employees with 12 weeks of paid parental leave to parents of children born or adopted on or after Oct. 1, 2020, a loophole in the bill language inadvertently excluded at least six federal workforces, including all FAA employees, because those employees were not covered by the leave provisions contained in title 5 of the U.S. Code. Once the technical error was discovered, NATCA worked to close the loophole legislatively, while also negotiating with the FAA to establish the same benefits for our members in the absence of a legislative fix. On Jan. 1, 2021, Congress passed legislation that closed the loophole.

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