A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/648546
o Since the procedures on March 31, 2016 will the last ones produced by th e DC Metroplex team, we have been preparing for the " DC Metroplex Close Out Meeting," in which we will brief the Facility Representatives and Air Traffic Managers from Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center and Potomac TRACON on what has transpired ov er the last few years and officially transfer responsibility for any further changes to them using the FAA 7110.41. The meeting is scheduled for Potomac TRACON on March 14, 2016 at 1:00 PM. o Submitted by Bennie Hutto Article 48 Rep, DC Metroplex • ATL Metropl ex o The Atlanta Metroplex project has been working toward our SID implementation on 4/12/16 along with making sure our STARs are still usable when they are implemented on 11/15/16. o We have been working an issue regarding the ATL SID implementation for 4/12/ 16. We have had an implementation plan in place since March 2015 and have shown ZDC making airspace changes on 3/31/16, then the new SIDs being implemented on 4/12/16. ZDC has always preferred that the procedures and airspace be turned on at the same time, but due to automation concerns, training concerns and the Masters Golf Tournament this 12 - day delay is a necessity. The ATL Metroplex team has agreed to fund additional OT in order to mitigate any concerns for this 12 - day delay. o Recently Delta and SWA fle w the ATL STARs again just to make sure everything was still flyable since they haven't been flown since design in 2012. These results were very positive on all the STARs except the Northeast OPDs (PECHY and WINNG). The only restrictions on all the STARs a re 'At or Above' and 'At' restrictions, except the Northeast corner. The Northeast corner OPDs have windows to miss Airspace and Traffic flows. During design the team looked at moving these boundaries and traffic flows, but there is just too much overfligh t traffic. Delta and SWA have recently told us these Windows create an issue for pilots and the 737s may delete the second Top altitude window. We are still researching this issue to see if anyone else is having this issue. The plan for the ATL STARs is no t to implement until 11/15/16, even though we are planning publication for 9/15/16. If the Windows are an issue we may have to push publication of the PECHY and WINNG STARs back to 11/10/16 . o Joey Tinsley ATL Metroplex Article 48 • Charlotte Metroplex o The Cha rlotte Metroplex Project continues to work post - implementation issues and prepare for the 2016 implementations. The team worked at Atlanta Center, Eastern Service Center (ESC), home facilities , and via GoTo Meeting. The Leads attended a national Metroplex meeting the last week of January. o We worked with all facilities on post implementation issues. A telcon was held with CLT to discuss the northwest corner and the issue of traffic being high on a south operation. ZTL is working to educate the workforce on t he importance of being on profile for the operation at CLT. They have started briefing this during team training. As a fallback position the Metroplex team will develop a procedure for the south operation that ensures aircraft are at a manageable altitude for the TRACON. JQF T ower advised the team that the SID wording was confusing pilots. We