Thanks Terry [McVenes]. Hello everyone.

I’m happy to be here, and talk with so many of you in the aerospace community throughout the world.

The FAA values our long standing relationship with RTCA and its affiliation with EUROCAE, and with global standards bodies like SAE and ASTM. Together, we’ve developed the performance standards that are critical to advance the safety, efficiency and innovation of the worldwide aerospace industry.

Our business, just like many others, is constantly evolving. And that means our safety processes must constantly evolve to keep pace. 

This past year, 5G deployment brought into sharp focus how our industry is inextricably linked to others. And there is already discussion about 6G and beyond. 

In aviation, we have to ask ourselves – how can we do our work in a quicker and more agile way? A way that anticipates the risks that emerging innovation may pose to our industry. And a way that always keeps safety as our North star.

What can we collectively do to make processes faster, and at the same time, equally thorough – like RTCA’s work to shepherd the development of a new generation of radio altimeter performance standards.

Because the aviation eco-system is expanding rapidly. And we’re seeing much shorter time horizons in tech development. We’ve become accustomed to living in a world where it takes 7-10 years to field new equipment designs. It’s no longer practical to assume that time frame. Instead, we need to be talking half that time – or even less. 

And this is not just about organizations that develop standards. Our whole industry needs to do this. We depend on industry to provide technical knowledge of how our critical systems can continue to operate safely and effectively, whether it is a concern over 5G or some other potential risk factor. We have to ensure safety, while being prepared that our way of operating will change again. 

And aviation can no longer afford to treat itself like a closed society. We have to involve other sectors – like the telecommunications industry or the electric utility providers that will help power future electric aircraft.

Your Spectrum Committee is a good example of this effort. That’s a positive thing. We need that creative tension, that exchange of philosophies, between the different industries. 

As an aviation community, we have to help other industries understand that we might go slower than they would like, because of our overriding safety mission. But we also have to move purposefully and move quickly where we can. 

And we also want to understand their needs. We’ve been doing this with the drone industry, with commercial space enterprises, and with the Advanced Air Mobility community. And because of that, we’re in a position to enable these innovations, with safety as a catalyst, not a crutch.

Thanks everyone, and I’ll turn it back over to Terry to start our conversation.