NATCA IN WASHINGTON : NATCA is gearing up for this year's annual lobby week,
NATCA in Washingto n. This year NATCAvists will be in D.C. May 23 through May 25.
During the conference, members will travel to Capitol Hill to discuss our issues with
Members of Congress and hear from a number of speakers on important topics affecting
our membership, includ ing the FAA Reauthorization, the current staffing crisis, and stop -
and - go funding. The registration period has ended, but for additional information, please
visit the NiW website: http://niw.natca.net .
COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
NOTABLE PRESS CLIPS IN THE LAST WEEK:
Air Transport World : "U.S. NextGen air traffic control technology is a decade
old even as it's introduced and the nation is rapidly falling behind other countries with
more advanced air traffic management s ystems. A panel of U.S. airlines and the head of
the U.S. National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) outlined the consequences
of not having a dependable, steady revenue stream to support national airspace growth
through technology advances.
"Spe aking at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Aviation Symposium May 10,
NATCA president Paul Rinaldi said FAA was doing better at implementing some
satellite - based NextGen technology, but the problem was that this technology was
already 10 - 11 years old. " It may be that we are moving up to an iPhone 1 level, but
some of our competitors are on iPhone 6 or 7. Our system is very big, but that's not an
excuse for why we can't streamline our processes and give our stakeholders what they
need to be more efficient ," Rinaldi said."
To read the full story, please click here .
Jacksonville CBS 47/Fox 30: An Action News Jax investigation reveals the
tower at Jacksonville International Airport doesn ' t have enough fully trained air traffic
controllers to meet a target minimum set by the Federal Aviation Administration.
These are the men and women charged with the safety of commercial flights in
our area. We learned how far below the minimum the JIA tower is and why a real
solution could be years away.
To read and watch the full story, please click here .
SWEEPS MONTH IS HERE – Sensationalized Media Stories about ATC and
Aviation Are Possible in Your Local Area : The Communications Department reminds
all reps that May is one of four months throughout th e year called " sweeps " in the
tel evision news media business. February , July and November are also designated
sweeps months. During sweeps, a company called Nielsen measures the viewership of
TV programming. Those programs that have the most viewership can then charge more
money for advertising during commercial slots. Aviation and ATC are among the many
traditional topics that make for sensationalized stories to draw viewer interest and thus
boost a news program's or show's ratings. Many stories, if not in accurate, are
misleading and intentionally focused on directly questioning public safety to get attention .
We can counter this coverage where appropriate with carefully crafted,
disciplined messaging. To that end, please remember that it is NATCA ' s media p olicy
that NATCA representatives must refer all media who contact them to our
Communications Department; specifically, Sarah McCann (315 - 796 - 1560 ;
smccann@natcadc.org ) and Doug Church (301 - 346 - 8245 ; dchurch@natcadc.org ) . If we
decide to move forward with a statement or interview, we will then work directly with the
appropriate representative.
