COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
THE BIG STORY OF THE WEEK: NATCA President Paul Rinaldi was one of just two
panelists (JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes was the other) participating in a high - profile
discussion about ATC reform hosted by Airlines for America at its Sept. 13 Commercial
Aviation Industry Summit. That allowed Rinaldi ample time to speak at length about t he
need for stable, predictable funding for the National Airspace System.
The panel discussion drew widespread aviation trade media coverage. This was
from Politico's Kathy Wolfe:
"(Rinaldi noted) the 'f unding uncertainty that will have to be addressed bef ore
Congress breaks at the end of th is month. It's just the same old story and it continues to
repeat itself, and those in this room and many in the industry realize that we've got to do
something different. So yes, we need stable, predictable funding, and if that is dovetailed
into some type of new structure or reform, we wan t to be part of the discussion.'"
Rinaldi said t he inability of the FAA to long - term plan has affected both the
staffing levels and technological capabilities of the system, tying up t he NAS in a
bureaucratic mess of red tape that Congress has been unable to break through.
"We've got to do something different," Rinaldi said. "As I travel around the world,
I just start shaking my head. We are the best, but we don't have the best equipmen t."
"If we had the best equipment, just maybe we could enhance and improve the
safety and efficiency of the system that much more," he said.
To read full coverage of the panel from the NATCA Insider, please click here .
To watch the panel, please click here . The panel begins at the 1:35:28 mark.
UPDATE FROM THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS SHOP
Recent and u pcoming events and press oppo rtunities:
DataComm : A story about Data Comm and modernization efforts, put together
from last month's FAA positive NextGen press event at Salt Lake City, aired on NBC
Nightly News on Sept. 17. You can watch it here .
Newark : FAA Public Affairs received a request from N ew York Magazine to take
photos of EWR air traffic contr ollers working at night for an online feature that highlights
professions that require employees to work throughout the night. The photo spread
would appear on NewYorker.com during October. The FAA gave the photographe r
approximately 30 minutes on Sept. 15 to take photos. We are looking forward to seeing
this feature.
Tucson : Sept. 23; an FAA - led press event to mark the new tower opening there.
NATCA President Paul Rinaldi and FAA Administrator Michael Huerta are sched uled to
be there.
D ataComm - Joint Press Event With FAA: Sept. 27 at Dulles Tower.
San Francisco : The FAA is planning a press event on Oct. 11 to mark the
opening of the new SFO tower.
Las Vegas : FAA plans to do a press event to mark the new LAS and L30
facilities' opening. Looks like it will be either Oct. 18 or Oct. 24.
NATCA NATIONAL, LOCAL TAMR REPS PART OF COLLABORATIVE TEAM
HONORED AT FAA : On Thursday, Sept. 15, NATCA President Paul Rinaldi joined
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Traffic Organization (ATO) and TechOps
leadership, TAMR (Terminal Automation Modernization and Replacement)
representatives, subject matter experts, and Professional Aviation Safety Specialists
(PASS) and Raytheon officials at a special national recognition event at FAA
headquarters. The event marked the successful completion of Phase 3 Segment 1 , the
