Volume 21 | Thursday, January 14th, 2020
NBAA Air Traffic Services and ARINCDirect
Welcome back to Jump Seat. This week, we’re highlighting ARINCDirect’s collaboration with the National Business Aviation Association's Air Traffic Services located at the FAA Command Center in Warrenton, Virginia.
As a Flight Plan Service Provider, ARINCDirect maintains operational awareness of traffic constraints and initiatives throughout the US Domestic National Airspace (NAS) around the clock. This approach allows us to support our customers during air traffic delays, weather constraints, and special event situations. In order to maintain this situational awareness of domestic operations, we collaborate with NBAA Air Traffic Services (NBAA ATS).
“NBAA Air Traffic Services has had a great working relationship with ARINCDirect for nearly two decades. Over the years, we have worked together on many initiatives and projects and look forward to continuing to build on that strong relationship.” - Heidi J. Williams, Director of Air Traffic Services & Infrastructure at the National Business Aviation Association
NBAA ATS strategizes with the FAA and ATC by logging into telecons throughout the day. Their ultimate goal is to ensure that business aviation interests are considered. To flow information downstream, frequent emails are distributed that summarize the current status across the NAS and provide an outlook of what is planned over the next two hours. Details on required reroutes and pending ground stops or ground delay programs are all covered. While individuals from ARINCDirect frequently log into the same telecons to gather these updates, the summaries provided by NBAA ATS ensure that our entire team is aware. 
 
An example of this flow of communication recently occurred when the Jacksonville Enroute Air Traffic Center went ATC Zero in the middle of the afternoon in early January. The Flight Operations team received an alert from NBAA ATS, joined the ATC hotline, and then quickly started to coordinate resources and compile information in anticipation of calls. The knowledge gathered proved instrumental in navigating the event and subsequent delays. The unique ability to contact NBAA with any additional questions meant that our customers remained updated. After operating that day, a Part 91 Global Express crew member passed along:
"Phenomenal effort by all getting us out of OPF through JAX's ATC Zero airspace late afternoon on Monday with minimal delay. We appreciate the communication and effort that went into escalating and solving the unique situation."
Furthermore, NBAA ATS facilitates training to ensure that our Flight Operations team is knowledgeable about new initiatives. Given our close geographical proximity, this has meant several visits between our operation and the Command Center. As a result of the training received from NBAA ATS, ARINCDirect operates in a self-sufficient manner in the NAS and is able to engage personally with the FAA and ATC Command Center. In particular, ARINCDirect is able to provide delay mitigation by requesting improvements to EDCTs (Expected Departure Clearance Times) directly from the controlling ATC facility or with the tactical advocate at the Command Center. 

As we all continue to navigate the increasing demand for business aviation, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is rewarding to collaborate with NBAA Air Traffic Services and pass the benefits of that relationship along to our own customers.
Did you know?
  • ARINCDirect has worked with NBAA Air Traffic Services since our first subscription-based offering launched in 2003.
Useful Links:
  • To learn more about the NBAA Air Traffic Services team, check out their website.
  • The upcoming Air Traffic Procedures for SuperBowl LV in Tampa, FL, can be found here.
Thank you for reading!
We want to invite you to take another tour of our upcoming webinar training events to rekindle your knowledge of new features and some existing features. Feel free to join us online and register for these sessions listed on the ARINCDirect Help and Training page.