Paul Rinaldi - NATCA President
Michael Huerta - FAA Administrator
Huerta testified yesterday in front of congress regarding FAA Reauthorization
Structuring questions were addressed including the idea of privitization.
Huerta Maintains that the FAA wants 3 things:
Maintain our Record of Safety
Safely deploy new technology
Ensure new technology works in the operation and collaboration exists
In regards to privatization, Huerta explained to congress the differences between the private tech market who roll out products when they are "good enough" vs. the safety culture that we have worked so hard to build.
During Huertas Tenure since 2010: 23 extensions, 2 shutdowns, 1 furlough and Sequester have occured yet we have still been able to continue our rollout of NextGen.
Paul - "Our Funding mechanism is broken, we need predictable stable funding. We are willing to look at adjusting the structure of funding."
Huerta - "Restructuring alone does not bring stable funding. We need resources, flexibility, and the ability to transfer funds amongst FAA programs."
Regarding the 2020 mandate G.A. pilots looking for changes/exceptions
Huerta - "FAA has equipped as agreed upon, users should do the same"
Looking for alternatives or removing barriers to equippage and will possibly look at subsidizing the cost for G.A.
Regarding Sequester -
Paul - "How are we going to prioritize when there is no money?"
Huerta - "We are a billion dollars short of projections of expected funding yet we haven't cut any planned services. The president has stated sequester is bad public policy and stops congress from having to prioritize funding."
Paul "If we sequester on oct 1 will OKC shutdown?"
Huerta "I dont want to speculate, we need to focus on getting congress to support reauthorization and not deal with this foolishness. We also don't know what our hit (monetarily) would be if it did happen."
Regarding Consolodation-
Paul - "Regarding Consolidation, how do we replace aging centers, and looking at Chicago ARTCC is consolodation smart? Do we need 20?
Huerta - "20? I dont know what the magic number is. We wouldn't take it down to 3. It's possible to be too big to be efficient. We need to put together a team and answer what problems are we trying to solve.
Regarding Huerta's Legacy-
Paul - "When you walk away as administrator, what do you want to have as your legacy?"
Huerta - "3 or 4 things: I came in 2010 to deploy nextgen. When I leave we will be deploying, executing and using it. Safety, lay to rest old topics but continue to look for new threats
We are the gold standard, we must reassert and solidify the FAA as setting the standard globally.
Lastly, as we bring in the new generation I hope that we are an attractive employer and continue to innovate and exist as a great place to work.
Questions from the audience:
How do we fund or get away from political landscape?
Huerta -
Airline ticket tax revenues have not grown with overall fees due to ancillary fees that are exempt from tax.
Regarding Fuel Tax, nextgen is trying to reduce fuel consumption and in turn reducing funds.
General Fund Subsidy represents (give or take) a third of the operational budget. We have to answer funding questions if we want to move away from being subsidized.
Regarding User fees, there is no consensus but we don't want to discourage pilots from filing flight plans.
We are looking at registry fees as they are roughly $5 per aircraft for 3-5 years.
What can we can do to ensure collaboration in all facilities?
Huerta - "Celebrate Successes"
Can we fasttrack CTI grads? How do we staff as a fast as possible?
Huerta - "We did that with the last bid for people with prior experience, but on the hire of last year 2/3rds were CTI grads, so it is helping students get hired."