December 1st, 2025 New England Bi-Monthly Regional Update

Dec 1, 2025

ARVP Update

From Steve Brown, NATCA New England Region ARVP

Hello New England!

The holiday season often gives us a lot to look forward to: family gatherings, parties, amazing food, and (hopefully) time away from work. It also provides a good opportunity to look back on the year and realize our accomplishments and take lessons from our mistakes.

With still a month to go, 2025 has certainly been a difficult year for NATCA and its membership; however, New England has a lot to be proud of.

In March, volunteers from throughout the region descended on Washington, D.C., and for the first time that I can remember, lobbied for better pay inside congressional offices on the hill. When we told your stories and explained why it was important, most members of congress and their staffers that we spoke to understood immediately what you already know–you are undervalued and overworked.

In May, your delegates, along with delegates from across the country that shared a similar plan for moving our union forward, took your voice to San Francisco to argue and vote on the largest amendment package in our union’s history at Convention. Many of our ideas failed, but they were heard, and stifled voices reached out and reminded us to keep going.

Throughout one of the busiest summers of traffic we’ve seen, New England fought for and saw something that hasn’t happened much around here: staffing triggers. Your local and regional leadership worked together to promote and implement common-sense measures to help an understaffed workforce keep Americans safe.

As a thanks for all of your hard work, you endured the longest Government Shutdown in history, missing pay, and working for IOUs. As a thank you for your Patriotic sacrifices during this time, you were met with inaccurate paychecks and awards meant to fracture our workforce and send a message. New England’s response, as it always has been, is to fight back against unjust practices, and that’s exactly what your regional LR team and local leaders are doing by filing grievances and leading the charge.

Happy holidays. Don’t forget to enjoy the good things that come! We won’t stop fighting for more of those things to find you and your loved ones.

Safety

From Seth Myers, New England Safety Rep, ZBW

What do you think of when someone says the word “safety”? Some people might repeat one of the many definitions, which generally is a condition of being protected from or unlikely to cause danger, risk, or injury. You may think that safety also refers to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Or maybe it’s a condition where the number of adverse outcomes is as low as possible by trying to make sure things do not go wrong by eliminating causes of hazards or containing their effects? Whatever you may think, one thing is universally agreed. Safety has many definitions and contexts of the word, and they all vary depending on your perceptions and understanding of the systems, guidelines, and environments you work within.

As Air Traffic Controllers, we are at the front lines of the FAA’s Safety Management System. This system contains many policies, procedures, processes, and tools integrated into the environment we work in every day. This system needs feedback and support from those individuals closest to the front lines. In fact, it is imperative the system has operational input. NATCA New England has always fought for members’ voices and experience to be included in the feedback loop of the safety management system. Controller strength, along with the membership’s collective strength, grows with knowledge and experience. This is why NATCA New England is bringing Safety Advocacy Training back to the region in January. We are trying to continue to grow our local knowledge and experience about this safety system.

We are hopeful that with this knowledge, we can grow our local and regional safety teams. Healthy, high-functioning Local Safety Councils have a direct effect on the environment you work in every day. They can have a direct effect on the facilities around you; effect change at a regional level and even a national level.

I ask you to think about the question asked above: What is Safety?

The feedback I most often hear from those who attend Safety Advocacy Training is that the class really opened their eyes to what is supposed to be happening in our facilities, but does not.

Consider attending Safety Advocacy Training on January 21st and 22nd at Boston Center in Nashua, NH. There is something for everyone to take away from this class. A further, more detailed look into the systems you may already know. Or maybe it may change your whole perception of what safety is and how you can contribute to the backbone of our profession.

You can sign up for Safety Advocacy Training by filling out this form. Hope to see you there!

Legislative Update

From Jamie Green, NATCA New England Legislative Chair, PVD

NATCA’s top legislative priority following the shutdown continues to be securing the 3.8% pay-parity increase. Our outreach began well before the shutdown, and now that the government is reopened, we are actively re-engaging. We are focusing on key Senators and committee staff to insert the necessary language into the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill, or an alternative legislative vehicle.

Priority 1A is advancing legislation to ensure our members are paid during any future government shutdowns. Several bills addressing this issue are currently circulating in Congress, and NATCA supports each of them:

H.R. 6086 – Aviation Funding Solvency Act
S. 1045 – Aviation Funding Stability Act of 2025
H.R. 5455 – Aviation Funding Stability Act of 2025
H.R. 5451 – Aviation Funding Stability Act of 2025 (identical to H.R. 5455)
S. 3012 – Shutdown Fairness Act

In addition, Senators Hoeven and Duckworth recently introduced two bills—S. 3257, the Mental Health in Aviation Act, and S. 3258, the Aviation Medication Transparency Act. NATCA played a significant role in shaping both pieces of legislation, which would modernize mental-health guidance for air traffic controllers and require the FAA to publish a list of approved medications. The NLC also helped secure several original cosponsors, including Senator Reed of Rhode Island.

FacRep Focus

From Michael DiFalco, Boston Tower (BOS) Facility Representative

“Do you know where you are? You’re in the Jungle, baby!”

Hello New England! I am Mike DiFalco, and if those lyrics didn’t give it away, I’m a huge Guns N’ Roses fan. Axl Rose was my boyhood hero, and I still find him to be one of the most intriguing humans on the planet.

Ok, onto the work stuff – Air Traffic was never a goal of mine. I wanted to be an airline pilot from as early as I can remember. I was hired by the regional airlines in 2002. They declared bankruptcy soon after, and my training was canceled before it began. The industry was reeling from 9/11, and I struggled to find a flying job. Back to school I went, eventually joining the FAA in 2007.

I worked at MHT and PVD before coming to Logan in 2013. During my time on the BOS E-Board, I have served as Treasurer and Vice President, and am currently entering my third year as Facrep. I also serve on the National Finance Committee and am part of the NATCA Academy, teaching the Secretary/Treasurer Training class.

At BOS, I represent the best controllers the NAS has to offer. Logan Airport’s geometry makes the work they do challenging and complex, yet they meet the moment on a daily basis.

As Facrep, my priority is protecting the contractual rights of our membership. Although this segment is titled “Facrep” Focus, I need to be clear here – this is not a one-person job, and it’s not possible without the commitment of our entire Executive Board and all of our local workgroup/committee members. I appreciate you all.

When not working, you can probably find me behind my drum set, enjoying time with my wife and kids, or making plans to attend the next rock concert (see above for my favorite band!).

NCEPT Update

The November 2025 NCEPT Panel has been rescheduled for January 21, 2026. This will be an additional panel for 2026 as there will still be 4 panels in March, May, August, and November.

Given the increase in CPC and trainee counts following the CRWG updates in May, the new releasing threshold starting in January 2026 will be ≥81% Current CPC to Target and ≥85% 12-month ETT. The EnRoute gaining threshold will be determined once the panel PPT is published.

The timeline for the January 21, 2026 panel is as follows:

NCEPT Timeline:

Friday, 19 December – ERR submission deadline (must be received by 23:59 EST)
Tuesday, 23 December –Staffing Workbook entries completed by facility and HR
Wednesday, 24 December –Monthly PPT run and ETT for this board is run on this date
Monday, 29 December – NCEPT data run
Monday, 5 January – HR resume/ERR packages upload begins
Friday, 9 January – HR resume/ERR packages upload complete
Monday, 12 January – Manager Ranking List published (Opened)
Friday, 16 January – Manager Rankings completed (Closed)
Monday, 19 January – AJV P21 prepares data for NCEPT board.
Wednesday, 21 January – NCEPT convenes/adjourns.

Post NCEPT Selection Meeting Timeline:

1st Quarter (December) NCEPT Selection Dates:

NCEPT meeting adjourns January 21st
TOL sent to employees no later than February 2, 2026

PWM Annual Toy Drop

Christmas is right around the corner, which means so is our annual Toys 4 Tots Toy Drop! It will be held at both MacJets & NorthEast Air FBOs here at the Portland Jetport, with controllers at both locations collecting toys & answering questions. Coffee and donuts that were donated by local businesses will be available during the event. We started this event back in 2022, with every year being better than the last.

We collected 14 boxes of toys last year and hope to beat that this year!

We would love for you to join us on Saturday, December 13th, from 9 AM to 12 PM if you’re available! For those who can’t make it, but still want to donate, monetary donations can also be made by clicking here.

Help us make it a bright and memorable Christmas for all the kids in need this holiday season. From all of us at PWM ATCT, we wish you and your families a happy & healthy holiday season!