NATCA

All too often, pilots think air traffic controllers are just voices in their headset handing out instructions designed to keep them separated from other nearby aircraft—and also to annoy them, some pilots might add. But when pilots fly themselves into danger, or find themselves in charge of a malfunctioning airplane, grabbing the mic and calling […]

When aviation aficionados around the world learned in May that AirVenture 2020 was cancelled, it sent an anxiety-fueled shock wave through the industry that confirmed the COVID-19 virus was going to be with us at least through the summer months. What would the tens of thousands of people who normally trek to Oshkosh do with […]

If you’ve ever flown into AirVenture, you understand well that it can be an emotional rollercoaster of excitement, fear and awe all rolled into just the leg from the Fisk reporting point until turning off the runway into the grass after landing. Each year the control tower at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh helps turn […]

Paul Rinaldi spent 16 years controlling air traffic at Washington Dulles Tower before accepting the reins at the National Air Traffic Controllers Association in late 2009. At a National Press Club luncheon last week, he reflected on the effects of the 35-day partial government shutdown that peaked for the aviation industry on January 25 when […]

As the partial government shutdown entered Day 25, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, AFL-CIO (NATCA) today filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of its 15,000 members who have not been paid for their work since the FAA’s appropriations lapsed in late December. The suit […]

Members of the National Air Controllers Association will today join NATCA president Paul Rinaldi and representatives of a number of other aviation industry unions and associations, as well as Congressional members from both sides of the aisle, to protest the partial government shutdown that the day after tomorrow will set a new record as the […]

Along with hundreds of thousands of other government employees, members of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association are not happy about the partial government shutdown, now 13 days old. While NATCA members have no idea when they’ll see another paycheck, just like other federal employees, there’s even more at stake for anyone who flies. NATCA […]

With past memories of FAA funding chaos lately being refreshed in people’s minds, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association yesterday reminded stakeholders that, “Prior to passage of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-95), our 24/7 aviation system was forced to overcome 23 authorization extensions, including a partial shutdown.” The association called […]

After weeks of wondering which way front line controllers might lean in the recently energized air traffic control debate, NATCA President Paul Rinaldi said this afternoon that the National Air Traffic Controllers Association stands behind the 21st Century Aviation Innovation, Reform and Reauthorization Act originally published by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster […]