ANN
Note: The attached memo, repeated in in its entirety
below, was circulated today among FAA staffers. It outlines an
aggressive restructuring of the FAA's ATO... a move rumored for
many months. Having verified the authenticity of this memo, we
expect the next few months are going to be busy, albeit
challenging, times for Chew's organization.
Subject: FAA Air Traffic Organization
Restructuring
December 6, 2005
Dear Colleagues:
I have important information to share about changes in our
organization. These changes are part of a concerted effort to
address a serious trend that has been building for the past several
years: our resources are dwindling at the same time that our
workload is expanding. As I've visited our worksites around the
country, I've observed time and again the effects this is having on
our employees and our ability to meet the growing demand for air
traffic services. No one in ATO wants this to continue. Everyone
recognizes that there is no quick and easy solution. What I outline
in this letter is a decisive step to take charge of our own
future.
Early next month, we will begin restructuring the nine service
areas we established last year, three each in Terminal, En Route,
and Technical Operations, into three ATO service areas: Eastern,
Central, and Western. The Eastern Service Area Office will be in
the Southern Regional Office in Atlanta, Georgia; the Central
Service Area will be in the Southwest Regional Office in Fort
Worth, Texas; and the Western Service Area Office will be in the
Northwest Mountain Regional Office in Seattle, Washington.
At the same time, we are
realigning the ATO administrative and staff support functions now
located in each of the nine service areas into three shared Service
Centers. These centers will be located in the three newly
designated service area offices.
We are also restructuring the three Flight Services Areas into two
geographical areas that will be called Flight Services Information
Areas. One will be located in the Alaskan Regional Office at
Anchorage and the second in the Central Regional Office in
Kansas City. The Anchorage office will service Alaska and the
Kansas City office will service the continental United
States.
As you read this letter, I'm sure most of you are asking yourselves
"is this change really necessary? Will this affect me?"
The first answer is "yes." We have to do this. Rising operating
costs continue to leave a smaller and smaller share of our limited
funds available to invest in people, facilities, and to modernize
our aging infrastructure. Meanwhile, the demand for air
traffic services is increasing at the same time that tremendous
pressure is being placed on the federal budget. If we don't change
the way we operate, the ATO will not have the fiscal health to
provide the services that our customers need and we won't be able
to take care of our employees. It is the next important step
in the transition of ATO to the performance-based organization
called for by the Congress and our customers.
The second answer is that these changes will mainly affect our ATO
employees performing administrative and staff support services;
that is, the services we provide to ourselves. They include such
duties as budgeting, administration, airspace, procedures,
planning, program management, finance, procurement, staffing,
training, quality assurance, and NAS technical evaluation. ATO
employees performing these services may be required to relocate
with the transfer of their positions to the ATO service area
offices located in the Southern, Southwest, or Northwest
Mountain regional offices. A small number of engineering services
positions will also be transferred. Flight Services positions in
the Alaskan and Central Regional Offices will not be affected.
The restructuring will begin early in 2006 and be completed
within 12 to 18 months; with relocations expected no earlier than
June 2006.
I know this is a lot to absorb in one letter, and that I have
not begun to answer all of your questions. So beginning today, ATO
executives and members of the Transition Team will be visiting each
regional office to provide detailed briefings. Additional
information will be available on our website http://www.ato.faa.gov
beginning Friday at 3:00 p.m. You can also send your questions to
us at: TransitionTeam@faa.gov.
Let me express my appreciation to all of you for the tremendous
work you do in keeping our air traffic system operating smoothly,
in spite of the significant resource challenges we have. I also
want to thank you for your patience as we made our way through the
process to reach this point. Through it all, you have kept your
focus on what the ATO is all about, the safety and efficiency of
the national airspace system.
I ask for your continued support as we begin this critical next
phase of restructuring. In the end, it will improve our
organizational effectiveness, increase the value of our services,
reduce our overall unit costs, and ensure our future viability as
the best air traffic system in the world.
Sincerely,
Russ Chew
ATO Chief Operating Officer