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NextGen Now | Winter 2014
Like NATCA, ALPA's representatives have spent countless hours on Capitol Hill in efforts to
educate our legislators on the importance of sustained, guaranteed funding for NextGen. This
item remains a top priority of our union as we gear up to push hard for FAA Reauthorization
to get done on time. But even though we can rank priorities and push for certain pieces to
be put into place sooner rather than later, we can't trick ourselves into thinking that we can
just do part of NextGen and be okay. This has to be a continuous and stable process until it's
complete, and the much-needed NAS upgrades are a reality — not a pawn that's negotiated
in the quagmire of D.C. politics.
No one knows those politics, and has positioned the aviation industry for success, better
than NATCA President Paul Rinaldi. At our Board of Directors meeting, I honored him for this
selfless dedication to improving the industry. ALPA pilots also elected a new slate of national
officers at this meeting, so starting with the next issue of NextGen Now, you'll be hearing from
the new ALPA president, Capt. Tim Canoll.
I'd like to thank our industry and government partners for the productive and important work
we've done together and for always keeping the lines of communication open. And I look
forward to reading about Capt. Canoll's contributions and watching the continuing evolution
of NextGen as our NAS gets stronger moving forward.
