A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/626428
to resolve some ongoing issues. Ho pefully c ontrollers will see resolutions to their reports in a timelier manner. • ASSC: o The program continues to move in a positive direction following the SRMP, which took place in December of last year. The ASSC team is working with the agency to minimize cost and maximize system capability for the controllers. The team has set a goal to IOC ASSC at SFO, (the key site) in coordination with the new tower commissioning in October of this year. They are confident the system will be optimized and ready prior t o that October Commissioning date. o Now that the RU s (remote units) are wireless, there are other FAA entities that suddenly want to have a hand in the wireless connectively aspect of the system. Additionally, the SRMD needs to be circulated for approval by the panel and signed by the signa tories prior to IOC. o The Air Traffic team is working with the program office to develop an outreach briefing for all sites scheduled to receive the system. Local NATCA at those sites should expect to hear from Dan Hamilton in the upcoming months to coordi nate dates and times for the outreach briefings. The goal of the team is to conduct face - to - face meetings at the respective facilities to answer facility specific questions and provide an overview of ASSC. • CLT WAM: o NATCA SBS, NATCA CLT, OSF, TechOps and ma ny others participated in formal testing of Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) in STARS at th e FAA Tech Center January 5 - 7. O veral l, the testing went well. A few issues were identified, but they do not seem to be overwhelming. CLT controllers were happy wit h the performance of the new system. o Flight inspection is planned for February 2 - 3. o Though the technical issues continue to be overcome, the looming threat to the timeline for operational use is the lengthy SRMD and Order approval process. • GIM - S: o ZDV – Sti ll awaiting facility decision on whether adapt ation will impact ZKC and ZMP. Decision to be made the week of January 11th. o ZSE – Assessing 4 d ifferent adaptations currently. Mitre will assist by supporting an o n - s ite adapt ation demo the week of Feb 8th. Still hopeful for IOC prior to May 1st. o ZLC – Adaptation work now focused on the East a rrival flows coming from ZDV. The Tech Center will support the demo the week of February 22nd. o ZMP – Officially suspended any GIM - S activity until ZAU TMU staffing can support involvement. ZME is a likely candidate to move up in the rollout because of this. • FMA and Fusion: o A Flight Standards conducted study removed the requirement for high update sensors in multiple closely spaced parallel runway configurations. Th is study also called for FMA use in multiple configurat ions as specified in 7110.693. However, the study failed to account for the use of Fusion. This has left multiple sites in a position contrary to SBS guidance where controllers are required to move f rom one display update rate to another.