NATCA Bookshelf

Administrative Furlough A discretionary ("save money" or "non-emergency") furlough. It involves the placing of an employee in a temporary non-duty, non-pay status because of lack of work or funds, or for other non-disciplinary reasons. It is a planned event designed to absorb reductions necessitated by downsizing, reduced funding, lack of work, or any other event that requires the agency to save money. This kind of furlough is "non-emergency" in that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has sufficient time to reduce spending and therefore give adequate notification of its specific furlough plan and how many furlough days or hours will be required for each affected employee. See also Shutdown Furlough. Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) The FAA is funded primarily by the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (Trust Fund or AATF), which receives revenues from a series of excise taxes paid by users of the National Airspace System (NAS). The Airport and Airway Revenue Act of 1970 created the Trust Fund in an attempt to provide a dedicated source of funding for the aviation system independent of the general fund. The FAA does receive a variable amount of funding for Operations & Maintenance from the general fund. Air Traffic Organization (ATO) The operational arm of the FAA. The ATO is responsible for providing safe and efficient air navigation services to 30.2 million square miles of airspace. This represents more than 17 percent of the world's airspace and includes all of the United States and large portions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. Airport Improvement Program (AIP) The Airport Improvement Program provides grants to public agencies — and, in some cases, to private owners and entities — for the planning and development of public-use airports that are included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS). AIP is authorized as part of the FAA's authorizing legislation and it is appropriated as Grants-in-Aid to Airports. Appropriations Bill A legislative bill that authorizes the government and its administrative agencies to spend money. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization Act of 2016, H.R. 4441 (AIRR Act) The House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee's long-term reauthorization bill, also known as the AIRR Act, was introduced by Committee Chairman Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA). This legislation included an air traffic control reform proposal that would have established an independent, not-for-profit corporation outside of the federal government to serve as the future provider of air traffic control services within the NAS. NATCA supported the AIRR Act because it met NATCA's Four Core Principles for Reform. Biographical Questionnaire/Assessment (BQ) Recently-implemented questionnaire that is currently part of the FAA's hiring process for certain controller candidates. The BQ, which has been revised at least once since its original inception in February 2014, is meant to evaluate a candidate's personality, background, and leadership aptitude in order to predict future success as an air traffic controller. NATCA worked with the FAA to ensure that the revised BQ was validated on the current workforce of fully certified controllers; the first BQ had not been validated. Since the 2016 FAA Extension, the BQ is not used to evaluate experienced controllers, military veterans, and CTI school graduates. Continuing Resolution (CR) When Congress and the President fail to agree to and pass one or more of the regular appropriations bills, a CR can be passed instead. A CR continues the pre-existing appropriations at the same levels (or with minor modifications) as the previous fiscal year for a set amount of time. The CR's funding extends until a specific date or regular appropriations bills are passed, whichever comes first. GLOSSARY 78 NiW Today n i w . n a t c a . n e t

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