NATCA Bookshelf

FAA Controller Workforce Plan (CWP) The FAA's Controller Workforce Plan is an annual report that the FAA must provide to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation by March 31 each year. The CWP was originally intended to provide Congress with a comprehensive look at the FAA's controller workforce plan (such as hiring goals and attrition projections), as well as provide actual on-board numbers and staffing ranges for all FAA air traffic facilities. However, the FAA's CWP is fundamentally flawed because: (1) it ignores the collaboratively established Certified Professional Controller (CPC) targets that the FAA and NATCA use to meet the FAA's operational staffing needs at each facility; and (2) the CWP staffing numbers are inaccurate and misleading because they conflate actual on-board numbers (headcount) with CPC staffing levels. FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 This is the current FAA reauthorization legislation, which was signed into law in July 2016, and runs through September 30, 2017. In addition to providing a 14-month reauthorization extension for the FAA, the law also contained certain policy provisions such as drone regulations, security provisions, and customer protections. Equally important, the law also mandated the FAA adopt a new air traffic controller hiring process that was aimed at improving and streamlining that controller hiring process, while also stripping away more of the FAA's bureaucratic red tape. FAA Reauthorization Every several years (when the previous reauthorization expires), Congress is required to enact legislation to authorize funding and set policy priorities for the FAA. The FAA is currently operating under an extension to its authorization through September 30, 2017. This is the third extension that the FAA has faced since September 30, 2015, which is when the most recent long-term reauthorization, H.R. 658, the FAA Modernization Act of 2012, expired. Federal Contract Tower Program Privately-operated, for-profit air traffic control towers under contract with the FAA. These towers often provide service to rural America. NATCA represents 94 of the 252 federal contract towers in the U.S. Fix-on-Fail Maintenance Maintenance performed only after equipment has failed or when breakdown is imminent. The FAA adopted this philosophy, instead of preventative maintenance, in response to sequestration. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I Committee) Chaired by Congressman Bill Shuster (R-PA), this is the committee that oversees FAA reauthorization, amongst many other things. The T&I Committee's Subcommittee on Aviation, chaired by Congressman Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), has jurisdiction over all aspects of civil aviation, including safety, infrastructure, labor, commerce, and international issues. NATCA's National Legislative Committee (NLC) NATCA's National Legislative Committee is responsible for organizing and implementing the Union's grassroots legislative efforts. The NLC works with NATCA's legislative team to develop training sessions, recruit volunteers, and disseminate information about legislative activities. NextGen The over-arching modernization project that will shift the FAA from its current ground-based radar system to more sophisticated, satellite-based and digital technologies, along with new procedures that will combine to make air travel more efficient, predictable, and environmentally friendly. In short, NextGen will make the necessary upgrades to modernize the NAS. GLOSSARY D I D Y O U K N O W ? If a bill is vetoed (refused) by the President, it goes back to Congress, who can override the veto with a two-thirds vote in both houses. via government-and-constitution.org 79

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