A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/642696
o The NextGen p rogram is an enormous undertaking that spans many fields of technical expertise and e ncompasses a broad portfolio of projects. Think of this: Google the term "NextGen" and you will receive 20,200,000 hits. Google the term "FAA NextGen" and that narrows it down to 295,000 results . I f you Google "NATCA FAA NextGen" you will be the recipi ent of 20,600 items to review. If you spent only five minutes reviewing each document returned , you woul d expend 70 days of your life. Such is the vast expanse of NextGen cyber real estate. • The United States Congress established the Joint Planning and Developm ent Office ( JPDO ) in 2003 to plan and coordinate the development of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). o The JPDO is a multi - agency public/private initiative including numerous Agencies, the White House, etc . ( The Interagency Planning O ffice h as since superseded the JPDO.) The JPDO published a NextGen Concept of Operations (ConOps) in 2005 and kicked off a 20 - year and $ 40 billion effort at remaking the National Airspace System . o Now 11 years into the original 20 - year timeframe, NextGen la bors under the budget realities of constraints placed on spending of all Agencies by the United States Congress. The FAA has been forced to focus on maintaining operational spending and reducing NextGen and NextGen - related spending significantly. The origi nal spending profile indicated an investment rate that projected many more billions of dollars invested by the end of FY16 than has materialized. This multi - billion dollar and growing shortfall in spending authorization has real implications and has create d genuine challenges for the evolution of the NAS and Ne xtGen project implementation. • Recent collaborative activity has focused on the following: o Collaborating with NASA and the FAA on the next steps of the ATD - 3 rollout. o Developing an interface with the F AA NAS Enterprise Architecture and Acquisition Management System. o Supporting the Leesburg Remote Tower Project o Working with Pamela Whitley, FAA Deputy Assistant Administrator for NextGen, on NextGen Outreach. o Working with the NextGen Portfolio Management and Technology Development Directorate to support the development and release of ATPA2 for use during simultaneous operations to parallel runways. o Working with ANG - C on the successful submission on an MPAR proposal. MPAR, or multi phased array radar, is t he next technological evolution replacing rotating radar sensors, but maintaining primary radar data capabilities. o Meeting with MITRE to facilitate a closer collaborative relationship and encourage CFS participation. OSHA: Mike Odryna (ZBW) leads the NATC A OS HA Committee as their Chairman. His update for February is below. • FAA OSH Program: