A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/838362
SAFETY AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT ATO OPERATIONAL CONTINGENCY GROUP (ATOC) Jason Grider (ZFW) is the Article 114 Representative for NATCA. Also, included in Mr. Grider's duties is Article 114 representation for the Busi ness Continuity Plan (BCP). Mr. Grider ' s report for this month is below. ATOC is in the process of changing program manager. Mr. Grider has been bringing the temporary manager up to speed on the progress the program has made so far and what will be needed in the future. ATOC received a briefing from the oceanic OCP group on their progress. The group has put together plans for divesting sectors, and airspace to adjacent facilities in the event of an outage. The next step will be testing the plans to ensur e they are safe, and work to reach the goals lay out by the Administrator. ATOC is working with this sub - group to begin the integration of the two groups under the ATOC office. Mr. Grider traveled to the Command Center and participated in meetings with th e ATOC group, and contractors to determine the feasibility of having communications, surveillance, and navigation at an adjacent center in the event of a major outage. There have been several issues identified that will have to be addressed before controll ers at adjacent facilities will be able to have the ability to work traffic for an adjacent facility. ERAM in its current configuration does not have the ability to communicate with a TRACON or tower if the ARTCC associated with them is down. Second level engineering is working on solutions to this problem. COLLAB ORATIVE DECISION MAKING (CDM) Kyle Andrews (ORD) is the NATCA Representative to the Surface Concept Team (SCT). Mr. Andrews forwarded the information below for the membership. On May 31 and June 1, Kyle Andrews, CDM representative for the Surface Concept Team, participated in a 3T evaluation at MITRE in McLean, V a . NATCA and FAA representatives for TBFM, TFDM , and TFMS engaged in discussions and simulations to analyze how these programs can be mad e to work together more efficiently. Here is his report. What is meant by the term "rate ? " Airport Arrival Rate (AAR), Airport Departure Rate (ADR), or specific rates for individual runways, can all be affected by different variables, but those effects a ren't built into the term. Airspace issues could restrict the ability to vector to a runway thereby reducing the rate, while the conditions on the airport are ideal and would suggest the highest rate possible. When a Departure Reservoir Coordinator inputs a rate for a Surface Metering Program, he/she may need to factor in conditions that he/she is not well versed in. Double delay : C urrently TFMS will execute a GS/GDP that will give the aircraft one delay. Then, as they taxi out, they are subject to a TBFM CFR that gives them another delay, sometimes a significant one. TFDM is trying to find a way to share projected delay so that the aircraft can have the delays applied concurrently, effectively removing one. However, different facilities are usually the or iginators of different programs, so a central authority (Command Center?) may need to adjudicate among the programs to assign priority.