NATCA at IFATCA 2026: Bucharest and Beyond

NATCA members and retirees recently attended the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Association (IFATCA) annual conference in Bucharest, Romania, from April 20-24, 2026. This year’s event marked IFATCA’s 65th annual gathering.

This year’s conference brought together air traffic controllers’ associations from around the world to discuss key priorities for the profession, share lessons learned, and explore new developments shaping air traffic control and safety. The theme of this year’s event was “Air Traffic Controllers: Attract Them, Value Them, Keep Them.” Breakout sessions focused on workforce sustainability, emerging technologies, and the future of the global controller profession.

“IFATCA is where the world’s controllers come together to set the standard for our profession. NATCA’s active participation – and our elected leadership roles – ensures that the American controller’s voice shapes global policy, not just responds to it. I’m proud of what this team continues to accomplish on behalf of every NATCA member,” said NATCA Safety Representative and IFATCA North American Regional Vice President John Murdock (Philadelphia ATCT, PHL).

During the conference, votes were held to fill seats on several IFATCA committees. The United States retained elected seats on four different committees, with Vice President Emeritus Trish Gilbert re-elected as Executive Vice President Professional and Jaymi Steinberg (Washington Center, ZDC) re-elected as the chair for the Technical and Operational Committee (TOC). “I’m continually impressed by the enthusiasm and cohesiveness on the TOC team. The group will work together over the next year to produce papers on a variety of topics including updates on technical policies, researching challenges brought to the team and investigating new technologies,” said Steinberg.

NATCA’s delegation attending this year’s IFATCA annual conference included: Brittney Armbrust (Colorado Springs ATCT, COS), Lydia Baune (Spokane ATCT, GEG), Betsy Beaumont (Fort Worth Center, ZFW retired), Devin Carlisto (Seattle Center, ZSE), Trish Gilbert (Vice President Emeritus), Andrew LeBovidge (Houston Center, ZHU retired), John Murdock (PHL), Alex Navarro (ZSE), Jamie Sanders (Centennial ATCT, APA), Jaymi Steinberg (ZDC), Tom Thompson (Indianapolis Center, ZID retired), and Michelle Trudeau (ZID retired). The 2027 IFATCA conference is scheduled for April in Kampala, Uganda.