NATCA National Office Department Overview: Public Affairs 

NATCA is incredibly fortunate to have staff at our National Office that exemplify dedication and excellence in support of the goals of our Union. Each day, they deliver unparalleled service and representation to NATCA’s members. To give NATCA members more information about the work they do, we will be sharing articles that provide an overview of the work done by each department to support our Union. Today, we are presenting the first of this series of articles – an overview of NATCA’s Public Affairs Department – spotlighting the work the department’s team members perform.

NATCA’s Public Affairs Department has a broad range of responsibilities. The department currently has a team of a dozen employees. It is led by a staff director and three deputy directors who each oversee on a day-to-day basis one of the following areas: 1) media relations and public and member communications, 2) planning for NATCA National events and trainings, and 3) our Union’s information technology functions. The following provides more detail about what tasks are comprised of each of these areas. 

In addition to the director and deputy director, NATCA’s two public affairs specialists and a graphic designer lead a robust media outreach and public and member communications effort. They have managed hundreds and hundreds of high-profile media engagements in recent months, including national interviews on Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, Politico, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and others. This team drafts communications such as press statements, talking points, speeches, and news articles. They create content for our Union’s website and social media channels that continues to draw growing website traffic, social media views, and engagement.  

They also produce videos, fact sheets, and other handouts that are distributed to NATCA’s targeted audiences. They coordinate NATCA’s in-the-Beltway advertising program, helping place and prepare ads. In addition, they design publications like the program guides for NATCA in Washington (NiW) and NATCA’s Communicating For Safety Conference (CFS). These team members coordinate photography and manage printing for NATCA. They perform other special duties like media training NATCA activists to help prepare them to be spokespeople for our Union. The team has been focusing on expanding their video production and just launched a TikTok channel for NATCA. They currently are working to onboard our Union’s new public relations firm that will be expanding our Union’s outreach capabilities even further. 

These staff members coordinate with all NATCA departments and member committees to generate news items and work with NATCA’s Communications Committee to share information for regional communications.  

Events & Training

In addition to the director and deputy director, NATCA’s two additional events team members provide the staff planning leadership for our Union’s national events, such as NiW, CFS, NATCA’s Activism & Training Expo (ATX), and NATCA’s biennial conventions. In addition, this team provides logistical oversight for the 25 classes that the NATCA Academy organizes, arranges 10 meet & greet events for FAA Academy trainees each year, plans NATCA’s annual Corporate Partner reception, and coordinates our Union’s involvement in dozens of other aviation events each year, including NATCA’s pavilion at EAA’s AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., as well as our Union’s exhibiting and speaking opportunities at other conferences. They also work closely with NATCA Members to support multiple regional outreach efforts. 

The events team negotiates dozens and dozens of contracts each year for hotels, event spaces, and other related events services with the goal of elevating the attendee experience while reducing costs.  They collaborate with a wide variety of service providers and product suppliers, including event audio-visual and production specialists, conference and exhibit designers, and award producers. They also look to expand third-party sponsorships and exhibits to strengthen our relationships within the aviation community and grow non-member-dues sources of revenue for our Union. 

They work closely with the planning committees for NiW, CFS, Convention, ATX, and EAA’s AirVenture to support and execute the Union’s vision and goals. In addition, they coordinate with NATCA’s National Training Committee, the Reloaded Committee, the National Organizing Committee, and the NATCA Charitable Foundation.  

Information Technology

In addition to the director and deputy director for IT, NATCA’s IT manager, IT administrator, and web administrator coordinate hardware and systems used by NATCA members and staff. Their responsibilities include administering the email accounts used by members and staff and making sure they aren’t compromised by malware and phishing attacks, administering our Union’s Microsoft 365/Teams environment, maintaining the backend of NATCA’s websites and preventing viruses and other hacks, and maintaining NATCA’s member databases and updating the data in them. At our headquarters, this team procures and maintains computers and other hardware for all NATCA staff. They have built and maintain smart teleconference equipment in several of NATCA’s HQ conference rooms. They also maintain NATCA’s telephone and Wi-Fi systems and other office equipment. 

They assist during national events with registration, credentialing, badge printing, and live streaming. After each event, this team compiles photos and videos to provide a summary and archive of the milestone moments that took place, including keynote speeches, awards, amendments and resolutions footage. They work closely with their colleagues in the department, making sure that news items are added to the website and group email distribution lists are updated regularly. 

Their latest project is building a new state-of-the-art TV recording studio at NATCA’s headquarters to continue growing our Union’s outreach capabilities. They also look forward to rolling out additional modules of the MyNATCA database and beginning to work on refreshing the look and function of the NATCA website. 

These employees coordinate closely with NATCA’s IT Committee on these duties.