Thank you, Carl, for that introduction. It’s great to be here again and to see so many familiar faces in the audience.

We have achieved an array of major accomplishments during the past year, including significant milestones in the rollout of NextGen and in the integration of unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system. At every step along the way, RTCA has been an indispensable partner. Government and industry must always work together if we are to succeed. Neither can do it alone.

Our aviation system is a valuable asset for the American public that contributes 12 million jobs and $1.5 trillion to our economy. The health of the system – and its orderly evolution into the system of tomorrow – demands our unwavering attention.

It demands our attention not just to the individual projects that we’re developing, managing and improving on a daily basis, but also to the big picture – to what needs to be going on in the background for us to succeed. And by that I mean a stable funding source.

The last time I was here, I talked about some of the financial challenges we were facing and noted that our funding situation was far from settled. That is again the case; we don't know what our upcoming reauthorization will bring.

What our upcoming FAA reauthorization should do is provide the FAA with the tools necessary to meet the demands of the future and minimize disruption to the progress we’ve already made with NextGen and with integrating new users into our airspace system.

There is talk about restructuring the FAA as part of this reauthorization. We are certainly open to having this discussion. But in our view, the most important problems reauthorization should fix are budget instability and the lack of predictability and flexibility to execute our priorities.

It’s also important to be aware of unintended consequences. Our ability to roll out NextGen hinges on interdependencies and relationships within the agency. NextGen is more than installing technology on aircraft – it involves the close participation of our safety organization to ensure the technology is safe and that controllers and pilots know how to use it safely. We believe that any decision about governance must take these big picture issues into account.

Financial uncertainty may sometimes be unsettling, but it has not distracted us from our responsibilities as we tackle some of our most complex – and exciting – challenges ever.

In March, we achieved one of our most significant NextGen milestones to date, and one of the biggest automation changeovers in the FAA's history. I’m referring to completing the deployment of En Route Automation Modernization, or ERAM, at our 20 en route control centers in the continental United States.

ERAM is a key element in the NextGen foundation, and it gives us the technological horsepower to support other key pieces of that foundation. Such as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, or ADS-B, which is the core technology that moves us from a radar-based air traffic system to a satellite-based system. 

Last year, we completed the installation of 634 ground transceivers that make up ADS-B’s infrastructure. And today, we have integrated the technology into 22 of our 24 en route centers.

We've also completed the first two phases of TAMR, the Terminal Automation Modernization and Replacement program, which is an upgrade of the computer systems and displays used at TRACONS and air traffic control towers.

Data Communications streamlines communications between pilots and controllers, and trials in Newark and Memphis are delivering great results. This technology enhances airspace capacity, reduces flight delays, improves safety and helps aircraft fly more direct routes, which saves time and fuel while reducing aviation’s impact on the environment.

We’re planning to deploy Data Comm in more than 50 air traffic control towers beginning this year and in air traffic control facilities that manage high altitude traffic beginning in 2019. 

Even as we’re building the foundation for the future, we’re delivering powerful NextGen benefits today. Through the Metroplex initiative, we’ve implemented scores of new satellite-based air traffic procedures in the Houston, North Texas, Washington DC metro and Northern California areas. In fact, we now have more satellite-based procedures in our skies nationwide than radar-based procedures. That would have been hard to imagine just a few years ago.

Additional improvements are in the works, including in Southern California, where we’re proposing to weave dozens of new RNAV procedures into some of the most complex airspace in the nation.

These procedures improve safety, shorten flight paths and can reduce aircraft fuel usage and carbon emissions. In Houston alone, results show that the 60 new procedures we implemented in the surrounding airspace save users $6 million annually from reduced fuel consumption. And that of course means fewer CO2 emissions as well.

System-wide, we’ve measured $1.6 billion in benefits to airlines and the traveling public from the NextGen capabilities we have already enabled. In the next 15 years, we estimate that these changes alone will produce an additional $11.4 billion in benefits.

Despite our successes, we know there are critics of how we’re implementing NextGen. There are different theories about how to deploy technology in a complex operating environment.

Some argue that you should start from a broad vision and work back from there on developing a range of scenarios. Others advocate mapping out the entire picture and only proceeding when you are sure of the end game. Our approach, which is the same approach that the Office of Management and Budget uses, is more pragmatic.

Our approach is based on close consultation with industry and closely matches investments with tangible benefits to airlines and the traveling public. It requires an upfront investment, and we are careful not to strand programs in the middle of implementation.

As a result, our NextGen work is creating a healthy, flexible and sustainable airspace system. And when we talk about the system, we’re not just talking about the companies that operate airlines and business jets. We’re talking about everyone who uses the airspace system–tourists, cargo shippers, business people; the list goes on and on.

The fact is, we wouldn’t be where we are today without the work that RTCA has done. This includes the work we’re doing through the 22 special committees that are looking at everything from Data Comm and ADS-B to Personal Electronic Devices and unmanned aircraft. And, of course, the work we’re doing through the NextGen Advisory Committee, or NAC–which, I should note, will be marking its fifth anniversary this fall.

The joint implementation plan we developed last year prioritized four NextGen areas where we can deliver concrete benefits over the next three years. In 2014, the FAA delivered on all 18 of its commitments – three ahead of schedule. And we’re on target to continue meeting our commitments on time.

NextGen is certainly an immense technological revolution. But it's a cultural evolution too. Every major cultural shift involves a learning curve, and the work that the NAC does makes that curve a lot easier to navigate.

Let me offer a specific example to explain what I mean. Last October, in response to an FAA request, the NAC delivered us its “Blueprint for Success to Implementing Performance Based Navigation." The blueprint offers 28 recommendations in six categories – including a more proactive approach to community engagement in the Performance Based Navigation development process. We take our responsibility to community concerns very seriously and, as a result of the NAC’s recommendations, expect to develop new and expanded community involvement efforts.

We also announced last month (May) a multi-year effort to update the scientific evidence on the relationship between aircraft noise exposure and its effects on communities around airports. This initiative, which will involve polling communities surrounding 20 airports nationwide, will be the most comprehensive study using a single noise survey ever undertaken in the United States.

Some of our most groundbreaking work of late has focused on safely integrating unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system.

Not since the years following World War II – when the brightest minds in aviation were exploring the limits of jet engine technology and laying the foundations for space exploration—have we seen such innovation occurring so quickly. It’s clear that the applications for unmanned aircraft are virtually limitless. Today, we’re seeing them used for everything from movie filming and wildlife monitoring to pipeline inspection and oil exploration. It’s impossible to predict what commercial uses may lie ahead.

Safely integrating them istruly an enormous task. To accomplish it, we need to harness the energy, enthusiasm, expertise and creativity of the private sector and academia. Together, we have made impressive progress in a very short period of time.

We published a comprehensive road map that addresses the policies, regulations, technologies, and procedures we’ll need to enable unmanned aircraft to routinely operate in our busy airspace. We proposed a rule for small unmanned aircraft to conduct non-recreational flights. While that rule goes through analysis and approval, we’ve created a way for hundreds of these unmanned aircraft operations to occur under controlled conditions through the Section 333 exemption process. And we recently streamlined that process to speed up approvals. We have now granted more than 400 of them, and the number is growing every week.

Last month (May), we unveiled what we’re calling the Pathfinder Program. We are partnering with three leading companies–CNN, BNSF Railroad and PrecisionHawk, an unmanned aircraft manufacturer–to conduct research that will help us determine if and how we can safely expand unmanned aircraft operations.

We also announced the selection of a team led by Mississippi State University as the FAA’s Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems. This world-class, public-private partnership will focus on research, education and training in areas critical to safely and successfully integrating these aircraft into the nation’s airspace.

The U.S. is certainly not alone in this challenge. If you attend any unmanned aircraft conference, you'll run into people from France, South Africa, China, Germany, the U.K.–it's almost like a U.N. General Assembly meeting. Civil aviation organizations around the globe are striving to safely integrate these systems, and it's important that we all work together to share our knowledge and ensure that our efforts are harmonized.

We believe the United States is uniquely positioned to provide the leadership to forge international cooperation and consensus on this issue and others that are important to all of us.

On the unmanned aircraft front, we'rechairing the Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems–a group of 25 countries that is working toward a single set of technical, safety and operational requirements for the certification and safe integration of unmanned aircraft.

We're also working closely with ICAO and regional stakeholders in Europe, Asia and elsewhere to develop uniform aviation regulations and standards, so that air travelers enjoy the same high levels of safety no matter where they are flying. And we're working with our international partners to create a seamless global airspace by harmonizing our NextGen program into the global aviation system.

In virtually all of our important work, both global and domestic, we rely on and benefit from RTCA's advice and guidance. Working in concert is what makes it possible to deliver powerful NextGen benefits, build the foundation for the future, ensure that we continue to have the safest possible aviation system and share our expertise with the rest of the world. We are indeed fortunate to have you as a partner.

Thank you, again, for the invitation to speak with you today.