A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/788229
SAFETY AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT EN ROUTE AU TOMATION MODERNIZATION (ERAM) Julio Henriques (ZNY) leads the ERAM efforts for NATCA. This update is provided by Dan Mullen (ZID). The biggest challenge we've faced over the past few weeks has been the deployment of EAD6002, the next release of the ERAM software. After delays in November and December, ZLC and ZSE resumed k eysite activities Jan 8th. The software itself performe d pretty well, but the changes to the data block caused problems. Specifically, the new Visual Comm Indicator (VCI) and left - justified data block made it hard to maintain situational awareness when working complex traffic. The National User Team (NUT) and CHI Team reworked the data block CHI and made the changes ne eded to redeploy the software. It will be ready for release in mid - March. The delay in deploying EAD600 will probably cause a slip to the upcoming releases also. EAD700 will likely move to a June or July delivery, which is a concern because ERAM Tech Refresh is dependent on that release. Much of the ERAM hardware is at the end of life and needs to be replaced before failures increase, s o any delay increases our risk. The Jan . 23rd test of Airborn e Reroute (ABRR) uncovered some problems with the way ERAM and TFMS (Traffic Flow Mgmt System) work with Conformant Routes. Chan ges are needed in both software and ABRR will be available again beginning in April. Each ARTCC will need to be on EAD6002 befor e that site can use ABRR. Traffic Management Coordinators (TMCs) from each ARTCC attended an ABRR/PDRR familiarization at the Tech Center in January. These TMCs will act as Subject Matter Experts when their sites beginning using ABRR/PDRR. The NUT has bee n working on Problem Statements and Operational Use c ases related to: • Revisions to the ICAO Equipment Template • An electronic version of the " Horse Collar " • Path Stretch • NEXRAD Outage Notifications • GIM - S Transition Speeds The next NUT quarterly meeting is s cheduled for the week of March 6. HUMAN PERFORMANCE Jay Barrett (MIA) is the Article 114 Representative for Human Performance. His report is below. N90 : An agreement has been reached with the facility to begin the certification standards training. The fa cility will train the OJTIs, trainees, supervisors , and OMs for two of the five areas. Training began on Jan 31st. In most cases there will only be one or two employees in each class due to staffing issues. This is a three - day training that involves materi al on how to use the standards, an in depth introduction to the standards , and five hands - on training simulations using Falcon replays and applying the new standards. The training should be completed on or about the first week of June. There have not been final discussions on how the remaining three areas will transition to the new standards.