About NATCA
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) is the exclusive bargaining representative of over 14,000 air traffic controllers serving the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Department of Defense and the private sector. In addition, NATCA represents approximately 1,200 FAA engineers, 600 traffic management coordinators, 500 aircraft certification professionals, agency operational support staff, regional personnel from the FAA’s logistics, budget, finance and computer specialist divisions, and agency occupational health specialists, nurses and medical program specialists. NATCA’s mission is to preserve, promote and improve the safety of air travel within the United States, and to serve as an advocate for air traffic controllers and other aviation safety professionals. NATCA has a long history of supporting new aviation technology, modernizing and enhancing our nation’s air traffic control system, and working to ensure that we are prepared to meet the growing demand for aviation services.
Certified in June 1987, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association is one of the strongest and most influential labor unions in the federal sector. Affiliated with the American Federal of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), NATCA represents over 20,000 safety-related professionals. NATCA serves as the exclusive bargaining representative for FAA air traffic controllers, engineers, architects, staff specialists and many other aviation safety professionals – representing the concerns of all in the field, not just their members. Although membership is voluntary, NATCA has the highest percentage representation of any federal employee union. There are ten regions under the direction of NATCA, nine of which correspond to the air traffic control geographic boundaries set by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). NATCA’s tenth region, Region X, is nationwide in scope and encompasses the Union’s other represented bargaining units. Each of the ten NATCA regions is under the leadership of a Regional Vice President (RVP) who, along with the President and Executive Vice President, constitutes the governing body of the Union, the National Executive Board.
Mission: Our mission guides planning and judgment. NATCA is a membership-owned organization. We advance the status, professionalism and working conditions of all air traffic controllers and other aviation safety related employees through collective bargaining, political action and other lawful concerted activity.
Values: Our values guide decisions and behavior. They include: honesty, tenacity, leadership by example, hard work, integrity, loyalty to the profession, open communication and the collective spirit.
Vision: Our vision guides who we are becoming. NATCA is a vibrant family of dedicated, aviation safety oriented professionals acting in unity to improve the lives and professions of our members.
Who does NATCA Represent?
- ♦ 2186 - Aviation Technical Systems Specialists
- ♦ AAM 800 - Drug Abatement Inspectors
- ♦ ABA - Logistic and Financial Services
- ♦ AGC - Office of Chief Counsel Employees
- ♦ AIR - Aircraft Certification Employees
- ♦ AIR 110 - Aircraft Certification Employees
- ♦ AJT 1400 & AJE 1600 - AOS 300
- ♦ ARC - Regions and Centers
- ♦ ARP - Airports Division Employees
- ♦ ATC - Air Traffic Controllers
- ♦ E&A - Engineers and Architects; Engineering Services & Mission Support
- ♦ FPT - Flight Procedures Team
- ♦ FSS - Flight Service Specialists
- ♦ NOTAM - U.S. NOTAM Office Specialists (Notice To Airmen)
- ♦ SSS - Staff Support Specialists
- ♦ TMC & TMS - Traffic Management Coordinators and Traffic Management Specialist
- ♦ FCT/DOD Controllers (NATCA also represents FCT controllers (Midwest, RVA, Serco) and controllers in the DoD.)
Join Us
You can’t spell union without “U” and “I”; together, we are NATCA.
Together, we have the opportunity to have our collective voices heard and to be active participants in the decisions affecting our working conditions, the future of our careers, the safety of the National Airspace System and the technological and procedural changes taking place in it.
Together, we build a better tomorrow.
A lone voice gets lost in the crowd, but together with 20,000 other air traffic controllers and aviation safety professionals, your voice will be heard. Your brothers and sisters at NATCA want you to help us raise the volume on those issues most important to you, your career and your future. We want you to be a part of our family.
Whether you are currently an FAA bargaining unit employee, a Federal Contract Tower or Department of Defense bargaining unit employee, or an entity seeking an Associate or Corporate Membership with NATCA, we invite you to become a member today! If NATCA is not your current representative, we would like to invite you to contact us as well. If you have the will, NATCA has the way. Together, we go further.
Member Testimonials
"NATCA means a lot of things to me, but the main thing is it’s a great group of people who use their collective voice to improve our pay and our working conditions." -Lyle Burrington, ZDV
"Whenever I needed somebody I knew someone would be there for me and have my back, if not at my local then somewhere else in the Eastern Region." -Chris Boughn, ZDC
I applied for the FAA while the White Book was in effect and I was working for the DoD. I knew that NATCA was the only one fighting for us to get any of our rights back, so joining the Union once I was hired was never a question. -Amanda Stierwalt, ICT
NATCA for me…it means solidarity. It’s the workers joining together for the common causesmthat we have. -Scot Morrison, LNK
As soon as I went to the FAA Academy, I went to those Reloaded events. I realized they were there fighting for my rights, even before I worked as an air traffic controller. I wanted to continue the legacy and hard work that NATCA does, and help not only my career, but also everyone else's career. -Jenny Benjamin, LNK
I knew before I started at the Academy that I wanted to be a NATCA member. -Lisa Cyr, Boston TRACON
NATCA is my tribe. It’s who I belong to. -Russ Miller, ZFW
NATCA is a safety net for all of us. -Nick Daniels, ZFW
My membership promotes the family atmosphere and everyone really helps each other out. We believe in the collective voice and move towards positive changes in our profession. -John Bratcher, FSM
I can honestly say I never considered doing anything other than air traffic. I remember coming into work with my dad when I was in high school and thinking it was the most interesting thing I’d ever seen. I was hooked from then on. -Nicholas Rousseau, ZME
Those that thought they could bring this great union down underestimated the pure passion and strength of the professionals that built this union, the new activists that joined it, and all that were determined to see that aviation in the United States continued to be the safest and most efficient in the world. -Tim Leonard, ZMA
Coming from a small town like I did, union was not well known. So I did not have much knowledge about the function or the goals of a union. My eyes were opened when I got to go to my first NATCA in Washington. After seeing what we are as a whole, what we do as an organization, it was all over and I was all in! -Andreas Sanchez, ABQ
Links Of Interest
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Acknowledgements
Originally posted by Baker here: Who Is NATCA