Designed To Place Greater Emphasis On Member Services

The NBAA has been renamed its GA desk "NBAA Air Traffic Services (ATS)." The name change, announced Thursday, is designed to place greater emphasis on the unique services that NBAA ATS provides in helping Member Company aircraft avoid delays caused by air traffic issues, the organization said in a news release.

Originally launched as the NBAA GA Desk in August 2001, NBAA Air Traffic Services will continue to represent the interests of business aircraft operators from the floor of the FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) to ensure equitable access to airports and airspace in the daily management of the National Airspace System (NAS). The services offered by NBAA ATS remain unchanged; only the name is changing to more appropriately communicate the emphasis of the service.

“The outstanding service provided by the old GA Desk easily lends itself to this name change. The reality is that ‘service’ has been the goal since we started back in 2001,” said NBAA Director, Air Traffic Services & Infrastructure Bob Lamond.

In conjunction with the rebranding, NBAA has launched a new Twitter feed. Managed by NBAA ATS specialists, the purpose of the Twitter feed is to share airspace alerts, news and links with the broader business aviation community.

NBAA currently is one of only three non-FAA organizations invited to staff positions inside the ATCSCC. The FAA invitation acknowledges that having general aviation representatives based inside the ATCSCC, in the form of NBAA Air Traffic Services, benefits both the FAA and the general aviation community, including business aviation. NBAA ATS specialists engage in ongoing collaborative planning and information sharing with ATCSCC staff to help manage the flow of air traffic in the NAS.

For over a decade, NBAA ATS has provided free benefits for all Members, including a Traffic Flow Management resource site, an Airspace Alerts subscription list and operational tips in Association publications like NBAA Update and Business Aviation Insider. For a separate fee, it has also offered an optional subscription service to give companies personalized service and access to powerful resources, including:

• Proactive monitoring of subscriber flights
• Alerts of air traffic issues affecting subscriber flights,
• Multiple daily updates about the status of the NAS
• Real-time assistance in mitigating delays resulting from ground stops, ground delay programs, airspace flow programs and other traffic management initiatives.

NBAA says the name change from GA Desk to Air Traffic Services officially takes effect today in conjunction with NBAA's Business Aviation Regional Forum being held at Teterboro Airport (TEB) in New Jersey. NBAA ATS specialists will answer questions at the ATS booth and also host an education session at 3:00 p.m. on traffic flow management and how it affects flight operations.

FMI: www.nbaa.org/ats