NATCA Bookshelf

Q & A Q A Does NATCA support the proposed F Y 2017 THUD Appropriations bills in the House and Senate? NATCA has been working hard to ensure that the FAA is properly funded for F Y 2017. We greatly appreciate the support of Appropriators over the years. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the THUD spending bill on April 21, approving a total of $16.4 billion for the FAA, which is $131.6 million above the F Y 2016 enacted level. Under the proposed Senate THUD appropriations bill, funding for the specific FAA accounts are as follows: ê Operations: $9.9 billion ê Facilities & Equipment: $2.8 billion ê Research, Engineering & Development: $167.5 million ê Airport Improvement Program: $3.35 billion This is great news for NATCA, especially considering that other THUD programs received cuts. In the House, hearings have been held on FAA funding but a markup of spending legislation has not yet been announced. As such, we have not seen any funding levels produced by the House THUD Subcommittee. Q A Is the National Airspace System facing a critical staffing shortage? • Yes. • Controller staffing has fallen nearly 10 percent since 2011, and the FAA has missed its hiring goals in each of the last seven years. • The FAA has more controllers eligible to retire today than are currently in the pipeline to replace them. With more than one quarter of our certified controller workforce eligible to retire, the FAA's bureaucratic structure is failing. • In F Y 2015, the FAA fell 24 percent below its hiring goals. • If this situation continues unaddressed, we will be hard-pressed to maintain current capacity, let alone expand and modernize the system. HIRING & STAFFING Q A What is the update on the recent changes to the FAA's hiring process? • The FAA changed its hiring process in February 2014. NATCA had major issues with the FAA's 2014 process because it excluded many qualified applicants from the hiring pool. Hundreds, if not thousands, of qualified candidates were rejected as an unintended consequence of parts of the 2014 process. • The FAA has revised its 2014 biographical questionnaire (BQ) and validated the revised version of the BQ on the current controller workforce, which allowed more applicants into the hiring process. • NATCA's primary concern is ensuring a steady stream of eligible, qualified candidates who will pass through the Academy and be successful once assigned to facilities across the country, rather than adding more bureaucratic red tape to the FAA's hiring process. NiW Today n i w . n a t c a . n e t 34

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