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OPTIMIZATION OF AIRSPACE AND PROCEDURES IN THE METROPLEX OAPM CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE 14 NextGen Now | Winter 2014 Lastrapes also credited collaboration as the "surest vehicle to success" with the OAPM process. "Employee involvement from start to finish and the accompanying buy-in cannot be understated," he said. "We were hoping for a normal day when the switch turned on. Instead, our workforce faced weather and rare flow changes at DFW, all the while trying to forget the fixes and routes most of us had worked with for decades. OAPM is the biggest change since I was hired in 1990, and our folks, not surprisingly, pulled it off." The same team atmosphere and spirit of camaraderie was on display at Dallas-Fort Worth TRACON (D10) as well, where NATCA Facility Representative Scott Montroy said the "herculean" effort over a three-year period, from design to implementation, overcame challenges with perseverance. "Our OAPM team experienced numerous fluctuations in personnel due to retirements and transfers," Montroy said. "During this time, overall staffing at D10 continually decreased. Despite that, the team persevered and with the help of our brothers and sisters at ZFW, we implemented successfully. I believe that this project has allowed the North Texas facilities to work more closely together than we have seen in a very, very long time. We plan to continue to build on that camaraderie." During the first few days of implementation, Montroy said they dealt with almost every scenario possible. "We experienced north flow, south flow, reverse flow (DFW and DAL in opposite flow directions), weather deviations, high winds and wind shifts, IFR and VFR," he said. "For a 'let's put the system to the test' type of opportunity, we certainly didn't miss any chances. Post implementation we have discovered some areas that need to be tweaked, but that is to be expected with any new system, much less one that implements 80-plus new procedures. Considering the massive undertaking, the D10 air traffic control specialists did an amazing job. We work some of the most complex and busiest airspace in the world, and I am certainly proud to work in North Texas and at D10 in particular." Meanwhile, collaboration between NATCA, the FAA, and other aviation stakeholders has been key to the success of new airspace improvements in the Washington, D.C., Metroplex to improve travel for the holidays. Just before Thanksgiving, the FAA announced that the Washington, D.C., Metroplex is the nation's first to have three, satellite-based highways in the sky running side-by-side-by-side, each dedicated to one of the three major airports in the region: Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Dulles International Airport, and Washington National Airport. NextGen estimates predict that airlines will burn at least 2.5 million fewer gallons of fuel each year while providing more efficient flights that will save time, too. The three parallel OPDs, which are part of the upgrades, will enable aircraft serving the capital area's three major airports from the northwest to descend from cruising altitude to the

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