A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/793416
Western PBN Update – February 2017 PBN Full Work Group meeting was held for optimizing Salt Lake City (SLC) PBN procedure s. Track - to - Fix (TF) approaches continue to be a challenge to connect with current downwind track. Delta Airlines presented results of a recent TF approach flight simulation to discuss FMC indications that have raised some concerns of possible segment disc onnections due to the combined factors of a narrow downwind width and historical wind speed data. Delta Airlines has stated that they remain confident that TF approaches can still work at SLC but downwind width may need to be slightly increased. S56 is w illing to adjust the downwind to accommodate the TF approaches with the condition that certain vertical restrictions can be applied for operational need. Due to the project's overall complexity, it was determined that facility specific design meetings need to be held to resolve internal airspace and procedure challenges. ZLC and S56 have both agreed to work their respective procedure issues and provide notional designs t o present at the next full workg roup meeting. Josh Haviland, Western PBN Rep CSA PBN 20 17 - 02 - 25 More sites are starting the decom process under VORMON. Supporting activities for all decoms has become a major part of our overall workload. The most positive piece to come from our invo lvement has been DME retention. Unless there is a land lease or severe infrastructure problem, the Central VORMON coordi nators keep all existing DMEs. The FMS back - up for PBN (RNAV) procedures is either a DME - DME or a DME - DME/IRU solution. We plan to continue operating this way until the NextGen DME program is up a nd running. We are currently preparing for the following VOR decoms in FY17: BRD, BTL, DDD, ENW, HRK, HUW, RIS, STE, and SYO. The re - writ e for FAAO 8260.43C continues. This order develops a national prioritization structure for a ll publications, once enac ted. There are still competing interests on who ultimately will decide what the priorities are and this Order migh t not be the adopted solution. The collaboration between FAA and NATCA continues until a different strategy is announced. The PBN Program Off ice (AJV - 14) hosted a three - day meeting in January for all Co - Leads. Preparation for Community Engagement for the following sites is being planned: KCMH, KAUS Post - Implementation, and KSAT. In Central , the OSG Environmental Specialists have been assigned as the POCs for Community Engagement. Both Great Lakes and Southwest r egional a dministrators, their s taff, and c ommunications have given us tremendous support for every level of this growing activity. After several pre - meetings, we officially k icked o ff another single - site project at the John Glenn - Col umbus Regional Airport (KCMH). The second design meeting and e ngagement activities with c ongressional s taffers are both scheduled for March. We continue to spend the majority of our time developing the app ropriate strategies and materials for Community Enga gement in KAUS, KSAT, and KCMH. The r egional a dministrators and their staff, FAA Public Relations, the NextGen Office, and our Environmental Specialists are all working together to produce site - specific plans for each