Information about Pay Issues

We understand the frustration and anger many of you are feeling, as the payroll deposits you have received so far are not what you expected and may be incorrect.  The FAA is working with the Department of Interior (DOI) in order to get all employees paid as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, both organizations are simply overwhelmed in trying to get your payments processed in a timely manner.  We want you all to be paid quickly and accurately. The FAA is not negotiating with NATCA over how the payments are processed, and it is our understanding that much of it is beyond the FAA’s control as DOI is making the payment processing determinations.  The lawsuit NATCA filed on your behalf addresses the deprivation of your wages under the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the delay in payment by requesting liquidated damages for failure to timely pay employees the minimum wage and overtime for time, worked during the shutdown. It is important that you  opt-into the case in order to be eligible for the liquidated damages remedy . We contacted the law firm representing our Union in the lawsuit and have shared with them your frustration and anger about the lack of accurate and timely information. We have also informed them of the DOI’s failure to provide Earnings and Leave Statements, which would allow you to determine if you have been paid correctly.  We will continue to monitor and address the issues as they happen and will do our best to get whatever information we can to you as soon as possible.

NATCA President Demands Stable, Predictable Funding for Aviation Safety Professionals

NATCA President Paul Rinaldi recently spoke about the government shutdown's devastating effects on aviation to a crowd of aviation industry professionals and journalists at the Aero Club of Washington luncheon. “This shutdown cut us deep,” Rinaldi said. “Highly trained, highly skilled professionals worked every day and then had to go home and worry about how they were going to get food. They did nothing wrong. They did the job they were supposed to do. They came to work every day, and they were taken hostage by the political process of this country.” Rinaldi also emphasized the intense pressure and extra stress put on the National Airspace System (NAS) because of the shutdown. “We work really hard to keep distractions out of our workforce. And we just inserted all these distractions and thoughts into their heads while they were working airplanes. We were deeply concerned,” he said. “The system was on the verge of unraveling, and we sounded the bell. We didn’t know how much longer we were going to be able to hold this together.”

Reassembling the delicate pieces of the NAS puzzle will take much longer than it did to tear them apart, Rinaldi said. “We have years to make up now. We lost time, we lost energy, we lost people, and a lot of people lost heart," he said. Rinaldi reiterated NATCA’s firm belief that the status quo is broken. The NAS requires a stable, predictable funding stream in order to keep flying safe and efficient. “The aviation system in this country is a national treasure,” he said. “Twelve million great-paying jobs are attributed to aviation, $1.5 trillion dollars in gross domestic product from aviation every year, and five percent of our gross domestic product.” The constant funding crises that arise from stop-and-go funding continue to wreak havoc on the NAS, Rinaldi said. The shutdown worsened the controller staffing crisis by halting controller hiring and training. Of the already 30-year low total of certified professional controllers in the U.S., 20 percent could retire at any moment. If these professionals decide to retire rather than risk being required to work without a paycheck again, we will not be able to run the volume of traffic that we run today, he said.

“Making a controller takes years: from the entrance exam, the medical process, background checks, to the Academy, to their facility, to on-the-job-training, daily for 3 to 6 years to enter that apprentice to be fully certified. We don't know how many actually left the profession that were in the training process, especially in the high cost-of-living areas.” With the potential for another shutdown just days away on Feb. 15, Rinaldi challenged the aviation community to seize the opportunity to pursue air traffic control reform to get aviation out from under the thumb of a broken funding process.

“Our system was less safe and is less safe today than it was on December 21,” he said. “This should never happen again. I hope the aviation community together has said, ‘Enough is enough.’ Stand up for stable predictable funding for our aviation system. Stand up for yourselves, your livelihoods. Stand up for the United States of America, for stable predictable funding.” To view Paul speaking at the Aero Club, click here , or to read his speech in full, click here .

Solidarity Among International Aviation Groups

International air traffic controller associations and other aviation professional associations sent letters in support and solidarity of NATCA and its members during the prolonged government shutdown. Over and over, they voiced their concern for the well-being of the members and pride for the way the members continued to be professional, never putting safety at risk.

NATCA received support from Air Traffic Controllers' Guild (India), the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association, Civil Air (Air Traffic Control Australia), College of Air Traffic Controllers of Mexico (COCTAM), Global Air Traffic Controllers Alliance, International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations, International Transport Workers' Federation, Irish Air Traffic Controllers Association, New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association, Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers Association, Professional Union of Dominican Air Traffic Controllers, Inc., Prospect ATCOs' Branch, and Trinidad and Tobago Air Traffic Controllers Association Ltd. You can view all the letters from our international brothers and sisters here .

NATCA in the Media

Members and aviation professionals all over the country continue to speak to the media about the long-lasting effects the shutdown will have on aviation and the safety professionals of the National Airspace System. Here are some recent national highlights and headlines:

NATCA President Paul Rinaldi was interviewed by Chris Cuomo on CNN on Wednesday, Jan. 23. Click Here NATCA EVP Trish Gilbert was interviewed by Judy Woodruff on PBS NewsHour on Thursday, Jan. 24. Click Here

NATCA NSO RVP Jim Marinitti was interviewed by Don Lemon on CNN on Thursday, Jan. 24. Click Here NATCA EVP Trish Gilbert was interviewed by Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC on Thursday, Jan. 24. Click Here

NATCA President Paul Rinaldi was interviewed by Chris Jansing on MSNBC on Friday, Jan. 25. Click Here NATCA EVP Trish Gilbert and NSO RVP Jim Marinitti were interviewed by Brooke Baldwin on CNN on Friday, Jan. 25. Click Here

NATCA President Paul Rinaldi was interviewed by Neil Cavuto on Fox News Channel on Saturday, Jan. 26. Click Here NATCA ZTL FacRep Dan McCabe was interviewed by Alisyn Camerota on CNN New Day on Monday, Jan. 28. Click Here

NATCA President Paul Rinaldi was interviewed by Melissa Lee on CNBC Squawk Box on Monday, Jan. 28. Click Here NATCA EVP Trish Gilbert was interviewed by Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto on CNN on Monday, Jan. 28. Click Here

Visit NATCA's YouTube page to see other interviews of NATCA representatives that occurred during the shutdown.

Fast Facts: NATCA's Airport Leaflet Campaign

14 - The number of days the leafleting campaign ran: Jan.12-25. Nearly 300,000 - The number of leaflets printed. Peoria ATCT (PIA) - The first facility to begin leafleting. 68 - The number of airports that participated in the campaign. Bangor International Airport - The smallest airport that participated. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport - The largest airport that participated. 20,000 - The largest number of leaflets distributed at any one airport in under one week (by volunteers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport). Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) - Had 225 NATCA and family members volunteer to leaflet daily. Thank you to all those who helped organize the campaign, volunteered to pass out leaflets on your days off, before and after work, or while furloughed. Thank you to all who spoke with the media, spread the word to the flying public, and rallied your family, friends, and neighbors to get involved. You each played an important and valuable role in helping to end the shutdown!

NATCA News and Notes

Thank You Goes A Long Way Minneapolis Center (ZMP) members received a nice surprise from a nearby middle school. During the shutdown, students made and delivered paper airplane "thank you's" to those at ZMP for what they do daily. Their sincere gesture made a stressful time a little less anxious.

Aviation Safety Professionals Host Rally at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Sea-Tac airport workers, including air traffic controllers and other aviation safety professionals held a rally in front of the airport, protesting the government shutdown.They sent a message to the flying public that they are regular people too, being forced to work but not compensated, and the shutdown needed to end.

CMH Members Donate Lunch to TSA Workers During Shutdown TSA workers were also not being compensated for their hard work day after day during the government shutdown. To show them a gesture of appreciation and respect, Columbus ATCT (CMH) members took up donations to buy them lunch one Tuesday during the shutdown. They took advantage of Taco Tuesday at Taco Bell and bought 14 party boxes to deliver to John Glenn Columbus International Airport's three security checkpoints and the Baggage Claim office.

ALPA President Captain Joe DePete Visits DCA and Donates Lunch to Controllers on Behalf of ALPA NATCA President Paul Rinaldi and Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) President Capt. Joe DePete visited with NATCA and PASS members at Washington National ATCT (DCA) to thank them for their dedication to aviation safety and the flying public, despite not being paid during the longest government shutdown. ALPA also provided lunch for those NATCA and PASS members. Rinaldi accompanied DePete and DCA FacRep Aubrey Farrar on a tour of DCA’s tower cab and the Tower Simulation System (TSS).

The DCA simulator displays out-the-windows ATC tower simulation scenario information, including simulated aircraft and ground vehicles, dynamic weather environments, and seasonal environmental changes, and emulates radar informational data and the tower communication system. The simulator also provides air traffic controller training services to seven regional FAA facilities, but was not in operation during the shutdown, as the contractors and federal employees who operate the simulator were deemed non-essential.

AFA President Sara Nelson Great Advocate for Air Traffic Controllers, Aviation Safety, and End to Shutdown During the shutdown, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) International President Sara Nelson was a great advocate for air traffic controllers, aviation safety, and an end to the government shutdown. In addition to signing the joint letter with NATCA and ALPA last week and speaking at the rally that NATCA organized on Capitol Hill, Nelson did a number of prominent news interviews to communicate AFA members' concerns about how the shutdown was degrading aviation safety, including an interview that Nelson did with Trish Gilbert on MSNBC's "The Last Word" with Lawrence O'Donnell Show last week. The photo above is Nelson speaking at an event at National Airport (DCA) on Jan. 24 with Paul Rinaldi, Sen. Tim Kaine, and Sen. Mark Warner from Virginia.

UAA Students Visit NATCA Headquarters NATCA hosted a dozen students attending the University Aviation Association’s (UAA) annual Aviation Policy Seminar. Students spent the week traveling around Washington, D.C. visiting with aviation industry associations and congressional staff. The purpose of the seminar is to educate students on the regulatory and policy-making processes, while discussing current aviation issues with industry leaders. They also attended NATCA’s rally to end the shutdown on Capitol Hill. NATCA Program Management Office Representative Jeff Woods, Policy Counsel Greg Shoemaker, and Associate Director of Public Affairs, Special Events Grace Colby spoke to the students about NATCA’s work with the FAA and industry policy makers on various modernization projects and NATCA’s driving policy objectives. They also discussed NATCA’s important representational role during the politically-motivated partial government shutdown that harmed the aviation system and the employees who ensure the safety of the flying public daily.

NATCA's College Scholarship Program

There’s no disputing that a college education is expensive! Without some kind of help, it’s difficult for the average household to save enough money to fund a higher education. Thankfully NATCA offers an in-house scholarship program that can help pay for college expenses for your children or spouse, for all active, retired, and deceased members in good standing as a member for at least two years.   For application and details of the NATCA scholarship program, Click Here . The deadline for the NATCA scholarship program is March 1, 2019. For those members who are wanting to expand their own education, SRF-14 of the NATCA Constitution also provides an educational reimbursement fund for members in good standing who are pursuing an approved degree at a NATCA-approved educational institution.   NATCA not only looks out for you in the workplace, but also looks out for you in your home, your car, in the classroom, and in retirement. To see all the benefits NATCA offers, visit www.natcabenefits.com .

NATCA | www.natca.org

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