NATCA Bookshelf

4 NextGen Now | Spring 2015 Patricia Gilbert EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT NATCA NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION Paul Rinaldi PRESIDENT With the current Congressional authorization for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expiring in six months, we want to use this publication as a reminder of both the success of NextGen and that a stable, predictable funding stream is needed in order to continue this progress. Congress must address this issue in the upcoming FAA Reauthorization bill. En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) is set to reach completion very soon. As of March 27, Washington Center (ZDC), the final facility in the transition, declared Operational Readiness Demonstration (ORD). This is a huge accomplishment for NATCA and the FAA. Terminal Automation Modernization and Replacement (TAMR) and Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) equipment were successfully implemented at multiple facilities throughout the country in 2014, with 21 facilities scheduled for installations in 2015, and 90 facilities through 2018. Last year, 61 new procedures were implemented in the Houston area and 77 were successfully implemented in North Texas as part of the growing Optimization of Airspace and Procedures in the Metroplex (OAPM) project. These updates are in addition to the OAPM procedures implemented in Washington, D.C., four years ago. There are plans for implementation of procedures in more cities throughout the country, which will make air travel more efficient and environmentally friendly. The System Wide Information Management (SWIM) Visualization Tool (SVT) is a new product that was installed last year at Southern California TRACON (SCT). It provides Surface Situational Awareness to controllers, traffic managers, and frontline managers and allows them access to surface data that was previously unavailable outside of a tower cab. Wake RECAT has been successfully implemented in Atlanta, Louisville, Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, and most recently at New York-Kennedy, New York-LaGuardia, Newark, and Teterboro. There are plans for imminent implementation of the same procedures at Charlotte-Douglas, Chicago O'Hare, Midway, and San Francisco.

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