NATCA Bookshelf

Q & A Q A Q A Q A Q A What is the status of FAA Reauthorization? Does NATCA support the Senate-passed H.R. 636? Why does NATCA support H.R. 4441, the AIRR Act? What are NATCA's priorities for FAA Reauthorization? • The FAA is currently operating under an extension of FAA Reauthorization legislation that expires on July 15, 2016. • The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, as well as the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, have jurisdiction over drafting legislation that reauthorizes the FAA. • Both committees have drafted and approved their own versions of legislation to reauthorize the FAA. • In the House, the T&I Committee approved H.R. 4441, titled the Aviation, Innovation, Reform & Reauthorization (AIRR) Act, introduced by Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA). NATCA supports this legislation. It is currently awaiting consideration by the full House. (See page 24 for more information about FAA Reauthorization.) • In the Senate, the Commerce Committee approved S.2658, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2016, which would reauthorize the FAA for 18 months, and does not include an air traffic control not-for-profit proposal as the House version proposes. The full Senate passed an amended version of this legislation (H.R. 636) on April 19, and the legislation is now awaiting consideration by the full House. • Moving forward, there is still a lot of work to be done on FAA Reauthorization. Any bill to reauthorize the FAA will need to be passed by both chambers, without any differences, and sent to the President to be signed before it becomes law. • Lawmakers have until July 15 to enact a long-term FAA Reauthorization bill or they will have to enact another extension to avoid an emergency shutdown of the FAA. NATCA supports the new controller hiring language in H.R. 636, which would result in a larger pool of high quality controller candidates. We commend the language that would require the FAA to recruit experienced controllers, including military and Department of Defense civilian controllers, Federal Contract Tower controllers and those with prior FAA experience. The language provides a path for College Training Initiative (CTI) graduates and military veterans without subjecting them to FAA's biographical assessment and also requires a general-public recruiting pool. The measure would mandate that the FAA refer similar numbers of candidates from the CTI and veteran pool and the general-public pool, under which CTI graduates and veterans could also apply. The legislation also contains positive language about aircraft certification and the involvement of NATCA's aviation safety engineers in the process. NATCA has concerns about language that essentially endorses the FAA's current staffing plan, which is inadequate. It also contains a pilots' bill of rights provision that could create a chilling effect on submitting Air Traffic Safety Action Program (ATSAP) reports, which are crucial to enhancing the safety of the NAS. We believe the legislation addresses NATCA's primary issues of concern, which are the following: ê Ensure that the front-line workforce is fully protected; ê Retain safety and efficiency as top priorities; ê Provide for a stable, predictable funding stream that must adequately support air traffic control services, staffing, hiring and training, long-term modernization, preventative maintenance, and ongoing modernization to infrastructure; ê Maintain a dynamic aviation system that continues to provide services to all segments of the aviation community, from commercial passenger carriers and cargo haulers to business jets and general aviation, at all major airports and small airports in rural areas. The FAA Reauthorization bill should address the lack of a predictable, stable funding stream for a 24/7 operational system focused on safety. Any proposal for restructuring the FAA must address NATCA's primary issues of concern, which are below under the next question. FAA REAUTHORIZATION 32

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