On October 19th, 2024, the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (MMAC) held a virtual Town Hall meeting via Zoom, based on the theme, "Building the Foundation of Safety Today for Tomorrow’s Technologies."
Acting Division Manager for Executive Services and Outreach, Debbie Uglean, welcomed the audience and informed them of the engaging, interactive nature of the Town Hall. The audience was asked to be ready to communicate their opinions and ideas for future meetings through a Mentimeter survey.
Michelle Coppedge, Director of the MMAC, shared her excitement about bringing everyone together from across the Center to learn of important initiatives and tremendous accomplishments that were made during FY24. Many projects, which span multiple lines of business and provide foundational support to the FAA’s safety mission, are important initiatives that aid the introduction of emerging technologies into the National Airspace System.
Michelle informed the audience of several distinguished visitors who have recently come to learn about critical programs in FAA’s budget, including the Radar Modernization effort being led by Second Level Engineering, Fleet Modernization activities at the Flight Program Office, Air Traffic Controller Onboarding and Training at the FAA Academy, and Human Factors Training and Research being conducted at the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) to name a few. Visitors came from various organizations including the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), PASS, and even the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Representatives from 22 countries visited the Center the day prior to the Town Hall meeting.
Michelle then introduced Randa Hayes, Vice President of Flight Program Operations to speak of progress being made in Fleet Modernization. "Many of the tours of the Center include a stop at the Hangars, and the team has consistently done a great job of conveying the importance of the work being accomplished," said Coppedge.
Dave Boulter, Associate Administrator of Aviation Safety, joined the event and followed with information about improvements being made across multiple AVS organizations on the Center including: developments in the Civil Aviation Registry, and bringing the Flight Standards Division Office (FSDO) to the Center. He also discussed the progress being made at the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute’s WiWaves facility, and highlighted recommendations from the Flight Procedures and Analysis office, to drive efficiency in fuel consumption and improve traffic flow.
The Aeronautical Center also received appropriations for Verti-Pads on the premises for construction of an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) Performance and Analysis Range.
Michelle then introduced James Linney, Deputy Vice President for Technical Operations, who spoke of improvements in the National Airspace System safety culture. He also brought up ways to drive efficiency within the NAS and efforts being made with regard to Radar Modernization.
Coppedge also informed the audience of the first Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) certification, which is expected to happen in 2025. She said, "Huy Tran, the Director of NASA AMES, also wants to come to the Aeronautical Center for a visit and bring some of her leadership team. So we are working on a date to accommodate this in the next couple of months."
Kevin O’Connor, Deputy Director of MMAC, discussed the eVTOL Performance and Analysis Range (eV PAR). "Designing and building this incredible facility would not be accomplished without the amazing work that is being accomplished by the Office of Facility Management (AMP)," O’Connor said. Corey Black, Director of AMP then provided an update of current projects, including various construction efforts and the MMAC Solar PV System which is being built on the Center grounds.
Dr. Melchor Antuñano was then invited to speak, and he shared a few photos and video clips of water survival training and the exciting progress being made in construction of the new WiWaves building. This state-of-the-art facility will be used to establish test criteria for water survival and ditch training for pilots.
Corey Black then provided information about new training space construction in the FAA Academy, road construction on MMAC Boulevard, sustainable buildings on the Center, and what the future holds.
Kevin O’Connor mentioned how important the FAA Academy is to the incorporation of emerging technologies. "They have been pursuing the use of augmented and virtual reality for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and are also working to ensure the FAA has a strong pipeline of Air Traffic Controllers," he said. Kevin then introduced the new FAA Academy Director, Robert Molden, who shared with the audience a bit about himself and background, and about the significant accomplishments that are happening at the FAA Academy.
Molden notified the audience that they are on track to train 1,800 new students this year, in alignment with the Controller Workforce Plan (CWP) published goal. They also trained over 800 non-job-jeopardy (NJJ) air traffic students from the field who were repurposed into Initial Qualification Training (IQT) classes or advanced radar classes. Robert also mentioned the plans of increasing the Academy’s overall Air Traffic training capacity for FY25 to exceed the CWP target of 2,000, and FAA’s stretch target of 2,200 students. He also gave kudos to Acquisition, Facility Management and the Office of Safety and Technical Training (AJI) for their partnership in helping to execute the expansion plans.
Michelle Coppedge acknowledged the great work that the FAA Academy is doing, and invited a special guest, Angelia Neal, Associate Administrator for Human Resources, who has been heavily involved in the expansion efforts.
Angelia stressed how important the Enterprise Services Center (ESC) was to the process, by ensuring that the system was ready when the influx of applications came through. In addition to normal protocols, the process also involved Security and Medical evaluations of thousands of candidates who were entered into the system. AJI and the Academy collaborated to make sure things flowed smoothly.
Going forward, the agency is focused on continuing to process more applicants through the system, and there is another announcement opening soon.
To discuss hiring practices more thoroughly, Michelle Coppedge asked Greg Morgan, Human Resources Director, AAC Regional HR Services Division, to share insights about new hires in the local area. There are over fifty new employees coming on board soon. With increased requirements, we are focused on retention of the great talent that we have, and the professional development of our people is crucial.
As part of the retention process, we have been laser-focused on improving Employee Engagement and making our environment a great place to work.
Michelle Coppedge also wanted to thank those who completed this year’s Top Workplace Survey, and that the Center exceeded the goal of participation, so we can compete for consideration as a Top Workplace for the 5th year in a row! Coppedge states, "We look forward to the ceremony in December, when they reveal the winners for several categories. Achieving Top Workplace status signifies MMAC’s commitment to creating a positive work environment where Employee Engagement is a high priority."
Closing the Town Hall meeting, Debbie Uglean gave a quick update on the Aeronautical Center Employee Development (AsCEnD) program, and the Leadership Development collaboration with Tinker Air Force Base. She then led the 1,400+ member audience in taking a survey about the Town Hall, to continually improve how these meetings are conducted.
