- Details
-
11
Jan
Today, Dave Spero, National President of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, AFL-CIO (PASS), released the following statement on the outage issue at the FAA:
The widespread outage that began yesterday and led to the ground stop ordered this morning did not directly involve the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees represented by PASS. However, the underlying issues with antiquated and outdated systems at the FAA stretch across the agency and can have a dramatic impact on the National Airspace System (NAS), as we saw today.
This further highlights the need to ensure that the equipment and technology are maintained by those who have the knowledge, resources or skills to work on systems that are so tightly woven into the efficiency and safety of the NAS. It is PASS’s position that while the government should be good partners with contractors, the nation’s air traffic control system is an inherently governmental function which should come under the purview of the highly skilled and trained technicians such as those we represent.
Read more ...
- Details
-
06
Dec
Approximately 1.5 million lines of code. Ten years. Three presidential administrations. One pandemic.
According to PASS union representative Mike Geiman, that’s all it took to get the Terminal Flight Data Manager (TFDM) operational at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in October. And with the busy holiday travel season upon us, it is important that the public know just how important PASS represented employees at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are when it comes to safer air travel.
TFDM is a tower-based Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) program at the FAA that will automate flight plans and integrate them with surveillance data to create accurate, real-time predictive tools for the terminal environment. TFDM will share data among controllers, aircraft operators and airports so they can better manage traffic flow. With key information—such as flight, surveillance and traffic management information—controllers can make informed decisions on the surface to improve traffic flow and decrease the time a plane is spent waiting to taxi, which will, in turn, reduce fuel use and carbon emissions. But to do that, the controllers need the FAA Technical Operations workforce represented by PASS to help develop, test and deploy the system.
“TFDM is another program that the FAA and industry are working together to improve safety, time efficiency and reduce carbon emissions,” said Geiman.
Before the pandemic began, the FAA planned to rollout TFDM at 89 sites but funding issues cut that number to 48. Indianapolis International Airport is next to go online in April 2023, followed by Phoenix, Raleigh-Durham, John Glenn Columbus and Las Vegas airports for the 2023 calendar year.
Read more ...
After getting acquainted at the parade, Chinnery was fortunate enough to schedule a future Q&A with Metevelis, whose time you can imagine is quite valuable. Joined by PASS Region II Vice President Dave Spero [now PASS National President], the group had the opportunity to chat with Metevelis as she reflected on various struggles and accomplishments during her lifetime. “I thought I had a lot of stories,” joked Chinnery. “After speaking with Marina, I was amazed by her knowledge of U.S. history and everything that she has been through. Her past of overcoming adversity and all of her perseverance shines right through her. It was truly an unforgettable and eye-opening experience speaking with her.”