President Santa Meets with Congressional Leadership

NATCA President Rich Santa recently met with senior Congressional leadership, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Senator Maria Cantwell (Wash), Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chair Senator Mark Warner (Va.), and senior staff members for House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (Mo.-6).

During these meetings, Santa continued building congressional relationships for NATCA while discussing a host of legislative issues that affect our membership. He discussed FAA reauthorization, which is being considered this upcoming year, and highlighted the need to obtain government funding and FAA appropriations without any interruption or stop gap measures.

In addition, Santa discussed controller staffing and advocated for modifications to the FAA’s Controller Workforce Plan to more accurately represent operational staffing needs of the National Aviation System (NAS). Other topics of conversation included the rise of Uncrewed Aviation Systems (UAS) and the importance of NATCA’s continued involvement as these new entrants are integrated to the NAS. Santa looks forward to continuing to meet with members of Congress to discuss critical topics of importance to NATCA.

PHOTO (left to right): Marinitti, ILM FacRep Sean Caldwell, Santa, LeBovidge