NATCA has started an advertising effort targeting members of Congress and other D.C. influencers urging congressional action to address the ATC staffing crisis while Congress acts on FAA Reauthorization. Radio ads started running in the National Capital Region, emphasizing the critical need for substantial revisions in the upcoming FAA Reauthorizat…

At NATCA CFS 2023, NATCA Director of Safety and Technology Tom Adcock and NASA ATM-X Project Manager Shivanjli Sharma moderated a panel titled “Meeting the Demands of Tomorrow,” with panelists from Joby Aviation, the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), and the MITRE Corporation, along with NATCA Article 114 Rep. for Unma…

At CFS 2023, National Recurrent Training Lead Richard Kennington and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Director of Safety Joe Winingar moderated a panel of experts who discussed making changes in the National Airspace System to enhance safety. Panelists included NATCA Western Event Review Committee member Erich Chouinard, NATCA Confidential Inf…

The aviation safety professionals who make up the frontline air traffic controller workforce are key to understanding safety issues in the National Airspace System (NAS). A safety culture that encourages reporting of safety issues in an effort to constantly improve safety is critically important. Across the nation, NATCA representatives work as par…

In this episode of the NATCA Podcast, join Executive Vice President Andrew LeBovidge at Communicating For Safety 2023 as he leads a thought-provoking panel discussion on the critical topic of maintaining medical evaluations for air traffic controllers. Panelists include FAA Federal Air Surgeon Susan Northrup and Aviation Medicine Advisory Service (…

In this episode of the NATCA Podcast, Communications Committee Central Region Rep. Bryan Martini (location) interviews 2023 Archie League Medal of Safety Award Winners John “Casey” Hovis (St. Louis TRACON, T75; formerly at MCI) Tyler Wilke (Kansas City International ATCT, MCI) and Matt Williams (MCI). Daniel Clifton (MCI) was also honored with an A…

In this episode of the NATCA Podcast, Communications Committee Region X Rep. Lisen Minetti (Engineers and Aeronautics Center, EAC) interviews 2022 Region X Commitment to Safety Award Winner Jon Stanton (New England Region Engineers, ENE).By NATCA National Office

In this episode of the NATCA Podcast, Communications Committee Southern Region Rep. Amy Sayers (Fort Lauderdale ATCT, FLL) interviews 2022 Archie League Medal of Safety Award Winner David Kunzman (Memphis Center, ZME).By NATCA National Office

In this episode of the NATCA Podcast, Communications Committee Southern Region Rep. Amy Sayers (Fort Lauderdale ATCT, FLL) interviews 2022 Archie League Medal of Safety Award Winner Artur Mularczyk (Memphis Center, ZME).By NATCA National Office

In this episode of the NATCA Podcast, former Communications Committee Northwest Mountain Region Rep. Lydia Baune (Spokane ATCT, GEG) interviews 2022 Archie League Medal of Safety Award Winners Morgan Farmer and Jake Zakrzewski (Denver Center, ZDV).By NATCA National Office

In this episode of the NATCA Podcast, Communications Committee New England Region Rep. Shannon Lyman (Boston Center, ZBW) interviews 2022 Archie League Medal of Safety Award Winner Patrick Sullivan (Boston ATCT, BOS).By NATCA National Office

In this episode of the NATCA Podcast, Communications Committee Great Lakes Region Rep. Jennifer Malloy (Cleveland Center, ZOB) interviews 2022 Archie League Medal of Safety Award Winner Darren Groce (Indianapolis ATCT, IND - Retired).By NATCA National Office

Central Region 2022 Archie Winner Brian Magnuson by NATCA National OfficeBy NATCA National Office

We sat down with Bill Geoghagan, NATCA’s Senior Terminal Technology Representative at the NATCA National Office in Washington. In November, Bill celebrated his 10 year anniversary as part of NATCA’s staff. From watching the Union first organize his air traffic facilities in Mississippi, to describing how the profession evolved after the White Book,…

Alaska Region Communications Committee Rep. Eric Mauro interviews 2022 Archie League Medal of Safety winners Nathan Midthun and Brent Eber of Merrill Field ATCT.By NATCA National Office

Each week, NATCA will be publishing a podcast episode featuring each region’s Archie League Medal of Safety winners for 2022. In this week’s podcast, Communications Committee Southwest Region Representative Mary Ann Hall (Houston Hobby ATCT, HOU) interviews Megan Baird (Fort Worth Center, ZFW) and Kerri Fingerson (Boston Center, ZBW; previously at …

National Safety Committee Chair Chrissy Padgett talks about the upcoming Communicating For Safety (CFS) Conference, union activism, and the importance of working together. She talks about how NATCA members’ day-to-day work is affected by the discussions and collaboration that takes place at CFS, and what she’s looking forward to most about the conf…

At approximately 8:30 p.m. on March 9, 2021, Greensboro ATCT (GSO) member Noah Walker was working the approaches into Greensboro, N.C., from the tower cab, as the positions were combined and the radar position was moved to the tower. Walker was lining up a Lifeguard aircraft to the final for Runway 14. Just before he instructed the pilot to contact…

By Sept. 15, 2020, six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, air carrier traffic volume was greatly reduced, presenting opportunities for many general aviation pilots - and students, with their instructors - to do takeoffs and landings at major airports. One such flight, a Mooney M20 piloted by a student with an instructor, departed runway 1 right at …

On a Thursday afternoon in September 2020 in the Prairie Area of Kansas City Center (ZKC), just six months into the COVID pandemic, the facility was staffed with small teams of controllers working their shifts together for safety but still handling busy traffic volumes. ZKC member Ingrid “Inga” Owens was working a Yak 18T that was headed north towa…

Numerous challenges presented themselves on the midnight shift of Aug. 19, 2020, with an inbound FedEx Boeing 767 on approach to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) that had a retracted left main landing gear. LAX members Jeremy Hroblak, Scott Moll, and C.J. Wilson, through their skill and professionalism, were able to address each of the chall…

Houston TRACON (I90) member Joe Wright was working the Thursday evening arrival streams into Houston Hobby (HOU) and nearby Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base (EFD) when the pilot of a Piper Cherokee struggled to stay on the localizer for EFD and then lost his gyroscope in IFR conditions. The pilot worked to get back onto the localizer, but soon de…

“Eight Hotel Romeo is descending, I’ve lost my cabin pressure.” The pilot of a Socata TBM-850 single-turboprop aircraft was flying north toward Burlington, Vt. Boston Center (ZBW) controller Casey Allan was conducting on-the-job training. But what first seemed like a normal flight in their airspace soon turned serious with the onset of hypoxia sign…

Matt Wyrick, who is in the sixth year of his FAA career, all at Indianapolis Center (ZID), grew up immersed in aviation. His father, Allan, was a longtime pilot for NetJets. Wyrick said hypoxia came up in some discussions between them. That, along with his training, prepared him to successfully assist the pilot of a Cessna 441 Conquest II who was e…

Fort Worth Center (ZFW) air traffic controller Randy Wilkins has worked enough general aviation traffic in his 13 years there to know that while he and his colleagues aim to provide the best support they can and the most information possible to pilots who encounter difficulty, ultimately, it’s up to the pilot to finish off a safe landing.But Wilkin…

In Part 3 of their four-part conversation, NATCA member and experienced pilot Jamie Sanders (Denver/Centennial ATCT, APA) and Major Katie Cook, a third-generation military aviator and the first female Navy Blue Angels pilot, focused on pilot-controller communications. “I would say that ATC and talking on the radios is way harder than flying an actu…

NATCA charter member Brad Burtner retired from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Jan. 3, 2008 after three decades of working traffic at four different facilities. Like many other retirees, Burtner headed to Florida, but he didn’t hang up his headset or put away his Union membership card.Instead, two days later, Burtner started a new chap…

In honor of Women's History Month, NATCA is presenting the second of a four-part conversation between two incredibly inspiring women in the world of aviation. NATCA’s own Jamie Sanders, an air traffic controller at Denver/Centennial ATCT (APA), who is also an experienced pilot, interviewed Major Katie Cook, a third-generation military aviator and t…

In 1929, the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce dubbed Wichita, Kan., the “Air Capital of the World.” Nearly a century later, with a world-leading total of aircraft manufactured, it could be argued that Wichita’s busy-and-getting-busier airspace above six airports and McConnell Air Force Base makes it a strong candidate to keep that title. That prese…

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) is very honored to introduce the start of a four-part conversation between two incredibly inspiring women in the world of aviation.NATCA’s own Jamie Sanders, an air traffic controller at Denver Centennial Tower (APA), who is also an experienced pilot, recently sat down for a virtual interview…

In our last episode (Episode 27) of The NATCA Podcast, we brought you the story of Fort Worth Center (ZFW) air traffic controllers and NATCA members Brian Cox, Larry Bell, and Colin McKinnon. The trio worked together as a team to help pilot and flight instructor Anise Shapiro and her student, Jouni Uusitalo when the engine failed on his Piper PA-46…

Halfway into a nearly 75-minute flight last spring to Graham Municipal Airport (RPH), 80 miles northwest of Fort Worth, Texas, pilot and flight instructor Anise Shapiro, in a Piper PA-46 Malibu, lost the engine for the first time in her 23 years of flying. At 14,500 feet and needing quick options, she declared an emergency to Fort Worth Center (ZFW…

Late on a mid-summer evening, over the ocean and in the fog, pilot Lihan Bao was flying a short final ILS approach to Runway 24 at Martha’s Vineyard (MVY), her second time flying into that airport. The tower had just closed for the night. Shortly after her VOR receiver began to swing left to right, Bao saw a group of bright lights which distracted …

Duffy Fainer holds three skydiving world records and has encountered eight parachute malfunctions and one emergency ocean landing in 46 years of jumps. His first in-flight emergency in 15 years of flying airplanes, late in the afternoon of Wednesday, April 22, 2020, gave him a different kind of feeling. But he credits the calm, professional, expert…

The weather conditions in Alaska are often poor, but they’re highly changeable. This can lead to situations where a pilot can encounter difficulty, especially if they’re not able to fly in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). Alaskan Region air traffic controllers are keenly aware of this each time they plug in for a shift.“I’ve seen situati…

It was like most any other ordinary summer afternoon in Pensacola, with a lot of weather, when Marcus Troyer plugged in for his shift at Pensacola TRACON (P31) shortly after 12:30 p.m. EDT. In the skies to the west, U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Commander Brian Hedges was the pilot and aircraft commander on an ordinary training mission in a newly-converted …

Ep21: NATCA Runway Safety/RWSL Representative Bridget Singratanakul (Gee) by NATCA National OfficeBy NATCA National Office

NATCA Charitable Foundation (NCF) President Corrie Conrad (Portland, Ore., ATCT, PDX) reflects on the 25th anniversary of NCF. She talks about the great work being done by member volunteers, the efforts put toward meeting the challenge of growing NCF, and the great personal rewards of donating time, money, and energy to the Foundation. "It's a labo…

Just a couple of weeks after open heart surgery to implant a new prosthetic valve in place of his failing bicuspid aortic valve, longtime Fresno ATCT (FAT) FacRep Jerry O'Gorman says he is feeling great and already well on the road to recovery, anxious to regain his medical and return to the facility. With the love of his wife, Cara, and three youn…

Our NATCA Family has lost 16 members in the last several years to suicide. The latest was Crystal Joy Kendzierski, the FacRep at Tulsa Riverside ATCT (RVS), which has hit our membership, and particularly the Southwest Region, very hard. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States for all ages. Every day, approximately 123 Americ…

Listen to this week's news, notes, and highlights as reported in the newest issue of The NATCA Insider e-newsletter.By NATCA National Office

NATCA Director of Safety and Technology Jim Ullmann, who participated in the selection of Archie League Medal of Safety Award winners for the fourth straight year, talks about the 2019 honorees and their great air traffic control work that ensured safety above all. Jim also discusses meeting with his fellow selection panelists and how this awards p…

NATCA Director of Government Affairs Jose Ceballos talks with Deputy Director of Public Affairs Doug Church in an episode of The NATCA Podcast devoted to the federal budget and FAA funding issues. Ceballos discusses this week's House vote to pass a Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) FY2020 appropriations bill, gives a status updat…

A rundown of NATCA's latest news and notes, as covered by the June 21, 2019 issue of The NATCA Insider e-newsletter for members.By NATCA National Office

Phil Hughes looks back on his 35-year career, the evolution and growth of NATCA during that time, and the remarkable success of the collaboration initiative between NATCA and the FAA, now nearly a decade old.By NATCA National Office

National Legislative Committee Chair Steve Weidner talks about what NATCA in Washington first-timers can expect and offers advice on how to get the most out of their experience at this event and in their first time participating in a meeting in a Congressional office.By NATCA National Office

Ep10 Houston Center Member Dustin Newell: Helping Others With His Love of Aviation by NATCA National OfficeBy NATCA National Office

Ep11 The Midterm Elections: NLC Member Richard Kennington Explains The Importance by NATCA National OfficeBy NATCA National Office

Richard Kennington, the Northwest Mountain Region representative to NATCA's National Legislative Committee and the Facility Representative at Portland, Ore., Tower, discusses his workshop class from this year's NATCA in Washington event exploring common myths about politicians and the political process. Kennington examines what it means to lobby Co…

This is the story of American Airlines Flight 1897 on Sunday evening, June 3, as told from the perspective of one of the primary controllers who worked the aircraft, Crystal Lingle of El Paso Tower and TRACON. It was a flight that Crystal says she will never forget.By NATCA National Office