A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/660202
accurate weather and forecasting for trajectory based operations (TBO) which ar e a very large part of the futu re air navigation requirements. o Additionally discussed the need to complete testing of the standards for weather data being entered into SWIM so that decision support tools of the future have accurate and consistent data. The United States has advised ICAO already that they will not follow the standard completely as they will be leaving the remarks in the METAR and SPECI transmission due to failure to pass remarks to aircraft have been listed as a contributory to accidents by the NTSB. One of the biggest issues being discussed in the ICAO MET - P is the Regional Hazardous Weather Advisory Centers and lack of SIGMET and Advisory capabilities in parts of the globe. This gap in cov erage in parts of the world has contributed to accid ents of air transport carries. o The issue with standing up new centers is the politics of allowing a country to provide a center and the actual capabilities of the center. There have been a number of discussions in the global community on what an Advisory means to the aircrew verses a SIGMET. o Discussions and papers presented during C ommittee B spanned everything from airspace to space - based surveillance , and commercial space impacts on the ANSP around the globe. New working papers for next year ' s conference were discussed and some of the subjects to be worked are time based traffic management, multi - sector planning, a review of a number of IFATCA policies that have been overcome by technology , and a look at airframe bases weather reporting systems. Week of March 21, 2016 AIRSPACE: Jim Davis (PCT) is the National Airs pace Representative for NATCA. Below are reports from the various airspace team leads and Mr. Davis. • Charlotte Metroplex o The Charlotte Metroplex Project continues to work post - implementation iss ues and prepare for the March, May and July 2016 implementations. The team worked at Atlanta Center (ZTL), Eastern Service Center (ESC), and Charlotte TRACON. o The team continues to work on dozens of issues as implementations approach. All facilities are on schedule for the March 31 and May 26 chart dates. The POCs at all facilities continue to do the work at the local level and we work with the Plans & Procedures and Training departments as needed. o Last week we received the required Environmental Categorica l Exclusions (CATEX) for several post - implementation procedures and for a May implementation procedure. The Eastern Service Center and FAA Headquarters environmental personnel were instrumental in getting this done in a timely manner. The t eam worked with both groups to avoid delays and we appreciate their hard work to finish this and help us to avoid delays. o ADARs are still a concern and we are reaching out to facilities around the country to better understand the functionality. The Leads are convening a m eeting to work with the facilities on a possible solution that will give all