Air Traffic Control Association
No. 6, 2015
www.atca.org
ATCA’s Fireside Chat with the FAA’s Teri Bristol and Ed Bolton
IN THIS ISSUE: »» NextGen’s Horizon of Safety in Alaska »» A Word from ATCA’s Membership Manager »» ATCA Welcomes New Staff Member, Ashley Haskins »» Aviation History Corner »» And More
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
No. 6, 2015 Published for
By Peter F. Dumont, President & CEO, Air Traffic Control Association
Reaching Out
I
hope you were able to join us last month in Atlantic City. The feedback has been consistently outstanding. In particular, the value that Tech Center Tuesday added to the overall Symposium was mentioned repeatedly. We also received a lot of positive feedback on our NextGen Partnership with the FAA. We have partnered with the FAA NextGen office to identify partners in our membership and highlight their current or future contributions to the success of NextGen. This will be a coordinated strategic effort with the FAA at the ATCA Annual. If you were not at the Tech Symposium or you just want more information please contact Paul Planzer at Paul.Planzer@atca.org. We recently heard from the FAA and expect our Budget Briefing to industry to be in early July this year. We will distribute more information as we firm up the venue and dates. Another effort you will hear about in the next two weeks is the ATCA Acquisition Roundtable with Industry. ATCA is hosting a roundtable with members – free of charge – to discuss acquisition issues with as they pertain to the FAA. This will be an event to determine our members’ concerns and suggestions for improvement to the current acquisition practices of the FAA. Please watch for an announcement with the specifics in your inbox over the next few weeks.
ATCA recently held a Young Aviation Professionals (YAP) Lunch & Learn event. The guest speaker was Rich Swayze, Assistant Administrator for Policy, International Affairs, and Environment for the FAA. Swayze explained the logistics of his position at the FAA and his group’s key role in its reauthorization timeline – stressing the importance of valuing the nuts and bolts of an organization. He also spoke at length about maintaining a relationship between the FAA and Congress, as well as with the international arena and government organizations like the Department of Transportation. The event was well attended and provided some very valuable information for our YAPs; please keep an eye out for our next YAP event. This month, ATCA will be attending the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Durbin, Africa. This is an opportunity for us to discuss the global issues affecting ATM with 80 percent of the world’s ANSP CEOs. The value of these types of gatherings is for ATCA to be exposed to the best practices of ANSPs worldwide. With the discussions of FAA restructure so prevalent, speaking with various ANSP leaders is more beneficial than ever. As always, if you have any suggestions on how ATCA can increase its value or benefits to you, the member, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.
1101 King Street, Suite 300 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone: 703-299-2430 Fax: 703-299-2437 info@atca.org www.atca.org President & CEO: Peter F. Dumont Director, Communications: Marion Brophy Writer/Editor: Kristen Knott Formed in 1956 as a non-profit, professional membership association, ATCA represents the interests of all professionals in the air traffic control industry. Dedicated to the advancement of professionalism and technology of air traffic control, ATCA has grown to represent several thousand individuals and organizations managing and providing ATC services and equipment around the world.
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Upcoming Events Summer 2015
FAA Budget Briefing to Industry Arlington, Virginia
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ATCA Bulletin | No. 6, 2015
Oct. 6, 2015
Aviation Cyber Security Day Resorts Hotel and Casino Atlantic City, NJ
Nov. 1–4, 2015
ATCA Annual and CMAC National Harbor, Maryland atca.org/60annual
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the authors of the editorial articles contained in this publication are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily represent the opinion of ATCA. Printed in Canada. Please recycle where facilities exist.
TRAFFIC JAM AHEAD. PLAN ACCORDINGLY.
Transforming the air traffic management (ATM) system is essential for improving safety, efficiency and the environment around the globe. Boeing is fully committed and uniquely qualified to help make ATM transformation a reality. It’s the right time and Boeing is the right partner.
A Recap of ATCA’s Fireside Chat with the FAA’s Teri Bristol and Ed Bolton By Kristen Knott, ATCA Writer and Editor
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n May 14, Technical Symposium attendees were treated to a rare, candid chat – by (virtual) fireside, no less – with the FAA’s Teri Bristol, Chief Operating Officer of the Air Traffic Organization (ATO), and Ed Bolton, Assistant Administrator for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). For the first time,
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ATCA’s President & CEO Peter F. Dumont publicly sat down with both FAA officials to ask some hard-hitting questions. Peter F. Dumont: There are three major things to consider with the recent push for privatization: ability to increase air traffic effectiveness/operations, staffing, and a stable funding stream. What are
your thoughts on the privatization of the ATO? Teri Bristol: [Privatization] would have to ensure the same high standards around safety. With the way we’re implementing new systems, what is the relationship between the ANSP [Air Navigation Service Provider] and the operator? We need to look at the dynamics. [Ultimately]
we’re going to focus on the mission and we’ll let the other stuff play out. We have a job to do and we cannot be distracted. Ed Bolton: It’s really about implementation. NAV CANADA took seven years to get it right; we can’t afford seven years. We have the largest, safest, and most complex airspace in the world. I don’t know how scalable those changes factors are. We want to make sure you have a good definition of what the plan is to get from point A to point B. PD: How does privatization affect the future of the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center? EB: I don’t see how the Tech Center is not about NextGen. It’s about the entire NAS [National Airspace System]; there are things that this country desperately
“We first put the plan in place with a goal in mind, then figured out how to oversee it. It’s been refreshing.” “““
– Ed Bolton, Assistant Administrator for the Next Generation Air Transportation System, FAA
needs that are only done here. I’m pretty confident about the future of the Tech Center. TB: Second-level engineering, spectrum, and cyber pieces [of the FAA] are up here [at the Tech Center]. It’s important to have the ability to have this place to do the research and simulation that most of the time we aren’t able to do in our field facilities. PD: The FAA has been criticized in the past for operating in an information silo environment, but you two seem to work well together and have formed a good partnership. What’s your secret? TB: When Ed came in, we knew our organizations needed to work well together so we both focused on being able to share information with each other. We spend a ATCA Bulletin | No. 6, 2015
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“Finishing the implementation of ERAM is absolutely critical. We are rolling out Data Comm; it’s really going to change how we work” – Teri Bristol, Chief Operating Officer of the Air Traffic Organization, FAA
lot of time together and do one-on-one [meetings] once a week. We focus on collaboration and we really reinforce that with our teams. There’s so much pressure on us to deliver and leadership starts at the top. EB: I think it’s working and I credit Teri. I don’t own enough of the solutions to the problem to be independent. Begin with the end-state in mind. We first put the plan in place with a goal in mind, then figured out how to oversee it. It’s been refreshing. 6
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PD: What technology from the Tech Center do you think will most change the NAS? EB: The next wave is Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) completion, En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) deployment, Data Communications (Data Comm), and Terminal Automation Modernization and Replacement (TAMR). It will really be about human factors and integration. How do you change things to leverage
that capability? We need to change the procedures. TB: Finishing the implementation of ERAM is absolutely critical. We are rolling out Data Comm; it’s really going to change how we work. ERAM was the base – we had to have that in place – now we can roll out these other capabilities. You can’t just plop it in the field; there’s a lot of work that goes on [to implement it].
A Word from ATCA’s Membership Manager By Tim Wagner
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he new look of ATCA’s website is moving toward its official launch date of June 30, 2015. And ATCA staff is meeting regularly with our developer to ensure completion. We are surveying and reviewing award-winning sites to help us decide what www.atca.org should look like and the features the website should bring to our members. Once the new site is launched, the work of refinement and improvement will continue as we see the site as a living document. Not receiving your daily “Headline News” or your other regular ATCA communications? Then please update your email address at www.atca.org. The process is simple: login and click on “Update My Information.” Once you login the Dashboard page gives you a number of options including renewing your membership or resetting your pesky login ID and password.
Don’t remember your login ID and password? Check your email - both were sent out on April 9, 2015. If that doesn’t work, you can always contact me at tim.wagner@atca.org or at (703) 299-2430.
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NEXTGEN’S
Horizon of
Safety IN ALASKA By Dave Hughes
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ATCA Bulletin | No. 6, 2015
Ninelle/Shutterstock.com
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n November 18, 2014, 55 passengers bound for Deadhorse, Alaska, in a Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft operated by Horizon Airlines encountered low clouds and high winds. They arrived safely thanks to a Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) procedure. Horizon Air began offering service to the village just the day before. Deadhorse has a single 6,500-foot runway with a ground-based Instrument Landing System (ILS) precision approach to the northeast. With ILS, a pilot can fly as low as 200 feet above the ground before seeing the runway and deciding to land. However, winds that day required all aircraft to land to the southwest, with no ILS. Fortunately, that direction has a satellite-guided approach procedure enabled by the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). WAAS provides corrections to GPS signals for greater accuracy. The Deadhorse WAAS procedure has vertical guidance for aircraft to descend as low as 350 feet before a pilot has to see
the runway to land. This decision altitude was just enough to get below the cloud layer. The minimums for this type of WAAS approach are called Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance (LPV). At some airports LPV minimums can be the same as with an ILS and allow descent to 200 feet before a pilot has to see the runway to land. “Having LPV capability will provide some additional reliability at Deadhorse,” said Perry Solmonson, Horizon’s director of Flight Standards and Training. “There isn’t much precipitation there, but it is so cold the snow never melts. When the wind blows it kicks up the snow and it looks like powdered sugar blowing around the runway.” Solmonson said Horizon considers being able to land instead of diverting to an alternate airport using WAAS LPV an operational “save.” The passengers are where they want to be, and the airline avoids considerable expense. The airline began flying approaches with LPV minimums in 2009 in the Pacific Northwest. Its entire fleet of 52 Q400 turboATCA Bulletin | No. 6, 2015
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“Having LPV capability will provide some additional reliability at Deadhorse. There isn’t much precipitation there, but it is so cold the snow never melts. When the wind blows it kicks up the snow and it looks like powdered sugar blowing around the runway.” – Perry Solmonson, director of Flight Standards and Training, Horizon
props is now using this capability on 150 runway ends at 48 airports. In addition to helping Horizon avoid diversions to alternate airports, the LPV capability allows dispatchers to reduce the amount of extra fuel being loaded aboard in case the aircraft has to divert. Some of the alternate airports with LPV are located closer to the destination airport than those with ILS. In all, Horizon estimates it is saving $2 million a year using LPV minimums, Solmonson said.
The Q400s also fly to Kodiak, Alaska, with another type of PBN approach procedure. The Required Navigation Performance (RNP) approach keeps an aircraft on a precisely defined route and warns the pilot if satellite navigation degrades to the point it no longer meets navigation performance requirements. Additional aircrew training is needed to fly RNP procedures. RNP provides a comforting level of safety in mountainous terrain. The RNP procedure enabled Horizon to fly into
Kodiak when the ILS was out of service for several weeks in the late fall of 2014. Horizon technical pilots Steve Bush and Jeff Nelson, who flew flight tests at Alaska airports in the Q400, said one thing they like about LPV approaches is that the signal is more stable than an ILS signal. They discovered during test flights at Deadhorse that WAAS signals there are as precise as at airports in the Pacific Northwest, even though the satellites orbit near the equator.
ATCA Welcomes New Staff
Ashley Haskins Joins as New Office Manager
A
shley Haskins joined ATCA earlier this year as the new Office Manager. Prior to joining the ATCA team, Ashley worked for several years in the art and restaurant industries. She graduated from the Art Institute of Washington in 2009, and has since gained experience in production pipeline administrative assistance, accounts payable, accounts receivable, human resources, and accounting. Ashley lives in Vienna, Va., and spends her free time with family and friends, crafting, baking, traveling, taking pictures, and eating great food. You can see some of her out-of-office work below.
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This Month in Aviation History The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officially opened Washington National Airport for full-time operations. By the end of the year, almost 300,000 passengers had enplaned or deplaned at the airport, and scheduled air carrier operations reached a high of 192 daily in the month of September. Spectator interest was high, and by the first of December over 2,225,000 people had visited the airport. – FAA Historical Chronology
CaseyMartin/Shutterstock.com
On June 16, 1941 …
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The ATCA Bulletin (ISSN 0402-1977) is published monthly by the Air Traffic Control Association. Periodical postage paid at Alexandria, VA. $5.00 of annual dues are allocated for the publication of the ATCA Bulletin. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ATCA BULLETIN, 1101 King Street, Suite 300, Alexandria, VA 22314. Staff Marion Brophy, Director, Communications Ken Carlisle, Director, Meetings and Expositions Ashley Haskins, Office Manager Kristen Knott, Writer and Editor Christine Oster, Chief Financial Officer Paul Planzer, Manager, ATC Programs Claire Rusk, Vice President of Operations Rugger Smith, International Accounts Sandra Strickland, Events and Exhibits Coordinator Ashley Swearingen, Press and Marketing Manager Tim Wagner, Membership Manager
1101 King Street Suite 300 Alexandria, VA  22314
Officers and Board of Directors Chairman, Neil Planzer Chairman-Elect, Charles Keegan President & CEO, Peter F. Dumont Treasurer, Rachel Jackson East Area Director, Susan Chodakewitz Pacific Area, Asia, Australia Director, Peter Fiegehen South Central Area Director, William Cotton Northeast Area Director, Mike Ball Southeast Area Director, Jack McAuley North Central Area Director, Bill Ellis West Area Director and Secretary, Chip Meserole Canada, Caribbean, Central and South America, Mexico Area Director, Rudy Kellar Europe, Africa, Middle East Area Director, Jonathan Astill Director at Large, Rick Day Director at Large, Vinny Capezzuto Director at Large, Michael Headley