A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/685047
· Over the pas t four weeks a few facilities have declared Initial Operating Capacity (IOC) on NIDS, including PIT. PHL on the other hand is still having ASOS issues with its satellite airports. o At this point the program office THINKS that all issues have been resolv ed but only time will tell. · Last year there was an attempt to achieve System Acceptance Testing on NIDS at SCT but it was cancelled due to software issues. After months of delay, threats of being shut down due to data traffic clogging FTI lines, ex tensive testing and the reconfiguration of the hardware setting in the network the program office and vendor, AWI, went back to SCT to finish what was started last year. Unfortunately similar, if not the same, issues were uncovered during this round of SAT testing and the network has once again been shut down pending investigation. · The next big hurdle for the program is I90 with an IOC date set for May 25th. This represents the largest network to date and will be a major steeping stone and learning experience to bring to SCT (whenever it gets started again). · With the NIDS program waterfall being cut there are no new facilities set to receive the product other than the CMH/DAY network. This is a challenge for the Program Office (PO) because th e present network is SAIDS - 5. o It was custom built for CMH/DAY by Systems Atlanta and NATCA has been told that while the system is not old nor in danger of nearing the end of its shelf life, spares and or replacement parts can be very difficult to obtai n. NEXTGEN : Kevin McLaughlin (SCT) is the National Ne xtGen Representative for NATCA. His report to the membership is below. · Participated in kickoff 2 - day NATCA Safety and Technology Leadership Committee meetings. · Participated in numerou s Leesburg Remote Tower telcons, as one of the alternate NATCA Reps on the program to primary Rep. Kieron Heflin. The program is currently evolving through the Requirements phase. · Participated in multiple telcons on the Colorado Remote Tower Progra m, the Program has moved to the Site Survey Stage with monthly travel scheduled to Fort Collins scheduled beginning in June. · Participated in multiple meetings of the NextGen Facilities Outreach Workgroup. This workgroup is focusing on laying a coll aborative foundation between ARTCC and underlying Terminal facilities 16 - 24 months prior to arrival of NextGen technologies to the workplace. · Participated in ATD - 3 Strategic Flow Management Application (S FMA) Demo at MITRE Corporation. SFMA is part of the real time severe weather avoidance dynamic re - route technologies being developed. · Participated in 2 - day Spring Collaborative Decision Making meetings and Stakeholders Workgroup at American Airlines Operations Center in Dallas, continuing th e effort advocating for a Charter rewrite that includes NATCA as a member of the Stakeholder Group. · Participated in QWERTY keyboard evaluation meeting at the William Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, NJ. · Met with Jim Eck, incoming A ssistant Administrator for NextGen, to discuss state of NextGen and Agency strategy for mitigating funding shortfalls. · Participated in 2 day ATD - 2 Demo and AEFS Electronic Flight Strips Kickoff