Thank you for that warm welcome, Jack [Pelton, EAA Board Chairman]– I’m always happy to see a fellow California native. Jack was an important member of the FAA Management Advisory Council a few years back, and he’s a valuable partner to us now that he’s at the Experimental Aircraft Association.

Last week, one of the most diverse collections of World War II aircraft ever assembled flew over Washington, D.C., to commemorate the 70^th anniversary of the Allied victory in Europe. Thousands of people lined the National Mall and crowded onto balconies and rooftops across the city to see these historic planes take flight. It was a special moment to witness, deeply rooted in a love for aviation and its rich history.

Being back in the “Air Capital of the World,” I’m once again reminded of that history. So much of it happened here in Wichita. Let me give you an example.

Seventy years ago, a B-29 bomber rolled off the assembly line at the Wichita Boeing plant. It was called “Doc” – part of a squadron of eight airplanes named after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. After serving in the Korean War, Doc was decommissioned and sent to the Mojave Desert in California. There it stayed for more than 40 years, baking in the sun and occasionally being used for military target practice.

Doc got a reprieve in 2000, when a group of historians rescued it and shipped it back home to Wichita. They dreamed of restoring the old B-29 to its former glory – and eventually getting it back in the air.

Hundreds of volunteers came out to work on Doc – including people who had built the plane in 1944. They painted and installed new skin panels. They replaced every piece of wire and cable. They put in new engines and a modern avionics system.

Thanks to these efforts, Doc is on track to fly again this summer – for the first time since the Korean War.

This is a story that embodies the spirit of Wichita. Aviation pioneers like Clyde Cessna and Bill Lear made their marks here. Planes that fly across the world were built here, by generations of Wichita families.

As much as aviation is a part of Wichita’s past, it’s also an important part of its future. In a factory adjacent to the one where Doc was built 70 years ago, Spirit Aerosystems is using the latest in robotics technology to create fuselage and cockpits for the 787 Dreamliner out of black carbon composite tape – the most advanced aircraft manufacturing technique in existence today.

This type of innovation is essential to keeping up with our evolving industry – not only here in Wichita, but also at the FAA.

Today, I’m going to tell you about how our agency is working to create America’s 21^st century aviation system. Then, I look forward to answering your questions and hearing about the successes and challenges you’re experiencing here in Wichita.

As you know, the FAA is focused on putting the Next Generation Air Transportation System in place. NextGen is using innovative technologies and procedures to make flying safer, greener, and more efficient – and it’s already delivering benefits across the country.

One of the most important developments we’re working on is the shift from radar-based aircraft tracking to satellite-based tracking.

The FAA installed the baseline ground infrastructure for the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system last year. This is exciting technology – especially for the general aviation community.

ADS-B helps controllers determine your aircraft’s location with far greater accuracy. If you operate in remote areas where radar coverage is limited, ADS-B will make flying safer. It helps us take the “search” out of search-and-rescue if you run into trouble – a potentially life-saving benefit.

ADS-B also brings free weather and traffic updates from coast to coast directly to the cockpit. This means you’re getting the most up-to-date information on hazardous weather, temporary flight restrictions, and notices to airmen when you need it most.

The full benefits of ADS-B require 100 percent equipage for aircraft flying in controlled air space. The FAA has set a January 1, 2020, deadline to equip for ADS-B Out in controlled airspace. Many of you have asked about that deadline, and if it might be extended. The answer is no – the date is set – so I want to strongly encourage you to make plans to get equipped as soon as possible. You don’t want to end up grounded in the early months of 2020 because of a parts or installation delay.

I want to thank the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, and all of the other industry groups who have encouraged owners to get equipped and helped raise awareness about the 2020 deadline. This support has been invaluable.

The FAA is collaborating closely with these organizations through our Equip 2020 working group. We’re seeking to smooth the transition to ADS-B by identifying and resolving the barriers delaying operators from getting equipped.

I know cost has been a major concern. I’m pleased to report that a number of avionics manufacturers are stepping up to produce equipment that complies with the ADS-B Out mandate. This increased competition has driven costs down considerably. Some units are now available for less than $2,000.

Since our ADS-B Call to Action last October, more than 8,000 general aviation aircraft have equipped – a really promising start. We want to see those equipage rates continue to rise.

So if you haven’t researched getting ADS-B equipment for a while, now is a great time to take a second look.

ADS-B is just one example of how we’re modernizing our national airspace system.

This spring, we delivered on another important foundational element of NextGen. En Route Automation Modernization, or ERAM, is one of the largest technology changeovers in the history of the FAA. ERAM is a faster computer platform that replaces our legacy system, which had its roots in the 1960s. It gives us a much bigger, richer picture of our nation’s air traffic – and allows controllers to better manage flights from gate to gate.

Eisenhower National is the key site for another program we are using to improve air traffic control displays called STARS FUSION. This upgraded software is making it easier for controllers to do their jobs, creating a clearer and more accurate display that pulls in data from multiple radar and ADS-B sites. As more aircraft in the region equip with ADS-B, the full benefits of these upgrades will be experienced.

The FAA isn’t only using new technologies to prepare for the future. We’re also evolving in the way we think and approach our processes – especially when it comes to certification.

When we first started certifying aircraft, it was a pretty simple process. We laid out airworthiness standards for small airplanes, and manufacturers met them. Over the years, this process became much more complicated.

Wichita’s history proves that the aviation industry tends to attract innovative thinkers. As they created new and better aircraft designs, the certification process struggled to keep up.

We knew we needed to find a better way to increase safety, certify more efficiently, and help bring more products to market. We quickly realized that the answer was to change our mindset. Instead of being prescriptive, we needed to be performance-based.

Instead of requiring certain design elements on specific technologies, we knew we needed to define the safety outcomes we wanted to achieve. This approach recognizes that there’s more than one way to deliver on safety – and it provides room for flexibility and innovation in the marketplace.

The FAA is in the process of codifying this change into a rewrite of Part 23 of our aviation regulations. Congress recognized this was a priority when it required a Part 23 rulemaking in the Small Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013, and I’ve asked my team to shorten timeframes wherever possible so we can get this rule done quickly.

It’s a big undertaking. The new rule will touch many different aspects of aviation, so we have to make sure it’s fair, can be enforced, and doesn’t have an adverse impact on safety or airworthiness.

I know you’re eager for this rule to get done – but it’s imperative that we do it right. Your businesses are counting on it, and the competitiveness of the entire U.S. aviation industry is counting on it.

Your contributions as part of the ASTM International Committee and the Aviation Rulemaking Committee on this subject have already been invaluable. The feedback we received from industry and international stakeholders has helped shape the rulemaking we’re currently drafting. We plan to publish it for public comment by the end of this year. We’ll also continue to collaborate as industry develops compliance measures that will meet our new performance-based standards.

In addition to re-thinking our certification process for aircraft, the FAA is also re-thinking our requirements for general aviation pilots.

I know one of the most important issues on everyone’s mind here today is the third-class medical certificate. The FAA is working to define how a person can fly without a third-class medical certificate while maintaining the highest level of safety.

We want to make this a lasting policy change that encourages more people to get their pilot certificates and invest in general aviation aircraft. We also have to acknowledge that a change to medical requirements could introduce risks into the system that we need to understand and mitigate.

Please know: we’re working diligently to get a proposal out so all interested stakeholders have an opportunity to weigh in.

All of these actions we’re taking are born out of a larger shift toward embracing risk-based decision-making. Aviation has long been on the forefront of this kind of thinking in transportation, and it’s unquestionably the future of our industry.

As a result, the FAA is embedding risk management into every level of our business. I even made it one of the agency’s four Strategic Initiatives when I became Administrator – because I knew it was essential to helping us achieve our mission of providing the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world.

Twenty years ago, the FAA operated under the philosophy that 100 percent compliance with safety regulations equaled 100 percent safety. This, however, didn’t go far enough. Not all safety issues are regulated – and several incidents in the 1990s led us to rethink this approach.

We knew that, as aviation became safer, we’d have less accident data to guide our efforts. We needed to focus on identifying areas of risk – and mitigating them before an incident occurred.

Here’s how it works: We collect safety data from air traffic controllers, airway technicians, pilots, other aviation professionals, and a variety of other sources. We then analyze this data to identify potential high-risk areas and target our resources to address them.

Using data and analysis to guide the way we make decisions is common sense – and the aviation industry has been an essential partner in our efforts. We’ve been working together for years to introduce more risk assessments into our decision-making processes.

Thanks to our collaboration with airlines, manufacturers, labor, and others under the Commercial Aviation Safety Team, we reduced the risk of fatal commercial accidents by 83 percent between 1998 and 2008 – a stunning success. Since 2008, we’ve continued to build on that accomplishment.

An important factor contributing to our ongoing improvement is the widespread adoption of Safety Management Systems, which have produced safer, more efficient outcomes for small and large carriers alike.

The FAA recently finalized a rule requiring most U.S. commercial carriers to have Safety Management Systems in place by 2018. It codifies the risk-based decision-making process that we’ve developed cooperatively with industry over the last decade-and-a half. It also puts us in line with internationally-recognized best safety practices.

I’ve laid out a few of the ways that the FAA is preparing our national airspace system for the future. In order for us to continue making progress on these initiatives, we need the proper resources.

The current FAA reauthorization expires on September 30^th. We’re committed to working closely with Congress to pass a long-term bill. While we don’t know what that bill will exactly look like yet, we do know that it has to embrace a few key principles.

First, reauthorization must help us maintain our exceptional safety record by providing more opportunities to use risk-based decision-making.

Second, we must continue the modernization of our air traffic control system with stable funding for our core operations and NextGen investments.

Third, reauthorization should secure appropriate funding for our nation’s airports. The new Eisenhower National terminal that’s about to open is a fantastic example of the kind of project we need to support.

Finally, we must maintain and strengthen America’s global leadership on aviation.  In addition to shaping and harmonizing international aviation standards, this means strengthening the U.S. aviation industry in a competitive global marketplace.

The aviation products we make in America – right here in Wichita – are essential to the health of our national economy. Seeing your planes crisscross the globe are a sign that U.S. innovation is alive and well.

I hope we can count on you to help us call on Congress to take up a long-term reauthorization bill as soon as possible.

Before I wrap up, let me leave you with this. I often think about how lucky I am to be leading the FAA. It’s an organization that’s always done important work in an industry that was born out of American zeal and ingenuity. We are in the midst of a historic time in aviation – and the decisions we make now will define aviation for decades to come.

Look no further than Doc. Thanks to the dedication of the aviation community here, that old B-29 that spent four decades in the desert will soon take flight again. If that’s not a sign of what we can do when we work together, I don’t know what is.

Thank you for the opportunity to join you here in Wichita today. I look forward to answering your questions.