A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/703686
Communications Specialist Sarah Zilonis : szilonis@natcadc.org ; 202 - 266 - 9844. Multimedia Specialist Chris Ray : cray@natcadc.org ; 202 - 266 - 9875 WEEKLY MESSAGE FROM ATO COO TERI L. BRISTOL The Future of the FAA's Flight Programs Hi everyone. The FAA's Flight Programs are a key part of our mission to ensure the safest, most efficient airspace system in the world. As part of these programs, the a gency operates and maintains 46 owned or leased aircraft to perform various functions such as flight inspection of airspace infrastructure, NTSB Go Team response, currency and proficiency for our pilots, and training, among others. In this week's message, I want to share with you our plans to restructure this important program, with all flight program operations coming into the ATO. Currently, nearly 600 FAA employees work for six flight programs under four different lines of business/or staff offices. Over sight of these programs is conducted by multiple offices within the Office of Aviation Safety (AVS) Flight Standards Service (AFS). As part of the restructure, we're separating the operations piece from the oversight piece and consolidating the Flight Prog ram into two entities: 1. A new consolidated service unit within the ATO – called Flight Program Operations (AJF) – will be responsible for all aspects of flight program operations. AJF will bring together employees from the Flight Inspection Flight Program, Washington Flight Program, the Tech Center's Flight Program and the AFS Flight Program. AJF will be the new service provider for employees from AVS and the Academy. 2. Regulatory oversight of the consolidated flight program will be conducted by a single Flig ht Program Certificate Management Unit in AFS. Our target date for implementing AJF is October 2. When the transition is complete, AJF will have operational control of the consolidated flight program, as well as responsibility for scheduling missions and implementing standardized flight control procedures (flight release and flight following) for all FAA flight program operations. An ATO Vice President will be responsible for all aspects of flight program safety, administration, operations, training and ma intenance. We'll also be able to establish a single safety management system for flight program operations. I ' ve asked David Boulter, Director of the ATO's Flight Inspection Services program , to serve as Flight Program Executive during the transition perio d until we name a permanent executive. We're working to make this transition as seamless as possible. No jobs will be lost due to this consolidation and no realigned personnel will physically move. Employees will perform the same primary function they do t oday and current flight program operations will continue through the transition. We've provided formal notice to our unions, as required when we conduct a reorganization. We've also conducted briefings with NATCA, PASS, Laborers' International Union of Nor th America , and the National Federation of Federal Employees, with other briefings coming up. I want to thank everyone involved in this effort. I also