NATCA's ATC Push
FORREY: NEXTGEN CAN ONLY SUCCEED IF FAA COLLABORATES WITH NATCANATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION (NATCA) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 18, 2009 CONTACT: Doug Church, 301-346-8245 WASHINGTON – NATCA President Patrick Forrey today told the House Aviation Subcommittee that the union remains completely committed to the safety and efficiency of the National Airspace System (NAS). Thus, NATCA supports NextGen and believes it has a chance to succeed, but only if the Federal Aviation Administration collaborates meaningfully with NATCA and all aviation stakeholders. “New technology has the potential to improve safety, expand capacity, and increase efficiency of the NAS. Therefore, we support the FAA’s willingness to undertake the large scale and long-term research, development and modernization project that it has labeled The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen),” testified Forrey. “There are however, several outstanding shortcomings with the FAA’s methodology and plans that need to be addressed at this early stage of the process.” Testified Forrey: “The FAA’s go-it-alone strategy has come under criticism by this Committee and throughout the aviation industry. Last month, the FAA announced that it has committed to launching a NextGen Implementation Panel, through the RTCA Inc. (formerly the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics). Despite this gesture, to date we have received no indication from the FAA that the Agency has any intention of meaningfully collaborating with NATCA. “The labor-management environment that developed during the Bush Administration continues to make meaningful collaboration nearly impossible. The contempt with which all levels of agency management has treated and continues to treat the air traffic controller workforce makes it clear that the agency does not value the professionalism of NATCA’s members. It is our hope that after the imposed work rules are addressed by the Obama Administration and NATCA and the FAA reach a mutually-accepted collective bargaining agreement, we can again return to an era of cooperation and collaboration that will best serve the needs of the FAA, air traffic controllers, stakeholders, and the flying public.” Read Forrey’s full written testimony ### |