PASS Team Keeps Data Comm on Track

Details

Published: July 29, 2015

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Data Communications, or Data Comm, is a foundational program within the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) and is slated to go IOC (Initial Operating Capability) on August 7, 2015, at Salt Lake City. In May, PASS President Michael Perrone visited Newark to attend a press conference with Michael Huerta to discuss the importance of this program to achieve NextGen benefits.

"The PASS workforce is truly a team player in the development of Data Comm,” said Perrone at the press conference. “PASS has been an active stakeholder in all phases of system development and implementation. Together with the FAA, we are creating a safer and more efficient National Airspace System that will benefit users and stakeholders for years to come."

Throughout the development and implementation of Data Comm, PASS Article 13 Representatives Fausto Hidalgo (Enroute) and Matthew Roland (Terminal) were working with the Data Comm Program Office to present the views and concerns of PASS. As the IOC date neared, Hidalgo reached out to PASS National Assistant Michael Riso to discuss a concern he had with the ability of systems specialists to confidently certify the Data Comm service. He explained the concern in depth and asked for PASS leaders to assist him.

Riso reached out to Perrone to elevate PASS’s concerns to upper-level management within FAA and Technical Operations. Through Perrone, PASS communicated the importance of the situation and the possible outcome if nothing was done to address the issues. He explained that without the ability to certify this service, Data Comm might miss the IOC date. He also advised them that PASS representatives were working with the program to develop a resolution. While Perrone was advising agency officials, Hidalgo began collaborating with second-level engineering and the Data Comm Program Office to develop a method to properly certify the service and keep the program on schedule.

The work of PASS leadership and representatives resulted in the agency recognizing the need to fix an issue in order to move forward and achieve IOC on schedule. As a result, an interim and final solution was developed and agreed upon by PASS and the agency. This agreement will allow Data Comm to achieve the milestone and reach IOC in August.

“This scenario illustrates how PASS leadership works to support the needs of our members and how networking together makes us stronger,” said Perrone. “Without the efforts of our Article 13 representatives, PASS would have been unaware of the magnitude of this issue and could not be prepared to provide the needed support. PASS members are truly instrumental in the success of NextGen now and in the future.”