A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/838362
Airline participation in providing the type of data that the TFDM/TBFM/TFMS automation needs to function is not guaran teed, but it's absence makes the automation basically useless. However, the airlines will only participate if there is a business case, i.e. their financial outlay will be more than offset by benefits. Having been burned by FAA promises before, the airline s can be understandably reluctant to walk that path again. What seems to be happening is that the FAA has been able to convince one airline to invest at one airport in one line of new automation (AAL - TFDM - CLT; DAL - TBFM - MSP). This is potentially set ting up a scenario where individual automation pieces are tailored to individual airlines and airports, and there will be friction when trying to expand to the entire NAS. EN ROUTE AU TOMATION MODERNIZATION (ERAM) Julio Henriques (ZNY) le ads the ERAM effo rts for NATCA. This update is provided by Dan Mullen (ZID). The Airborne Reroute / Pre - Departure Reroute (ABRR/PDRR) functionality had to be disabled May 20th because of a latent error in ERAM. The display of a route line containing a protected route segm ent (chevrons) can, in very specific conditions, cause an RPD failure. This failure happened at ZMP, and since no mitigation was available, we disc ontinued the use of ABRR/PDRR. A software fix is being delivered so sites can resume this service as soon as possible. All 20 ARTCCs will need to be running the new software before we can start using ABRR/PDRR again. ERAM and Data C omm teams have held several reviews of the changes to the Full Data Block that have already been implemented in addition to planned changes. There is concern that all the new information in the data block, including the Visual Comm Indicator, Auto point - out, and Data C omm symbols , may be distracting to the controller. The teams made several recommendations that are being wor ked through our normal process. ERAM National User Team Meeting Summary The ERAM National User Team (NUT ) meeting was held in Phoenix , June 6 - 8. The Management Tech Reps (MTRs) and Facility Tech Reps (FTRs) from the En Route facilities, s econd l evel support from the FAA Technical Center, Data Com m team members, AJV, members of the POM group, and NATCA National Representatives were in attendance. Additional Leidos support and second l evel e ngineering from the Tech Center participated via telcon at various points throu ghout the meeting. The following provides a synopsis of the meeting. Data Comm Briefings The Data Comm team briefed on several items including status of the system, impacts to the schedule , and National Single Data Authority (NSDA) transition planning. E R 174189 Data Com m Radar Service Terminated The team discussed and reached consensus on the use case, its desired behavior is to provide the ability to uplink an independent Radar Service Terminated Message, UM154, to inform the flight crew of termination of radar services. Once all team members concur the use case will be sent to Data Com m and SLE. ER 174400 Disable Data Com m Route Messages