NATCA Bookshelf

REFERENCES National Air Traffic Controllers Association | www.natca.org NiW Today 49 Fix-on-Fail Maintenance Maintenance that is performed only after equipment has failed or when breakdown is imminent. The FAA adopted this model, instead of a preventative maintenance model, in response to sequestration and limited resources. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I Committee) This is the House of Representatives committee with jurisdiction over FAA reauthorization, along with all other modes of transportation. The Subcommittee on Aviation has jurisdiction over all aspects of civil aviation, including safety, infrastructure, labor, commerce, and international issues. The committee is chaired by Rep. Sam Graves (Mo.), and the ranking member is Rep. Rick Larsen, (Wash). The Aviation Subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Troy Nehls (Texas), and the ranking member is Rep. André Carson (Ind.). Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) On Nov. 15, 2021, the landmark IIJA was signed into law, addressing many physical infrastructure deficiencies. This was a big legislative win for NATCA members and the NAS. The IIJA provides $5 billion in dedicated funding, which supplements the annual appropriations process to help bring ATC facilities up to standard, as well as modernize our nation's airports so they can compete globally. Although this funding does not resolve every issue in every facility across the country, it is a major step in the right direction to upgrade working conditions for NATCA members. Markup A formal process of reviewing and revising a bill by a committee via debate and amendments prior to voting on whether the committee will accept or reject the final bill. This is a key step in advancing any legislation for a possible floor vote. National Legislative Committee (NLC) NATCA's National Legislative Committee is responsible for organizing and implementing the Union's grassroots legislative efforts and identifying and addressing the legislative educational needs of NATCA's members. Additionally, the NLC works as part of NATCA's legislative team to develop training sessions, recruit volunteers, and disseminate information about legislative activities. National Training Initiative (NTI) The NTI is an initiative between FAA and NATCA dedicated to a more efficient training progression for developmental controllers, which began in July 2019, was paused during the pandemic, and was restarted in April 2022. In December 2024, the FAA and NATCA signed an MOU that increased on-the-job-training (OJT) premium pay for providing instruction in the simulation environment. NextGen The overarching modernization project that was intended to advance the FAA beyond its ground-based radar system to more sophisticated, satellite-based, and digital technologies, along with new procedures that combine to make air travel more efficient, predictable, and environmentally friendly. Despite some recent successes achieved through collaboration between NATCA and the FAA, NextGen is being subsumed under BNATCS. NATCA supported NextGen and strongly supports BNATCS as air traffic controllers and other aviation safety professionals NATCA represents play a critical role in all modernization, safety, and infrastructure programs. Official Time At the FAA, official time gives employee representatives a voice to resolve disputes, negotiate changes in working conditions, and implement new procedures and technologies such as NextGen systems. In the past, members of Congress have introduced legislation and amendments that would eliminate official time, but NATCA has been successful in defeating these attempts by educating a bipartisan coalition of members about the many time-saving and cost-saving benefits of official time within the FAA. Importantly, however, NATCA members DO NOT use official time for any prohibited activities such as conducting internal union business, recruiting new union members, collecting union dues, conducting union election, electioneering for union offices, nor engaging in political activity. Omnibus A term that is used to refer to a spending bill that combines most or all appropriations spending bills into one larger bill that can be passed with only one floor vote in each chamber of Congress. There are 12 separate regular appropriations bills that need to be passed Glossary

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