COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
STAT OF THE WEEK
1,251
That's the number of air traffic controllers who are current certified flight instructor (CF I)
certificate holders, according to the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE).
LINK OF THE WEEK
OWCP – Office of Workers' Compensation Programs
We worked with the OWCP Committee to update its section on the members side of the
natca.org website . You can reach the section here . A shortcut to access the page is
owcp.natca.net. In addition to a listing of committee members and their contact info , the
updated section includes an OWCP FacRep guide and a complete library of OWCP
websites and forms.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Where can I find the swap list on the website?
Answer: The Swap List is located under the "Resources" menu tab on the members side
of the natca.org website. Direct link – please click here .
TOP PRESS CLIPS OF THE WEEK
1. Politico – Interview with NATCA President Paul Rinaldi about ATC reform
Excerpt from the interview , which was published on Dec. 26, 2016 :
R eporter Kathy Wolfe: " Walk me through your top priorities for the FAA bill that
will be reintroduced next year. "
Rinaldi: " Well, obviously, our main objective has stayed the same, to find a stable,
predictable funding stream for the National Airspace Syst em. That is first and foremost. "
Wolfe: " In the past, NATCA has not supported attempts to spin air traffic control
away from the FAA. What is it about this moment, or about Chairman Shuster ' s
bill, that made NATCA decide to support it? "
Rinaldi: " The uns table funding has really brought us to a point where the status
quo of the current system is just not sustainable — so we're going to have to shrink
aviation in this country in order to stay in the parameters of the appropriation process, so
to speak. The stops and gos of shutting down the government, going up to the 11th hour
before we avoid another shutdown — these things to us, along with sequestration, are
showing us that there's a focus on shifting towards shrinking aviation in this country as
opposed to growing.
" Aviation is a cornerstone of our economy, 12 million jobs, 1.5 trillion dollars into
our Gross Domestic Product. We shouldn't be focused on shrinking aviation in this
country, we should look at growing. And I think in the current structure th at's what we're
gravitating towards [shrinking] We know the status quo is unacceptable, we have seen
the starts and stops and the delays and the short term extensions — up to 25 or 26 in
the last 10 years.
