NATCA Bookshelf

ISSUE For years, the FAA has faced an unstable, unpredictable funding stream with interruptions that have negatively affected all aspects of the FAA. In the past, the FAA Reauthorization Act, the authorizing measure that establishes, continues, or modifies FAA programs and activities, was delayed over five years with 23 short-term extensions before finally being signed into law in February 2012. In fact, when an agreement could not be reached on the 21st extension, the FAA was partially shut down for two weeks during the summer of 2011, which cost the government nearly $30 million a day because the FAA could not collect taxes. In April 2013, sequestration forced the FAA to furlough every employee, including air traffic controllers, and to consider closing towers in order to achieve the mandated spending cuts. In October 2013, the federal government shutdown also resulted in furloughs of FAA employees. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) estimates that furloughs cost the government $2.5 billion total. This lack of a stable and predictable funding stream has already caused damage, some of which is irreversible. For example, stop-and-go funding makes planning for long-term improvement and modernization projects even more difficult. Stopping and restarting modernization projects is very expensive, and is sometimes nearly impossible. Some projects may need to begin again from ground zero. For instance, the April 2013 furloughs caused delays to modernization projects like En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) that cost $6 million per month of delay. Due to sequestration cuts, which are set to continue into fiscal year 2021 unless Congress takes action, preventative maintenance has been halted and engineers must contend with a fix-on-fail policy, requiring that they wait until equipment actually breaks before replacing it. This creates an obvious safety concern and may also result in air traffic delays. In fact, sequestration-mandated furloughs in April 2013 caused severe delays: during the week of April 21-27, 2013, delays nearly tripled at our nation's airports, from 5,103 delays to 13,694. The cuts are problematic and will continue until Congress finds a way to end sequestration. Until then, our NAS is in jeopardy of falling behind on safety, efficiency, and capacity. MESSAGE The FAA must be properly funded with a predictable, stable funding stream. Without change, we face continued funding uncertainty and the NAS is in jeopardy of falling behind on efficiency, capacity, and most importantly, safety. NATCA is opposed to any for-profit model, as well as any reform proposal that would maintain the status quo. As Congress works to provide long-term reauthorization for the FAA and address the problem of stop-and-go funding, it is important that all stakeholders within the NAS work together to ensure that the United States remains the world leader in aviation. BACKGROUND Below are key instances of stop-and-go funding and how each negatively affected the NAS and our workforce. FAA REAUTHORIZATION UNCERTAINT Y FAA reauthorization is the authorizing measure that establishes, continues, or modifies FAA programs and activities. The last time it was due for renewal, it was delayed for over five years with 23 short-term extensions before finally being passed by Congress and signed into law in February 2012. In the interim, the FAA was unsure of the length of each subsequent extension and thus had limited ability to alter its budget allocations or engage in anything other than stop-and-go planning for long-term initiatives. 2011 PARTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN When an agreement could not be reached on the 21st FAA authorization extension, the FAA was partially shut down for two weeks during the summer of 2011. This delayed modernization projects and cost the government nearly $30 million a day in FULL BACKGROUND continued on next page 21

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