Before the Before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Aviation, concerning Federal Aviation Administration Oversight of Commercial Space Transportation

Chairman LoBiondo, Ranking Member Larsen, Members of the Subcommittee: 

I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you this morning about the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) oversight of commercial space transportation.  In my testimony today, I will provide a brief background on FAA responsibilities, discuss recent developments in the commercial space transportation industry, identify some of the key challenges associated with this dynamic industry, and describe how we work with our stakeholders, including the Congress.

Background
The FAA has exercised oversight responsibility of commercial space transportation activities since 1995, when the Secretary of Transportation delegated authority over the activities to the FAA Administrator, and the Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) was established at the FAA.  The FAA, through AST, licenses and permits the launch and reentry of commercial space vehicles consistent with public health and safety, safety of property, and the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States during commercial launch or reentry activities.  The mission AST carries out is unique within the FAA in that it also includes the responsibility to encourage, facilitate, and promote U.S. commercial space transportation. This dual mission is an important part of our culture at FAA AST.  These complementary mission objectives together provide an oversight framework that has proven to be very beneficial both to the industry and to the American people.  Our track record bears this out; while the FAA has licensed or permitted over 280 launches, there have never been any fatalities, serious injuries, or significant property damage to members of the public.

FAA policy for commercial space transportation is primarily guided by the Commercial Space Launch Act (CSLA), the National Space Transportation Policy, and the National Space Policy.  The CSLA provides the FAA the authority to oversee public safety and to issue regulations.  The National Space Transportation Policy offers direction for how the FAA provides safety oversight for non-federal launch and reentry operations and how the FAA interacts with other federal agencies with interests in space.  Finally, the National Space Policy directs federal agencies to, among other things, “minimize, as much as possible, the regulatory burden for commercial space activities and ensure that the regulatory environment for licensing space activities is timely and responsive.”  In exercising authority delegated by the CSLA, the FAA issues launch and reentry licenses, experimental permits, launch site operator licenses, safety approvals, and payload reviews.  To date, the FAA has licensed or permitted more than 280 launches and 10 reentries.  Additionally, we oversee 10 active launch or reentry sites, or “spaceports,” as they are often called, and eight active safety approvals.

Our responsibilities are not limited to protecting the public on the ground or in the air.  In 2004 Congress granted the Secretary of Transportation authority to oversee the operations and safety of the emerging commercial human space flight industry.  We think this industry segment holds great potential and promise.  In order to ensure that the industry has an ample “learning period” to develop, Congress prohibited us from promulgating any regulations governing the design or operation of a launch vehicle intended to protect the health and safety of crew and spaceflight participants until the year 2023, absent death, serious injury, or close call.  However, Congress did encourage us to continue to work with industry on ways to improve human space flight safety.  In August of 2014, we released a set of “Recommended Practices for Human Space Flight Occupant Safety.”  This 62-page document covered three major areas: design, manufacturing, and operations.  While the practices are voluntary, and do not constitute regulations, we believe that the document gives industry a great start in understanding the various areas of concern that future safety frameworks may address.

The FAA also funds the Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, which provides grants to a consortium of universities for the purpose of conducting research important to the continued safety, growth, and expansion of U.S. commercial space transportation.  Areas of research include: Space Traffic Management & Operations, Space Transportation Operations, Technologies & Payloads, Human Spaceflight, and Space Transportation Industry Viability.

It is important to note that we are working hard with our colleagues within the FAA in the air traffic organization and in the aviation safety, airports, NextGen, and security and hazardous materials safety offices to ensure commercial space transportation is effectively and efficiently integrated in the National Airspace System (NAS).  We are extremely focused on working closely together to protect the safety of the traveling public and persons and property on the ground.

Recent Development in the Industry
Advances in commercial space transportation technology development and investment have been dramatic to say the least.  According to a recent report by the Tauri Group, the year 2015 was a record-setting one for space ventures. The investment and debt financing in these enterprises totaled $2.7 billion, with more venture capital invested in space in 2015 than in the prior 15 years combined.  Nearly two-thirds of the investment in space ventures and startups since 2000 has been in the last five years.

These investments have been augmented by recent actions in government contracting and a strategic vision to advance the development of the industry.  NASA recently announced an expansion of its commercial resupply services program (CRS) to include three launch providers that are charged to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. Orbital ATK, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and SpaceX were all awarded contracts through this program in January of 2016.  Additionally, the Boeing Company and SpaceX have been awarded contracts by NASA to take American astronauts to the International Space Station beginning as early as 2017 under the Commercial Crew program.  Although these are NASA contracts, the FAA is a critical partner in the programs.  Just as it has been the case for the Commercial Cargo missions to date, every future Commercial Cargo and post-certification Commercial Crew flight will be licensed by the FAA, and we are already working with the companies, NASA, and other stakeholders to ensure smooth processes for conducting these important flights.

As the industry has matured, we have observed significant advances in space transportation technology.  This is evident in the recent reusability technology demonstrations from two companies, Blue Origin and SpaceX.  Blue Origin has demonstrated that it can launch and land the same rocket multiple times, and SpaceX has demonstrated it can deliver heavy telecommunications satellites to geostationary orbit 22,000 miles above the surface of the Earth and land the first stage of its rocket safely, both on land and on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.  If the ability to reuse rockets becomes more common across launch service providers, and the companies with this capability can successfully and regularly reuse rockets on missions with customer payloads, the price of reaching orbit likely will drop significantly.  These are incredible advancements that demonstrate an ongoing and ever-increasing technological evolution and the competitive nature of the industry.

An emerging segment of the suborbital space flight industry is space tourism.  Several companies are working on plans for future operations that will take people to the edge of space, where they can observe the curvature of the Earth, peer into the blackness of space, and experience several minutes of weightlessness.  Systems under development include launch vehicles that carry capsules that will land under a parachute, hybrid launch vehicles that take off and land on a runway, and high altitude balloons.  The end game for these companies continues to evolve as they push the envelope on what is possible.  Some of these companies would like to offer point-to-point travel that enables someone to take off from New York in the morning and land in Tokyo just a few hours later; some want to offer the opportunity to experience space as a thrill of a lifetime that tourists can remember forever; others want to open up suborbital space to researchers and scientists.

Although there are many types of operations and many different motives, one thing remains the same for all of them: they need a regulatory structure that allows them to be innovative while ensuring the safety of the public.  Through our work with other stakeholders and our partners inside and outside the FAA, we are determined to provide this structure for all who want to be involved in this new commercial space race.

While there are many companies focused on low-Earth orbit and suborbital space, the FAA is working with others that want to push the envelope even further.  Moon Express has recently announced its plan to send a payload to the Moon, and SpaceX has announced its intention to launch a spacecraft in 2018 to land on Mars.  These ambitious plans require new ways of thinking about regulations and about what constitutes government authorization and supervision.  The challenges associated with these emerging space operations and their impacts on the agency are discussed in greater detail below.

Key Challenges

The FAA’s strategic initiatives plan recognizes that great technological advancements require the FAA to safely integrate new types of user technologies, such as unmanned aircraft systems and commercial space vehicles, into the NAS.  This is crucial as we anticipate increasing launch rates and complex operations.  It is imperative that every FAA line of business has the tools, relationships, and infrastructure necessary to address the challenges associated with integration into the NAS.

In 2014, the NAS saw a dramatic rise in commercial space activity with 21 successfully completed space operations (18 launches and 3 reentries).  The following year saw Blue Origin and SpaceX demonstrate successful flyback and landing of reusable launch vehicle stages.

To keep pace with the industry’s growing launch rate and the increasing complexity of operations in the NAS, the FAA will continue working to improve the facilitation and integration of space operations into NAS planning.  This effort includes evaluating safety technologies such as the Space Data Integrator, or SDI. AST is working in partnership with the Air Traffic Organization on SDI, which will enable us to track space mission progress as the vehicles fly through the NAS.  SDI uses an automated process to take a space vehicle’s real-time position and velocity and convert it into a format that the FAA’s existing Flight Management System can interpret and display. 

Perhaps most importantly, SDI provides near-real time error detection, giving the FAA early notification of abnormal activity that could affect air traffic.  In the event of a failure, the FAA can identify contingency Aircraft Hazard Areas and coordinate with air traffic facilities to mitigate the impact.  We anticipate a demonstration of this tool as part of a partnership with SpaceX later this year.

Another interesting challenge relates to new and non-traditional space operations.  Today, FAA licenses the launch and reentry of commercial space launch vehicles, but does not license their activity in Earth orbit or beyond.  For example, if a company planned to launch a payload to the Moon, the FAA would license the launch of the payload, but not the activity the payload engages in after successful delivery to Earth orbit.  However, Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty requires the U.S. government to authorize and continually supervise the activities of non-governmental entities in outer space.

Section 108 of the Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (CSLCA), which Congress passed last year, directed the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to develop an authorization and supervision approach that “would prioritize safety, utilize existing authorities, minimize burdens to the industry, promote the U.S. commercial space sector, and meet the United States obligations under international treaties.”  This recommendation was forwarded to Congress on April 4^th of this year and includes legislative text that fulfills this reporting requirement. In these situations, the FAA Administrator, through the delegation in authority from the Secretary of Transportation, would “grant such authorizations to the extent consistent with the international obligations, foreign policy and national security interests of the United States, and United States Government uses of outer space.”  We support this approach.

Finally, perhaps one of the most pressing challenges associated with future space operations is how we keep pace with the congestion of space and the growing problem of orbital debris.  To operate safely in space, operators must know where their systems are located and when their systems will approach any of the approximately 18,000 other tracked and cataloged objects also on orbit.  Safety-related space situational awareness data for these tracked objects provide space operators information necessary to safely plan maneuvers and mitigate collisions.  Currently, the Department of Defense collects space surveillance data and compiles it to create space situational awareness to provide orbital safety.  The CSLCA required the Secretary of Transportation in concurrence with the Department of Defense to provide a report on the feasibility of a civil agency processing and releasing this data and information.  We hope to provide this report to Congress soon.

The Role of Congress in Supporting the Industry
The commercial space transportation industry has seen significant change since the passage of the first Commercial Space Launch Act in 1984.  It is clear that the industry exists in large part because of the foresight of Congress in passing that important legislation.  Congress remains an active participant in this industry and the recent CSLCA demonstrates how critical that role is.

As we wrestle with how to answer some of the challenges associated with this dynamic industry, Congress has asked us and some of our other partners in the federal government to take a look at various issues related to the commercial space transportation industry.  We are working diligently to respond to those critical reporting requirements.  These reports will help to inform stakeholders, including federal agencies and the Congress, and provide necessary data to make needed progress on many of the issues discussed in this testimony.

In addition to the policy guidance Congress gives us, the FAA also relies on Congress for the resources necessary to keep pace with the industry.  Since 2006, the number of launch and reentry operations we oversee has increased by 200 percent, the number of licenses and permits we issue has increased by 450 percent, and the number of inspections we perform to ensure safety compliance has increased by 725 percent.  Over that same period, our staff has increased by only 42 percent and we have never missed one of our statutorily prescribed time limits for issuing a license or permit.

Our vision at FAA is to be recognized and respected as the world’s foremost authority on commercial space transportation.  Congress is critical in helping us realize that vision.  As the commercial space transportation industry continues to grow, we must ensure that we maintain our ability to keep pace.  The FAA appreciates that so far the appropriations committees have provided the full operations request for AST in fiscal year 2017.  This funding is critical to the work we are doing to support the industry that Congress laid the ground work for over three decades ago.  We cannot continue our efforts without your guidance and support.

In closing, I would like to quote my predecessor and a true visionary, the late Patti Grace Smith, who passed away just a few weeks ago.  Speaking at a conference at the University of California, San Diego, Patti told the audience, “Space is an attitude.  It’s a set of capabilities, an acceptance of risk-taking activities to uncover potential breakthroughs and endless possibilities.  That is precisely why we love it.”

What a great insight.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.  I would be happy to address any questions that you may have.

International Aviation Safety

Good morning, everyone. I know some of you traveled a long way to be here, and I want to thank you for joining us today.

Aviation is truly an international industry. Passengers can board a plane, watch a movie, and just a few hours later step out on the other side of the world. When they do this, they expect the same level of safety and service no matter where they’re traveling.

It’s our job – as regulators, as airlines, as manufacturers and suppliers – to not only deliver on these expectations, but exceed them. It’s on us to work together and ensure the safety of our global aviation system transcends any physical borders.

There’s no question that our community has been tested in almost every way possible over the past two years.

The crashes involving flights from Malaysia Airlines. Germanwings. Egypt Air. Tragedies like these don’t just happen to one country, or one airline. They happen to all of us. We grieve for the lives that are lost. And we turn inward to look at ourselves.

How do we prevent similar incidents from occurring again? How do we improve our processes and procedures? How do we make the world’s safest form of transportation even safer?

We all come from different nations. But we all have to answer these questions. So many of the challenges we face are the same.

Over the last several months, I’ve had the opportunity to travel abroad and visit a number of my international counterparts. In London, I spoke at Chatham House and Lloyd’s of London. In Israel, I visited the Peres Center for Peace. And in Paris, I delivered a speech at the Cercle Interalliee [Sehr-cluh Onter-al-yay], a historic club founded to welcome American pilots who volunteered to fly for the French Air Service as part of the Lafayette Escadrille flying squadron.

At all of these stops, one thing became clear. Aviation has become an international language all its own – and it’s imperative that we use it to advance our shared safety goals.

That’s the value of those trips, and of forums like this. They give us an opportunity to come together and share ideas and potential solutions.

Today, I’m going to talk about some of the issues we’re dealing with in the United States – and how we’re working with our international counterparts to ensure our efforts support a safe, harmonized global aviation system.

Aviation has been about pushing the limits of what’s possible from its earliest days. Our industry is constantly changing. And as new challenges and opportunities emerge, we have to find new ways to continue raising the bar on safety.

For decades, we analyzed accidents after they happened to determine what went wrong and prevent them from happening again.

Now we’re going a step further – proactively using data to assess risks, focus our attention where it’s needed most, and deliver safer outcomes on a system-wide level.

This approach has been working for us in the United States. Thanks to our collaboration with airlines, manufacturers, labor, and others under the Commercial Aviation Safety Team, we reduced the fatality risk for commercial accidents by 83 percent between 1998 and 2008. We’re now aiming to further reduce the risk by another 50 percent by 2025.

Based on our success in the United States, we believe this shift towards a collaborative, data-driven risk management philosophy is the best step forward for our safety culture, and I know many of you here today have adopted the same approach.

Of course, we’re not always going to agree about everything.

Pilot mental fitness is a topic all of us are grappling with. Our European counterparts recently took action, and the FAA issued our own findings last week.

Based on the recommendations of an Aviation Rulemaking Committee made up of aviation and medical experts, the FAA is not recommending the addition of psychological testing to either the pilot hiring process or to the periodic, routine pilot health evaluation.

Psychological tests generally provide insight into a person’s mindset at only a particular moment in time.

So the Aerospace Medical Association concluded that in-depth psychological testing for detecting serious mental illness as part of the routine periodic pilot aeromedical assessment is neither productive nor cost-effective.

Instead, the FAA is pursuing a continuous, holistic approach that seeks to remove the stigma surrounding mental illness in the aviation industry so pilots are more likely to self-report, get treated, and return to work.

To advance this goal, the FAA, the airlines, and the pilots unions have agreed to take a number of actions.

The FAA is improving and expanding training on mental health issues for Aviation Medical Examiners so they can better identify warning signs in pilots.

We’re working closely with the airlines to include pilot support programs in the safety management systems that guide their operations.

And we’ll be partnering with the airlines and pilots unions to raise awareness about mental health issues and the resources available to pilots who need help.

We don’t consider this to be a static issue. It’s one we’re going to continue looking at closely, because we know we don’t have all the answers.

We’ll continue working with aviation, medical, and international stakeholders to see if we need to make additional changes.

The FAA will be collaborating with the United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority Chief Medical Officer in their study of the medical and psychiatric outcomes of pilots who underwent personality testing several decades ago. We’ll also be exploring early recognition of personality and behavioral traits that could pose issues in the future for pilots.

When it comes to managing risk, we’re not just looking at ways to improve our policies and procedures. We’re also using that mindset to integrate new technologies into our airspace.

Some have called the birth of the unmanned aircraft industry the Wright Brothers moment of our time – and that may be so.

But if there’s anything we’ve learned through our experience with unmanned aircraft so far, it’s that this industry moves at the speed of imagination.

The development cycle for an aircraft is usually measured in years. In the unmanned aircraft industry, products that substantially eclipse their predecessors can be developed and produced in mere months.

As a safety regulator, our primary job is to ensure the safety of the public and our skies. But we also recognize we need to do this in a way that doesn’t stifle this kind of innovation.

There’s a lot of excitement around unmanned aircraft right now – and for good reason. These devices have countless potential uses, on both the recreational and commercial sides.

Recently, a helicopter being used to conduct power line inspections made a hard landing on some railroad tracks near Baltimore, Maryland. This is exactly the type of job a small unmanned aircraft could do – with much less risk to people and property on the ground.

But as unmanned aircraft become more popular, they also pose unique challenges.

Across the United States, which includes our uniquely large general aviation community, we’ve seen an increase in reports about drones coming too close to manned aircraft and airports.

Some have interfered with wildfire fighting in California, and another crashed into a stadium during a U.S. Open tennis match.

This isn’t a problem that’s unique to America. We all heard about the scare at London Heathrow recently, where British authorities investigated a reported collision between an unmanned aircraft and a commercial jetliner.

It turned out the aircraft may have hit a plastic bag. But this incident was a reminder of what’s potentially at stake for passengers, regulators, and industry alike.

One thing is clear: we must incorporate drone users into the safety culture that defines our industry. Even if operators aren’t actually in their aircraft, they’re still aviators. And with that title comes a great deal of responsibility.

I know many of you are grappling with the best way to accomplish this goal.

I look forward to hearing about your experiences in the coming days – what you’ve tried, what’s working, and what you think the next best steps are. I know there’s a lot we can learn from each other.

At the FAA, we’ve made substantial progress by partnering with a wide range of government, aviation, and technology stakeholders to build consensus around a broad array of education and outreach initiatives.

Most notably, we set up a registration system for drones in just a matter of weeks with the help of an industry task force. So far, we’ve registered more than 464,000 hobbyists.

To put that in perspective, we only have 320,000 registered manned aircraft – and it took us 100 years to get there.

Each of these registrations represents one more person we’ve been able to reach with our safety message.

We’re also shifting our approach to regulation to match this nimble technology. We recognize that we have to move faster and think differently about how we do our jobs.

We’re in the process of creating a performance-based regulatory framework that addresses potential hazards, rather than a classification system that is based only on weight and speed.

This is a notable departure from how we traditionally approach safety. We can’t act at the speed of government. Being flexible and open-minded is key to successfully integrating new technologies into our busy, complex aviation system.

This flexibility is extending to other areas of our work as well. We don’t just need to integrate new technologies into our airspace – we need to integrate them into aircraft.

Aviation attracts some of the brightest and most innovative minds in the world. And they’ve got big ideas.

What will the planes of tomorrow look like? Has our quest for lighter materials like carbon fiber and nanotubes put us on the verge of game-changing designs?

These are exciting questions – and they’re being answered right now in research and development labs around the world.

As regulators, we need to be prepared to meet these innovations head on.

With the breakneck pace of technological change and the increasing complexity of the global supply chain, we can’t keep doing things the way we’ve always done them.

Over the past several years, the FAA has taken a long, hard look at how we certify aircraft and parts. In the past, we’ve made changes that were incremental, and often independent from each other.

Now, we’re setting out to make a comprehensive change in the way we do business in the name of increasing our efficiency and effectiveness.

We don’t want to wait for applicants to come to us with a completed aircraft design. We want to engage with designers and manufacturers early and often, so we can make sure our regulations support the new ideas and capabilities that are coming through the door.

Ultimately, we want to be more involved with industry – and we want to be involved at the right times.

In March, we proposed a rule that would overhaul the airworthiness standards for small general aviation airplanes. Instead of regulating certain design elements on specific technologies, the FAA is going to define the safety outcomes we want to achieve and let manufacturers figure out the best way to get there.

Our new approach means we won’t need to rewrite the rules every time something changes. Instead, manufacturers can focus on finding the most efficient and effective way to meet our performance standards.

This is just the beginning of the transformation of our certification process at the FAA.

We’re focusing more of our attention on areas of risk – such as an emerging aviation authority we haven’t worked with in the past, or a new technology that no one has ever seen.

We’re devoting fewer resources to authorities we have a high degree of confidence in, and designs we know are reliable. 

Last year, we signed an agreement with EASA that said parts falling under a Technical Standard Order Authorization would be accepted by both the United States and Europe.

This means U.S. suppliers no longer need to seek European approval if their part, such as a seatbelt, has been approved by the FAA – and vice versa.

This will result in an estimated savings of about 1.7 million Euros for the American aviation industry in 2016 because of fewer application fees to EASA. We expect these savings to be the same or even increase in the future.

We also streamlined our validation of basic Supplemental Type Certificates as part of our agreement with EASA, which means less technical involvement on very basic designs.

We established similar agreements with Canada and Brazil, as well.

These types of partnerships are essential to the work we do at the FAA. And that’s particularly true as we make progress implementing America’s Next Generation Air Transportation System – better known as NextGen.

In recent years, we’ve built much of the foundational infrastructure that supports NextGen, and consumers and aviation stakeholders from across the country are now receiving measurable benefits.

En Route Automation Modernization, or ERAM, is now installed and operational at all of our en route air traffic control centers. ERAM gives us a much bigger, richer picture of our nation’s air traffic – and allows controllers to better manage flights from gate to gate.

The benefits of ERAM can’t be understated – particularly since it enables many other critical NextGen systems.

ERAM links seamlessly with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast technologies – otherwise known as ADS-B – to provide more accurate, satellite-based aircraft positions.

The FAA finished the coast-to-coast installation of the ADS-B ground network in 2014. It’s also integrated at all of our en route centers, so the system is ready and already being used.

But the full benefits of this technology can only be realized if all aircraft are equipped with ADS-B Out transmitters, which broadcast aircraft position. So we’re working to ensure aircraft flying in controlled airspace are equipped in advance of the January 1, 2020 deadline we’ve set.

Last week, Secretary Foxx and I announced a new rebate program that’s designed to help make installing ADS-B equipment more affordable for general aviation aircraft owners.

We hope this incentive, coupled with the falling price of equipment, will encourage owners to get off the sidelines and take advantage of all the safety benefits ADS-B has to offer.

Data Communications is another technology we’re using increase safety and improve every phase of flight.

Data Comm gives air traffic controllers and pilots the ability to transmit flight plans and other essential messages by text instead of voice communications.

This switch from voice to text increases safety by reducing the chance of a read-back error while relaying information. It also allows controllers to send text instructions to several aircraft at once – a much more accurate and efficient process.

Following a series of successful trials at airports around the country, we’ve ramped up the rollout of Data Comm this year. Twenty-seven air traffic control towers are currently using Data Comm, and we plan to get that number up to more than fifty by the end of 2016.

As we make these infrastructure investments, we’re also aware that we don’t operate within a vacuum.

Civil aviation authorities around the world are taking advantage of new technologies to make upgrades as well.

The FAA is working closely with our international counterparts to promote the global harmonization of air traffic management systems, including more common standards, technologies, and information exchange platforms.

We have several efforts underway through our NextGen-SESAR collaboration in Europe, as well as in Asia and the Caribbean. We’re making inroads in Africa through our Safe Skies for Africa program. And we’ve been an integral part of developing ICAO’s Aviation System Block Upgrades, which provide countries with guidance on how, where, and when to implement the operational and technical improvements that have come out of programs like NextGen and SESAR.

These partnerships are ensuring we maintain the interoperability of our systems – and provide the level of safety and service passengers around the world expect.

After all, that’s the reason we come together for forums like this one. It’s why we hammer out compromises and agreements through ICAO.

Safety is the aviation industry’s most important product. Without it, airlines don’t sell seats, manufacturers don’t sell airplanes, and suppliers don’t sell parts.

We’ve all but eliminated the traditional causes of accidents – like controlled flight into terrain, weather, and wind shear.

But we still have more work to do. Our quest for a perfect record may never be realized – but we can never abandon it as our goal.

We need to work together, as regulators and industry stakeholders from around the world, to identify areas of risk and mitigate them before incidents occur.

In the coming days, we’ll be covering a number of important topics for the future of our industry: from unmanned aircraft and commercial space, to data sharing and cyber security, to certification and compliance.

I encourage all of you to speak up and speak often. Sharing your own unique vantage point is the best way to help lift the global aviation industry to a new level of safety.

Thank you.

NextGen, New Airspace Users in Colorado

Thank you, Louis. I’m glad to be here. First off, I want to congratulate Denver, and the State of Colorado, for winning the Super Bowl this past year. I’m envious. Here in D.C., our team does not win Super Bowls, at least not in the last two decades. 

When you say “Omaha!,” you’re talking about touchdowns. When we say “Omaha,” we might be talking about steak or life insurance.      

Like I said, I’m envious. 

Of course, your success is not limited to touchdowns and Super Bowls.  In many ways, Colorado is helping us modernize the nation’s airspace system, making it more efficient and greener, while ensuring that all safety needs are met.  As many of you know, the FAA’s plan to modernize the National Airspace System is called NextGen.

NextGen is very important to our stakeholders and to Colorado.  It is critical to move airplanes in and out of major airports like Denver, and smaller airports in Ski Country and other areas as efficiently as possible.

NextGen is the driver, but in order to complete this modernization, the FAA will need to continue to work with our stakeholders, including industry, labor, government and local communities. 

Colorado is a strong leader in these collaborative efforts.  For instance, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is a member of the FAA’s Management Advisory Committee.  And Denver Airport director Kim Day is a former member of the FAA’s NextGen Advisory Committee. 

Of course, it’s a two-way street.  Washington D.C. has sent key players to Denver too……cornerback Champ Bailey comes to mind. 

But seriously, we’ve worked with Colorado in many ways to deliver NextGen benefits there, and we look forward to continuing that work.      

Today, I’d like to talk about some of our progress with NextGen.  I’d also like to tell you about our efforts to integrate drones and commercial space operations into the airspace system as well. 

So let me start with NextGen.  Over the past few years, we’ve been making real progress with NextGen.

In 2014, we completed the infrastructure for ADS-B, which is the core technology that moves us from a radar-based to a satellite-based system.  With ADS-B “Out,” as we call it, air traffic controllers can pinpoint exactly where an aircraft is at any given time. And with ADS-B “In,” pilots can look on a screen in the cockpit and see exactly where their plane is in relation to other aircraft nearby.

ADS-B is integrated at all of our en route air traffic control centers, so the system is ready and many users are already seeing benefits.

But the full benefits can only be realized if all aircraft are equipped with ADS-B Out transmitters, which broadcast aircraft position.

The FAA has set a January 1, 2020 deadline for aircraft operating within certain controlled airspace to equip for
ADS-B Out.

We’re working closely with the entire industry to ensure the January 2020 deadline is met – with a special focus on the general aviation community.

The FAA recently announced a new rebate program that’s designed to help general aviation aircraft owners meet the deadline and make installing ADS-B equipment more affordable.  We will be offering eligible aircraft owners a $500 rebate to help offset the cost of purchasing ADS-B Out equipment, or an integrated system that also includes ADS-B In.

We’ll be issuing 20,000 rebates on a first-come, first-serve basis for one year starting this fall, or until all 20,000 rebates are claimed – whichever comes first. 

In addition to ADS-B, we’ve completed automation upgrades in our en route centers where we control high altitude traffic.  And this year, we’re working on automation upgrades in our terminal facilities.

And while these programs will serve as NextGen’s long-term foundation, we’re also working on four near-term priorities:

• Increasing the availability and use of Performance Based (or satellite- based) Navigation,
• improving airport surface operations,
• making multiple runway operations more efficient, and
• implementing Data Communications.

I’ll give you some examples.  Last year, at Denver International, we implemented a more efficient satellite-based procedure called Established on Required Navigation Performance.  We call it EoR, and it enables pilots to fly shorter distances when simultaneously turning to land on parallel runways.  This results in less fuel burn and emissions by the aircraft.  After implementing EoR, Denver Airport was able to increase their use of these more fuel efficient procedures by 28%.

We’re looking to expand the use of these kinds of satellite-based procedures, both in Colorado and around the nation.  In fact, Denver is part of the FAA’s Metroplex initiative – an effort to target NextGen capabilities in metro areas to relieve air traffic congestion.  Our Denver Metroplex team is nearing the end of the Design Phase, where we’re working with industry to conduct simulator testing of new procedures. 

During the design phase, we also intend to reach out to the Denver community.  We want to ensure that the public is involved and that air traffic procedure designs don’t conflict with known community concerns.  We take public input very seriously and we strongly encourage people, agencies and officials to learn about, and weigh in on, our airspace procedure proposals. 

When the Design Phase is complete, we’ll move into the Evaluation Phase where we’ll start a formal environmental assessment, and this typically takes 12 months to complete.

We recently deployed another important NextGen innovation at Denver Airport on May 3^rd.  It’s called Data Communications.  

Data Comm, as we call it, enables controllers and pilots to communicate by sending and receiving digital data instructions, in addition to voice communications.  With this capability, controllers can issue a departure clearance to several aircraft at once, and issue revised clearances as might be necessary during bad weather.  We’ll be able to accomplish faster taxi out times and reduced delays, while reducing controller and pilot workload, congestion on the airwaves, and the likelihood of communication errors that can occur from voice exchange. 

Data Comm’s departure clearance service is now operational at 27 air traffic control towers around the country, and we’re 20 months ahead of schedule.  We’ll continue to deploy Data Comm at about 30 additional control towers around the country.  In 2019, we’ll start to deploy Data Comm in our en route air traffic control centers. 

Let me give you a third example of how we’re delivering benefits in Colorado.  In 2012, the FAA worked with the Colorado Department of Transportation to install a technology called Wide Area Multilateration, or WAM.  WAM improves access to Ski Country airports like Eagle, Telluride, Montrose and several others in bad weather. 

Since radars could not track the aircraft once they descended below the tops of the surrounding mountains, air traffic controllers had to keep planes farther apart in the air than usual in order to provide the appropriate safety margins.  They had to conduct “one in, one out” operations.  This resulted in a lot more delays and cancellations due to bad weather, resulting in a lot of unhappy passengers.  After putting these WAM systems in place, we’ve been able to reduce arrival delays during poor visibility by as much as 12 minutes per flight.

EoR, Data Communications and WAM are all winning plays.  And these are just a few of the innovations we have in mind. 

Once all planned programs are in place, the FAA expects NextGen to deliver $134 billion in direct airline, industry and passenger benefits through 2030.  This includes more than $50 billion in benefits to the airlines for reductions in future flight delays, which translates into reduced airline crew, maintenance and fuel costs. 

And while NextGen is helping us provide benefits for traditional aviation, the FAA is also committed to integrating new users – like unmanned aircraft and commercial space operations—into the airspace system.

We expect there to be as many as 7 million drones sold by 2020.  And we already have about 500,000 registered drone users in the United States, more than the number of registered aircraft.   

In the coming weeks, the FAA will publish a rule that will allow routine, civil operations for commercial purpose of small unmanned aircraft.  Currently, we are authorizing these types of operations on a case-by-case basis.  We have approved more than 6,000 exemptions for purposes like movie filming; inspections of pipelines, power lines, bridges and flare stacks; and conducting precision agriculture operations. 

We recently developed a UAS strategy to guide our integration efforts and better align our work with other lines of business in the agency.  And this summer, the FAA will establish a new Drone Advisory Committee to advise us on integration issues.  We believe this group will serve the same type of purpose as the NextGen Advisory Committee, in terms of helping us prioritize our efforts.  

Like unmanned aircraft, the commercial space industry is making a lot of progress.  Earlier this spring, we saw Space X make history by landing the first stage of their Falcon 9 rocket on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.  This marks a big step toward achieving reusability of these rockets.

This year, the FAA predicts a total of 25 launches, and we expect this number to climb as the industry matures.  One day, we may even see multiple launches per week as the space tourism industry grows.       

Currently, we accommodate these operations by blocking off airspace.  As they increase, we’ll have to move from accommodation to integration, meaning that we take into account the needs of all airspace users – just as we are doing with unmanned aircraft.

This fall, we expect to complete our Commercial Space Integration Roadmap that will define changes in airspace usage policy, regulation, procedures and automation capabilities, and determine the schedule by which these changes will be made.  

And this summer, the FAA plans to conduct a demonstration of a prototype technology – the Space Data Integrator or SDI—when Space X conducts one of its reentry missions.  The demo will help us determine how much airspace we have to block off in advance to ensure a safe operation, and how we can more efficiently release the blocked airspace so it’s available for other users.

We know that Front Range airport has submitted a license application to conduct commercial space operations.  The FAA wants to enable the growth and success of the commercial space industry.  The FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Office is working with our Airports office and the Air Traffic Organization to balance that goal with the need to ensure that traditional air traffic remains safe and efficient.    

To recap, the FAA is implementing NextGen into the airspace system every day.  And we’re working to bring in drones and commercial space craft. 

Stable funding remains a concern for the FAA.  We have another short-term extension of our authorization that runs until July 15^th.  The Senate passed their version of a long-term bill in April but it remains to be seen what will happen. 

In closing, Colorado is not just a leader in the National Football League.  You’re also a leader in aviation – whether it be with Wide Area Multilateration, using more efficient satellite-based navigation procedures, using Data Communications, or with commercial space operations.  I look forward to continuing our work together, and seeing the progress we’ll make in the coming years.    

Thank you. 

FAA ADS-B Out Rebate Program for General Aviation

Managing the Changes Coming Our Way

Thank you, Margaret [Jenny].  It is a privilege to be here today.  I want to start by saying that I am truly honored to lead the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization.  And I am very proud of the work we do each and every day.     

Today, we’re moving about 50,000 flights. 

We’re providing services for more than 2 million passengers. 

We seamlessly manage civilian and military aircraft.

We’re controlling air traffic over 31 million square miles of airspace – over big cities, over vast oceans, and through all kinds of weather.   

We’re doing it safely.  We’re doing it efficiently.  And tomorrow, we’ll do it all over again. 

In short, we make the spectacular look routine. 

On top of that, we maintain a complex infrastructure.

It includes more than 400 staffed facilities and more than 12,000 unstaffed sites – such as radars, weather sensors, and navigation equipment and their shelters.

We conduct flight inspection of both civil and military airspace infrastructure, both domestically and internationally.

And we manage and protect the radio frequency spectrum resources for civil aviation.

But while the ATO performs these functions, and many others, we do something else that’s fundamentally important.  We manage the changes that are occurring in aviation.

For some, change is exciting.  For others, it’s unsettling.  It all depends on your perspective. 

But either way you look at it, we have to manage change, so we can maintain what is great about American aviation – safety, efficiency, accessibility, freedom, adventure, jobs.

And the Aero Club has been at the center of the changes in aviation since its founding in 1909.  Everyone here has been part of a great professional journey. 

The question now is “how do we shape the next 25 years?”  How do we best manage the changes that are coming our way? 

David Houle, author of a book called Entering the Shift Age, referenced a quotation that struck me.  It said that “we should all try to be the parents of our future, not the offspring of our past.” 

And while its plain foolish to ignore the future, it’s just as naïve to neglect the now.  In the ATO, we’re meeting change head on.  We’re doing it by leaning in, and working with the aviation community.

Today, I want to talk about three key things we’re doing to manage change.

First, we’re tapping the wealth of safety data now available to proactively mitigate safety risk.

Second, we’re safely deploying prioritized NextGen capabilities every day.

And third, we’re taking steps to integrate drones and commercial space operations into the National Airspace System.  

Let’s start with safety.  The ATO works to prevent conditions that could give rise to a safety problem.  Our approach can be summed up in three words: Collect, Find, and Fix. 

One of the big changes over recent years is the wealth of aviation safety data, and the different data collection capabilities we have at our disposal. 

For instance, we collect data from automated tools and from voluntary, confidential safety reports from controllers, technicians and pilots. 

Armed with this data, we conduct a sophisticated risk analysis to find potential hazards, and then take corrective action to fix the problems.

The ATO’s Top 5 Hazard list is a powerful illustration of the Collect, Find, Fix approach.  Through our data collection and analysis, we determine a list of the Top 5 Hazards each year. 

This year, the list includes: wake separation, wake turbulence encounters, helicopter operations, tower visual scanning, and access to weather information on the controller’s scope.  

Once these items were determined, we developed a total of 26 corrective actions and we’re in the process of implementing them now.   

Runway safety is another area where we’ve employed the Collect, Find, Fix approach.  Since 2008, we’ve driven down the rate of serious runway incursions by 38 percent.  But we know there is still risk in the system. 

So last year, we held a Runway Safety Call to Action.  We met with more than 100 aviation professionals including pilots, controllers, airport managers, technicians, regulators, our labor leaders and industry. 

Together, we crafted a total of 29 recommendations, and then we turned them into detailed corrective action plans aimed at reducing the number and severity of surface events.      

So going back to the idea of managing change – our proactive safety approach helps us to anticipate potential risks that come from the growth and changes in aviation. 

Certainly as we add NextGen technologies, we have to make sure we’re doing it safely.

We are making good progress on NextGen and we are on track to meet our original high level objectives by 2025.  Every day, we’re integrating it into all phases of flight – More direct routes.  Less time.  Less miles.  Less fuel burn and fewer emissions.       

This is not to say that we will have achieved all of the anticipated benefits, but the foundational platforms, such as ERAM, TAMR, DataComm, SWIM, ADS-B, Time Based Flow Management, and the soon to be approved Terminal Flight Data Manager program, will be in place.

And the fundamental capabilities associated with more efficient management of the NAS will be realized.

From that point, there will still be more work to do to leverage these capabilities through advanced applications in ways that benefit all airspace users and the communities they serve.  We have been collaborating with our aviation stakeholders through the NextGen Advisory Committee, or NAC, to determine the best path toward that vision.

We are also working with our inter-agency partners and the international community to produce harmonized solutions that will result in global benefits for aviation.

As part of this effort, we will work with our Caribbean partners this year to improve air traffic performance in that region.  We have a vested interest.  Millions of Americans fly there, and we expect traffic growth to increase by 5-6 percent over the next two decades.  We’ve developed a proposal for an air traffic flow management program for the Caribbean region to enhance safety and optimize efficiency.   

Here at home, we’re delivering near-term NextGen benefits by:   

• Increasing the availability and use of Performance Based Navigation,
• improving surface operations,
• making multiple runway operations more efficient, and
• as I noted before, implementing Data Communications.

You can certainly read more about our progress by going to our NextGen website.  But what I want to emphasize today, is not so much what we've accomplished but how we're efficiently managing the changes.  We're doing it by leaning in and working closely and creatively with our stakeholders.

I’ll give you a good example.

Some of you might be familiar with the New York Triple Play.  We’re not talking about the Yankees.  We’re not talking about the Knicks.  And we’re not talking about the state lottery either.

The Triple Play results from weather conditions that drive JFK to land on ILS 13L.  The airspace and approaches between LaGuardia, Newark and Teterboro become dependent affecting operations at all locations.   

We thought if we could de-conflict the airspace, we could free up the pressure in the region when the Triple Play happens. 

Working closely with JetBlue, we designed an RNP approach for JFK’s Runway13L.  The RNP approach would have lower minimums that would allow JFK to land on Runway 13L longer before requiring aircraft to use the ILS approach due to low ceilings. 

We thought we had a solution until one of JetBlue’s aircraft drifted off centerline trying to get the approach certified. 

We told JetBlue that to fly the procedure, their aircraft needed to have a switch enabling them to do an automatic Take-off to Go Around, or TOGA.  TOGA is a switch on the auto throttle of modern large aircraft with two modes – Take Off and Go Around. 

So the problem was, only some of JetBlue’s fleet was equipped with the switch.

Our controllers didn’t know which aircraft had the switch and which ones didn’t.  They needed confidence that JetBlue was equipped to perform TOGA before they felt they could safely issue the RNP approaches to them.   

So we had a dilemma.  We had designed an RNP approach.  JetBlue wanted to use it.  But they couldn’t.  

Meanwhile, JFK’s Runway 4L/22R was scheduled to be shut down last year for four months to complete a runway construction project, and this was going to take place during the severe weather season. 

So you have increased the potential for the Triple Play, during the severe weather season, plus a scheduled runway shutdown that reduces configuration options at JFK – conditions that could have a significant impact and shut New York (and our customers) right out of the game. 

This required a team approach.  

JetBlue made the decision to equip every aircraft with the TOGA switch and trained every pilot to know how to execute it. 

This gave controllers the confidence and flexibility to consistently assign them the approaches.  The TRACON and JetBlue signed an agreement that all flights will be assigned the RNP approach. 

When all was said and done, JetBlue was able to execute nearly 6,000 RNP approaches during the runway shutdown last year, and we greatly improved the use of JFK’s runway 13L during adverse weather conditions.

This example highlights the importance of collaboration to produce good results and cross over cultural barriers that may have prevented solutions in the past. 

Progress like this takes time.  But by working together, we can figure out how to use new capabilities to our advantage when and where they are needed. 

That last point is important to the future because it brings me to the third key way that the ATO is managing change – the safe, efficient integration of new airspace users.

We expect there to be as many as 7 million drones sold by 2020.  We already have about 500,000 registered drone users in the United States, more than the number of registered aircraft.   

This spring, the FAA plans to publish a rule that will allow routine, non-hobby commercial operations of small unmanned aircraft.

In the meantime, we have been authorizing non-hobby operations on a case-by-case basis.  We have approved nearly 5,800 exemptions for purposes like movie filming; inspections of pipelines, power lines, bridges and flare stacks; and conducting precision agriculture operations. 

We’re developing a UAS strategy to guide our integration efforts and better align our work with other lines of business in the agency. 

This summer, the FAA will establish a new Drone Advisory Committee to advise us on integration issues.

And we believe this group will serve the same type of purpose as the NextGen Advisory Committee, in terms of helping us prioritize our efforts.      

 As small UAS brings change below 500 feet, commercial spacecraft bring change above 60,000 feet.  The progress in this industry is breathtaking.  Last month, we saw Space X make history, by landing the first stage of their Falcon 9 rocket on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.  This marks a big step toward achieving reusability of these rockets.

This year, the FAA predicts a total of 25 launches, and we expect this number to climb as the industry matures.  One day, we may even see multiple launches per week as the space tourism industry grows.        

Currently, we accommodate these operations by blocking off airspace. 

As they increase, we’ll have to move from accommodation to integration, meaning that we take into account the needs of all airspace users – just as we are doing with unmanned aircraft.

This fall, the ATO expects to complete our Commercial Space Integration Roadmap that will define changes in airspace usage policy, regulation, procedures and automation capabilities, and determine the schedule by which these changes will be made.   

And this summer, the FAA plans to conduct a demonstration of a prototype technology – the Space Data Integrator or SDI – when Space X conducts one of its reentry missions. 

The demo will help us determine how much airspace we have to block off in advance to ensure a safe operation, and how we can more efficiently release the blocked airspace so it’s available for other users.      

So as you can see, while the ATO controls traffic, we also manage change.  We’re bringing in new users, implementing NextGen, and driving down safety risk.

As the pilots here can tell us, thrust and lift are two forces that make the plane fly.  When it comes to improving aviation, innovation is our “thrust.”  And collaboration is our “lift.” 

Of course, there is one more power source that can’t be ignored.  Funding is the fuel.    

Stable funding remains a concern for the FAA.  We have another short-term extension of our authorization that runs until July 15^th. 

The Senate passed their version of a long-term bill last month but it remains to be seen what will happen.  

In closing, I came to the federal government in 1992 and I've been in this job now for about 2.5 years. 

I have been so fortunate to have had a very diverse career working across nearly all directorates of what is today's Air Traffic Organization, including acquisition, program management, air traffic and technical operations. 

People often ask me "What's been the biggest surprise in your job?"  Easy–The people. 

"What's the best part of your job?"  Easy–The people. They continue to do the spectacular every day.

So let me reiterate the quotation I stated earlier – “We should all try to be the parents of our future, not the offspring of our past.”  By working together, we have an opportunity to shape the future of aviation, by delivering an even safer, more prosperous, more accessible airspace system than ever before.  Let’s seize it!

Thank you.

Building Your Aviation Legacy

Thank you, Dr. DeVivo.

Thank you distinguished guests, faculty, administrators, families – and most of all, students.

It’s truly an honor and a privilege to be addressing the Vaughn College Class of 2016.

I know the road to get here wasn’t always easy. Many of you are part of the first generation in your family to reach this milestone.  That’s my story, as well.

I grew up in Riverside, California. Both my parents were born in America, but neither of them spoke English until they went to school. My dad didn’t finish high school.

But my parents were big believers in the power of education, and they instilled that belief into their kids. They taught us that learning equals opportunity. So there was never a question in their minds about whether we kids would go to college. We would, and we did.

What I remember most clearly from my graduation day was the look on my parents’ faces. They were so proud to call me a college graduate. And they were thrilled about what this accomplishment meant for future generations of our family.

Looking around this room, I see that same look on so many faces. I know getting here required hard work and sacrifice from both our graduates and their families. Congratulations to you all.

Today is the culmination of your time here at Vaughn. You’ve gotten a top-notch technical education. And you’re entering the aviation industry at a unique moment in its history.

Aviation is safer than it’s ever been. We’ve practically eliminated all the common historical causes of accidents. Our work is a model for aviation authorities around the world.

At the same time, technology is changing our industry at warp speed, and with no signs of slowing down. In fact, aviation has changed considerably just in the time you’ve been in school.

Back in 2012, unmanned aircraft were – if you pardon the expression – barely a blip on the radar. This year, my former chief-of-staff got her little boy a drone Santa for Christmas. And I even saw a company at the Consumer Electronics Show claim it wants to build an autonomous flying taxi.

With all these advancements, building on our safety record gets more challenging all the time. How do we ensure our airspace works for everybody who wants to use it? How do we maintain safety without stifling innovation?

We grapple with the answers to those questions every day at the FAA. We’re working in an industry that’s used to operating in black and white. But more and more of the scenarios we’re dealing with are in shades of gray.

“Risk” is a bit of a dirty word in aviation. We don’t like it. We try to root it out in any way we can. But I’m going to let you in on a little secret.

Our industry needs more risk-takers.

We need people to challenge the conventional wisdom. To think outside the box. To ask questions we’re not considering. To operate in those gray areas.

Risk-takers are responsible for some of the greatest feats in aviation history. The Wright Brothers defied the accepted science of their day when they designed and built the first airplane and proved it was possible to actually take off and land in one piece.

Charles Lindbergh pushed the boundaries of what we thought aircraft were capable of when he completed his non-stop flight across the Atlantic in a single-engine airplane.

Amelia Earhart did it again when she became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific from Honolulu to Oakland.

And risk-takers today continue to hit new milestones. Elon Musk’s SpaceX recently launched a rocket and landed the booster in the ocean on a barge the size of a football field. Then they did it again. That feat alone could reduce the cost of a rocket launch by 70 percent.

All of these advancements were made possible because someone was willing to ask a simple question: What if?

I bet each of you has a few “What ifs” in your mind right now. And with a degree from Vaughn in your back pocket, you’re ready to start answering some of those questions.

That’s exciting, not only for me as head of the FAA, but for the entire aviation industry. You’re our next generation, who will help define what flight can be and where it can take us in the 21^st century. We need your ideas and talent. We need you to be our risk-takers.

Now sometimes taking risks is scary, especially when you’re just starting out. I’m sure you’re already feeling the pressure to immediately get on the right path.

For some of you, maybe it seems like there are a hundred doors to choose from – and all of those options can feel paralyzing.

For others, it might seem like the specialized education you received has already wed you to one industry – and maybe you’re getting cold feet.

No matter where you are on this, rest assured: it’s normal. You’re not supposed to have everything figured out right now.

Your future is going to be filled with unexpected opportunities – and unanticipated setbacks. If you can accept that now, you’ll find a lot a freedom.

Let me tell you a quick story about one woman and her life’s unpredictable turns.

From the time Jerrie Cobb climbed into the cockpit of her dad’s 1936 Waco [WOCK-oh] biplane, she knew she wanted to follow him into the air.

She got her commercial license the day she turned 18. But there weren’t a lot of opportunities out there for a female pilot. It was 1949, and too many boys home from the war needed jobs.

Jerrie didn’t let that stop her. She took the gigs no one else wanted and spent time honing her skills.

After setting records for speed, distance, and altitude and becoming the first woman to fly at the Paris Air Show, the opportunity to fly higher than Jerrie ever dreamed of came along. She was chosen to become part of the Mercury 13, the first group of women to undergo astronaut testing.

But when the time came for NASA to select its crews, they decided that all potential astronauts needed military test pilot experience. And since women weren’t allowed to fly in the military at the time, Jerrie and the rest of the Mercury 13 were grounded.

Now, that would be devastating news for anybody. But Jerrie was resilient.

She found comfort in her lifelong passion for flight and began performing missionary work in South America. For the next 35 years, she transported supplies to tribes in the Amazon jungle and mapped new air routes to remote areas.

The world took notice of her humanitarian efforts: she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1981.

I’m not telling you this story because I think you have to go out there and win a Nobel Prize – though I’m sure Dr. DeVivo and everyone here at Vaughn wouldn’t mind at all if you did.

I’m telling you this because sometimes, you’re going to miss out on your dream job. Or you’re going to make a wrong turn. And you may have to start over. That’s okay.

You’re going to have setbacks. It’s how you deal with them that will define the height of your success.

It’s easy to get hung up on getting the right job title, or being associated with the most prestigious project.

But when you look back on your career, you’re much more likely to remember how your work affected other people.

Your job is only one part of who you are. Make time for your family. Be there for the important moments. Never get so caught up in what you’re doing that you forget why you’re doing it.

Our aviation system is vast and complex and has a million moving pieces to it.

But all of it – every bit – can be traced back to December 17, 1903, on a sandy stretch of beach near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

On that day, Orville and Wilbur Wright laid the first brick of what would become the foundation for our industry.

And people like Charles Lindbergh, and Jerrie Cobb, and Elon Musk have been building on it ever since.

For the last four years, you’ve studied all the greats who came before you. You’ve learned from your own mentors here at Vaughn.

And now it’s time to make your own contributions to the great legacy of American aviation.

But you won’t just be defined by those contributions. One day, it’ll be your turn to give back and help cultivate a new crop of risk-takers.

Some bright kid is going to call you up for advice. And you might be too busy. You might wonder what you could possibly offer that would be useful.

Take the call anyway. That conversation could change someone’s life.

That is how you build your aviation legacy. By taking risks, by pursuing work that matters, by helping the next generation do more than even you could have dreamed.

Congratulations, Class of 2016. I can’t wait to see what you do next.

UC Merced Commencement Address

Thank you, Provost Peterson.

It is certainly an honor to be addressing the 11^th graduating class for the School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts.

I’m sure that some of you are wondering why the FAA Administrator is speaking to a largely Liberal Arts school. Frankly, I wondered that too.

Maybe it’s because I run an entire agency that owes its existence to a couple of bicycle mechanics from Ohio.  Wilbur and Orville Wright weren’t trained as scientists.  Their friends and neighbors thought they were dreamers.  But they solved the biggest scientific challenge of their time. They believed—and they proved—it’s possible to use a machine with wings to defy gravity, if only for a while.

Regardless of the reason, I’m thrilled to be here to share this day with you.

Many of you are among the first generation of your family to reach this milestone, whether it’s your undergraduate degree or an advanced degree.

I know what this feels like because I was in your position once.  I remember how it felt to achieve my goal, and also the look on my parents’ faces.  They were deeply proud of my accomplishment and the potential it had for future generations of our family.

Congratulations to you and your families for the shared dedication – and the sacrifices – that brought you to this day.

Now that you are officially an adult, I have a secret to share with you: It was all just a test.

Everything leading to now – from the first time you sat cross-legged in a circle in kindergarten to your most recent final exam or thesis – gave you the opportunity to prove something to yourself and to the world.

You’re here because you have the character and fortitude to tackle a long-term project and overcome multiple obstacles.

And I can promise you that your first employer isn’t going to ask you in a job interview to distinguish between the Danish-Prussian Wars of 1848 and 1864.  Nor are they going to ask you to list, in order, the names of Henry the Eighth’s six wives, or how some of them met their unfortunate end.

The important thing is the piece of paper, your diploma.  It’s the magic ticket to get you through the front door.  And what you do after that is entirely up to you.

I want to share with you a story about a wise old flight instructor who was met at the airport by the nervous mother of a 16-year-old just beginning to start flying lessons.

“Can a 16-year-old fly an airplane safely?” the mother asked.

The instructor considered this for a moment and then replied.  “Ma’am, I’ve never met a 16-year-old who didn’t have the reflexes to fly an airplane as well as a veteran pilot,” he said. “The problem is getting them to plan farther than the nose of the airplane.”

“My job,” he said, “isn’t to teach your daughter how to fly. My job is to teach her how to think about flying—how to look past the next 30 seconds and make smart decisions.”

In many ways, Class of ‘16, that’s exactly what has happened during your education.  You’ve learned to think more broadly, to look further down the road, and to consider consequences.

Many of you pursued your degrees with a clear goal in mind.  Some of you may have known since your childhood exactly what you wanted to be when you grew up.

Until now, everything in your academic career has followed some sort of a plan.  And now, everybody is asking you, “What’s next?”

Now, I’m fairly confident that some of you don’t know what’s next, and you’re probably freaking out a little bit right about now.  My message to you is this: Don’t freak out.

Life has a way of sending you little surprises.  When I started at UC-Riverside many years ago – back when Twitter was something the birds did when they were happy – I thought I wanted to be a diplomat.

But a dear friend and mentor helped direct me onto a path that led into a different – and for me, much more rewarding – area of public service.

I had no idea as a 22-year-old that I would someday become Managing Director for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

Or that I would run two port agencies.

Even at the ancient age of 45, becoming the head of the world’s largest aviation safety agency still wasn’t on my radar.

Some of my friends say that if you look at my resume, you might draw one of two conclusions:  I’ve either fallen into some amazing opportunities, or I simply can’t hold down a job.

So what can you learn from this?

First of all, understand that your first job is just that – a first job.  You will always have new opportunities.

Be open to the possibilities they present.

Don’t become so focused on what you think you must do – or what your parents or friends think you should do.  If you do only that, you can become a prisoner of your own life.

Once in a while, an opportunity will come your way with the potential to change your life.  My advice is to consider these moments carefully.

What might you learn?  Who might you meet?

Don’t be afraid to make a mistake.  And never, ever be the one to say, “I can’t,” or “I’m not qualified.”

When I started thinking about what I would say to you, I considered coming up with a list about life lessons we might learn from our dogs, such as loyalty, or loving unconditionally, or that you should “wag more and bark less.”

But you don’t need to click on a list of 10 secrets to a happy life.  You’re going to make your own list.

You’re going to discover that it’s much more comfortable to live in a world where everything is clear-cut, black-and-white. Where something is either by the rules or against them.

You’re also going to discover something else: That world doesn’t exist.  Much of your life will be lived within the gray, where decisions are hard and sometimes the stakes are very high.  Embrace that.

Learn to take comfort in the fact that you’ll never have it all figured out.

I think of my own case. Yes, I’ve had all of these tremendous opportunities.  But in 18 months my term as FAA Administrator will end.  And then I’ll be right there where you are today – looking for life’s next opportunity.

My advice is to be open to examining things from all angles. Your official university education might be coming to a close today, but you should prepare to be a lifelong student – of life and of all that it brings.

I mentioned a few moments ago that many of you are about to become the first generation of college graduates in your family, and how your path may someday lead to even greater things for your children and grandchildren.

I want you to also consider that the administrators and professors here at UC-Merced have great hopes for you as well.

You comprise this university’s 11^th graduating class. And the things you do in your career will reflect on this institution for years to come.

Who knows what you might become?  Someday, your example might prompt a high school senior to choose this institution, and to set out on a path that you inspired.

Speaking of inspiration, I want you to take a moment to think about the people in your life who played a role in your journey to this place.  Some of them sacrificed for you.  And they put your needs above theirs.

These people might be your parents, your grandparents, or your siblings – you know who they are.  They took the time to encourage you and to set you up for success.

Remember these people who helped you along the way, who answered your calls.

Someday, a bright young kid will seek your advice.  You might be too busy.  You might wonder what on earth you could possibly offer that would be profound or useful. 

Take the call anyway.  That conversation may change someone’s life.

Now, I know you haven’t even crossed the stage to receive your diploma yet, but I want to tell you it’s never too early to start giving back.

Your education has prepared you to go out into the world and start changing it, perhaps in big ways.

But even the longest novel is written one word at a time.  A lifetime of great achievements is accomplished one good deed at a time. Write your own story and make it rich and interesting.

Now, some of you may have heard the adage, “Jump first and build your wings on the way down.”

As Administrator of the FAA, I can’t say that I endorse that philosophy – at least when it comes to airplanes.

But it does get at a central theme that keeps so many of us from reaching our full potential: It really is possible to over-plan your life.

A friend of mine has a piece of artwork on her wall by artist and sculptor Brian Andreas. It reads:

Most people don’t know there are angels

whose only job is to make sure

you don’t get too comfortable

and fall asleep

and miss your life.

Listen to these angels. Look for them.

But you know – even better, be one of them. 

I wish you so much more than luck. 

Congratulations to you all.

AUVSI Xponential Remarks

Thank you, Miles O'Brien, for that.  Its great to be in New Orleans.  It’s great to be here in The BigEasy, and I sincerely thank you for inviting me to join you here today.

You know, a couple of weeks ago I was out in Daytona Beach, Florida to speak at our UAS Symposium that we co-hosted with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. I remarked at that time – I know many of you were there that we are getting to know so well – that Unmanned Aircraft System events are starting to feel a little bit like family reunions.

Well, we all know that hasn't always been the case. The last time I was on this stage, was back in 2012, and at that time I felt a little more like I was walking into a lion's den than into the warmth of a family reunion.

We’ve come a long way from where we were just a handful of years ago. If we think about it, in 2012, thousands – rather than hundreds of thousands – of drones were being sold annually. There were no UAS incidents that had been reported near any airports in the country. Nobody was shooting at a drone that had flown over their backyard, and nobody was flying a drone into trees at the White House.

Now,  fast forward to the present. A few weeks ago, we announced in our annual forecast, and you heard it from Miles,   that the combined sales of hobbyist and commercial drones could surge from 2.5 million aircraft this year to a staggering 7 million in 2020.

Drones, we all know, are changing the way countless jobs are done, from movie filming and real estate marketing to agricultural mapping and smokestack inspections.

And the innovation in this field is speeding forward at a breakneck pace. When you compare it to [manned] aviation, consider this: the development schedule for a new type of commercial airliner is every 15 to 20 years. If you’re an aerospace engineer, you’re considered extremely lucky if you have two new jets come out during the course of your career.

The drone development schedule, by contrast, is so compressed that new products are flying out of the design studio and into factories at the blink of an eye. Drone development is to manned aircraft development the same as Twitter is to traditional communications.

Yet there are some remarkable parallels between what’s going on today and what was going on a half a century ago.

Back then, the nation was captivated by the idea of sending a man to the moon, and many of the brightest kids coming out of college, their dream was to work at NASA. Today, many of the country’s bright young minds are captivated by the virtually limitless possibilities that the unmanned aircraft industry is offering, and are entering aviation through this exciting new field.

Now, dreaming up new uses for unmanned aircraft may not be to some as sexy or dramatic as locking men in a capsule and firing them off into space. And the jury is still out on whether the geniuses who incrementally conquer UAS integration roadblocks will attain the icon status of a Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin.

But, like the space exploration of the 1960s, the work we are doing today is transforming aviation – and its transforming society – in very profound ways.

You probably know by now that when I use the term "we," I'm not just talking about the FAA. I'm talking about all of us who are in this together. Our progress is the result of partnership and it’s the result of collaboration.

And this has occurred because we found that, despite our sometimes different viewpoints, the FAA and the industry come from essentially the same place: we all view safety as our top priority. And the safe integration of unmanned aircraft is a goal we’re committed to pursuing together.

Now, there are many building blocks in a collaborative relationship. A willingness to set aside ego. To sometimes disagree. To recognize other viewpoints are just as valid as the one you might have. And to put aside differences in the pursuit of a common goal. But the most important element in a collaborative relationship is trust.

The FAA and industry have come to understand that we both come from a safety-first perspective. And we recognize that we have to find the right balance to support safe integration without stifling innovation.

We realize that we need to be flexible. To be willing to look at challenges from different angles. And to evolve in our approach because the world around us is evolving at warp speed. And to stop moving at the speed of government.

Now, the list of our shared accomplishments is well documented by now. Robust UAS test sites, where groundbreaking research is being conducted.

The Pathfinder program, through which our partners are researching operations over people, beyond line of sight operations and technologies that can detect UAS around airports.

The Know Before You Fly educational campaign. The Section 333 program, through which we now have approved more than 5,100 commercial UAS operations.

And, of course, unmanned aircraft registration and the Micro UAS Aviation Rulemaking Committee.

Registration was an ambitious goal for all of us, and some people were skeptical when we announced the undertaking last October. Two months later, because of the diligent and selfless work of a very diverse task force, we had a fully functional, easy to use, web-based registration system.

And today, more than 443,000 hobbyists have registered their drones, and that means we have reached that many people with our safety message. And we recently expanded the system so commercial operators can register online rather than use the legacy paper-based system.

The registration task force worked so well that we all said, “what else can we work on”. So we formed the Micro UAS Aviation Rulemaking Committee to look at how certain drones could be safely flown over people.

In just three weeks, that committee put together a thoughtful and comprehensive report, which will help shape a new rule.

And by late spring, we plan to finalize Part 107, our small UAS rule, which will allow for routine commercial drone operations and eliminate the need for most Section 333 exemptions. This will make it a lot easier to operate in the National Airspace System.

Other milestones are occurring on a regular basis, too. Last month, for example, we authorized the first commercial drone flight at night. We granted that authorization to Industrial Skyworks USA, a company based in Ohio that uses drones for industrial inspections.

And earlier today, we took another important step forward in safely increasing drone operator access to the National Airspace System. We issued this morning a legal interpretation that allows students to operate unmanned aircraft as part of their coursework.

And what this means students won’t need a Section 333 exemption or any other authorization to fly. And their faculty will be able to use drones in connection with helping their students with their courses.

Schools and universities are incubators for tomorrow’s great ideas, and we think this is going to be a significant shot in the arm for innovation.

But as significant as these advances are, it's reasonable to think they will seem quaint in a couple of years, just like that first MAC computer seems quaint to us today.

As hard as we have worked to set the integration process in motion, realistically we all know that our work has just begun. And the reality is that we have been plucking the low-hanging fruit.

So now, the time has come for us to focus more of our energies on the bigger challenges.

Challenges such as command and control. Detect and avoid. Aircraft and operator certification. How spectrum will factor into integration, and how frequencies will be managed and allotted.

To tackle these challenges in a methodical and orderly manner, we have identified three high-level UAS strategic priorities.

Not surprisingly, the first of these is to safely enabling UAS operations in the National Airspace System.  The emphasis is safely.

Second is adaptability. We want to create an environment in which emerging technology can be safely and rapidly introduced.

And third is global leadership. We’re looking to shape the global standards and practices for unmanned aircraft through international collaboration.

These priorities form the backbone of a comprehensive strategic plan that we have developed for UAS integration, which we expect to unveil soon.

Now achieving these more challenging objectives requires us to embark on a new phase of the collaboration that has proven to be so successful. The way I see it, our recent UAS symposium really marked the start of that process.

Those of you who were there know that I made some requests of, and challenges to, our stakeholders.

I said that as we progress on integration, we're always going to tell you what we are thinking and where we are learning. But it's very important that we hear your raw and unedited perspectives on what we're doing.

After we authorized Industrial Skyworks to conduct night time drone operations, the company’s president, Michael Cohen, commented that “the FAA is trending in the right direction.”

That’s great to hear.  But while it's always nice to receive affirmation that we're on the right track, we don't expect – nor do we want you to always agree with us.

That’s because disagreement can be a source of strength, and the key thing is for everyone to hear what others are thinking. We have a lot of bright people who work at the FAA, but we know that we don't have all the answers.

We need to have a pipeline so the bright minds of our stakeholders can channel their ideas directly to us.

And it’s important that we hear not just from industry. We must all recognize there are other perspectives to integration, such as privacy and security.

The FAA is engaged with the Department of Homeland Security's interagency efforts to address the unique challenges that safe UAS integration present to the security community.

We are also part of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's multi-stakeholder process to make sure privacy concerns are addressed during integration.

And ultimately, the government as a whole must balance the different perspectives and interests on these important issues.

Now as I said a moment ago, we requested unvarnished feedback from all of our stakeholders at our symposium – and boy, did we receive it.

And sometimes that feedback identified areas of disagreement. For example:

We heard that we should fight attempts by local governments to pass laws that regulate drone use because a patchwork of laws is unsafe and unacceptable.

We also heard that we should allow local governments to make decisions that best serve the needs of their communities.

But we also heard we need to become ever more nimble – and not held back by traditional rigid approaches – when it comes to things like aircraft and pilot certification or airspace access issues.

And we were advised to consider that there may be more than one solution to a particular integration challenge.

We heard we need to move toward performance-based system of standards for unmanned aircraft, rather than one-size-fits-all, prescriptive standards.

We heard that we need to find better ways to collect and analyze operational and safety data that we get from industry, and that industry has to find better ways to get that data to us.

Now that kind of advice is incredibly valuable. In fact, it’s critical to our ability to achieve that perfect balance between integration and safety.

And so to that end, I have some news to announce: we are establishing a broad-based drone advisory committee that will advise us on key unmanned aircraft integration issues.

UAS innovation is moving at the speed of Silicon Valley. So it only makes sense that we asked a Silicon Valley leader to help us with this important step.

I have asked Intel CEO Brian Krzanich to chair this group.  Brian has a deep personal interest in unmanned aircraft and a passion for leveraging technology responsibly.

He is also a pilot and he understands the breadth and the variety of the users of our airspace.

Now, we’ve had excellent success with the speedy work done by the UAS registration task force and the MicroUAS aviation rulemaking committee.

But those were set up for a single purpose and for limited duration.

The drone advisory committee, by contrast, is intended to be a long-lasting group that will essentially serve the same purpose as the FAA’s NextGen Advisory Committee, or NAC as it’s better known.

The NAC has helped the FAA hone in on improvements that mean the most to the industry and has helped build broad support for our overall direction.

And we envision the drone advisory panel playing the same role on UAS integration, including helping us prioritize our work. Now, we know that our policies and overall regulation of this segment of aviation will be more successful if we have the backing of a strong, and a diverse coalition.

We’ve initiated discussions with RTCA to help us develop the drone advisory committee roster. RTCA will serve as the point of contact for would-be members and has been asked to support the drone advisory committee similar to their role with the NAC.

And we expect we’ll be able to talk in more detail about the panel in the coming weeks. And we also expect that we’ll have a formal name for it by then as well.

One suggestion was to call it the Advisory Committee for Drone Coordination, which would give it the acronym of "AC/DC." We checked. Apparently, there's a rock and roll band with that name. Who knew?

I fully expect the committee – regardless of what we end up calling it – will be a leap forward in our collaborative approach. But, as I said at our symposium, collaboration is something I see as a two-way street.

It’s not just about the FAA listening to your ideas about what we should or shouldn’t do – although that’s valuable.

Safety is a shared responsibility in which each one of us has a vital role. And as stakeholders, in addition to innovating, you must pour some of your energy toward developing safety solutions of your own.

Because innovation brings with it limitless possibilities, our work to safely integrate unmanned aircraft will, realistically, never be done.

But I have always believed that any problem can be solved by intelligent people working together in pursuit of a common goal.

I’m confident we’ll meet tomorrow’s challenges through cooperation, collaboration, through respect and through trust – and, above all else, a commitment to being creative in our thinking and flexible in our approaches.

So again, thank you for having me here today.

New Horizons

Thank you, Paula.  I’m glad to be here.  Let me also offer my personal congratulations to the award winners.  Their work is contributing to the kinds of innovations that are taking aviation to new heights, maybe even revolutionizing it altogether.  In doing so, they’re helping us go beyond our limits, which is the very idea expressed in this year’s AEA conference theme – New Horizons Await.

Speaking of innovation, I was attending the World Aviation Training Symposium last week.  In my speech, I talked about the old Link Trainer, an early generation flight simulator developed back in the 1930’s.

These things were kind of like soapbox derby racers, or maybe a trash can with stubby wings, a door and a control stick.  Of course, simulators have come a long way since then.

And so have aircraft electronics.  You remember the old radios that were so heavy and complicated that they needed a third person in the cockpit to work those things. 

Who would have thought back then that the radios would now be as light as 10-15 pounds, or that they would be touch screen? 

For the most part, the plane itself is the same as when the Wright Brothers started.  It has wings, propulsion, and a method to control it.  But the advances have been with the on-board instruments that augment the pilot’s ability – like TCAS, enhanced ground proximity warnings, Mode S transponders, and now ADS-B. 

Thanks to advances like these, and others in the electronics industry, airplanes are some of the most connected, information-driven pieces of equipment on the planet.

A pilot today can have as much, maybe even more, situational awareness as the controller on the ground.

We would like to see the industry equip with ADS-B Out as soon as possible.  Let me be clear that the deadline for the mandate is set at January 1, 2020.  It will not change.  That’s only 44 months away! 

The air carriers have all committed to being equipped on time, and we expect that the GA community will be as well.   

We know it's human nature for people to wait until they absolutely have to do something.  There’s a sense that if owners wait longer to equip, they’ll get better deals.  Or maybe owners still have a lot of questions about the kind of product they need. 

But on the flip side, if they don’t get their appointments scheduled, they might not get their installations in time, and they might be grounded.  We’re also concerned that you’ll end up with too much demand and not enough time to get the installations done.  

We encourage you to be creative marketers.  A great example is Custom Avionics in Bartow, Florida.  In December, they launched a new campaign called Early Register, where they guarantee ADS-B installations before the 2020 deadline. 

They will assign the customer a position and guarantee their spot.  And if owners register now, they lock in the price, even if costs go up as we approach the deadline.

Through Early Register, owners can also preorder equipment and pay for it over time, like a layaway program.

Custom Avionics is just one good example of marketing creativity.  I’m sure there are other good ones. 

We know prices on equipment have fallen considerably – some units can be found for as low as $1,500.  But we’re finding that a lot GA pilots are willing to pay more for a better product.  It’s not just about being compliant.  There’s value in getting things that make flying more fun and safe – things like ADS-B In.

So while it’s important for your customers to get their installations scheduled, it’s also very important that the installations be properly configured.  We’re seeing issues where people are getting their installations, but if it’s not configured correctly, it’s showing up as a problem.

As of April 15, we have about 9,800 good installations and about 1,900 bad installations.  Some of these bad ones indicate they are intended to be compliant installations, but something is wrong in the transmitted data.  The good news is that the “1,900” seems to be holding constant.  So the problem isn’t getting worse.  

We’ve made it easier for repair stations and pilots to check if their installation is correct.  They can go to the FAA website and click on the “Equip ADS-B” link on the homepage.  

Just as ADS-B is enabling us to see new horizons, so is the proliferation of unmanned aircraft.  Over the last several months, the FAA has worked to reach a new and different generation of aviators – in venues that are new and different to us, as well.

In early March, our senior advisor on UAS integration and I attended the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas.

During one panel, a man in the audience stood up and addressed a representative of one of the major drone manufacturers.  He said he had bought one of their early generation drones, but it was already obsolete.

He asked if they would give him a retrofit, and even hinted that they should slow down their innovation.  The manufacturer thanked the man for being an early adopter. He then assured the man that his company plans to keep innovating, making drones that are ever lighter and more capable. 

It reminds me of Moore’s law from the 1960’s.  You might remember this – the rule of thumb that computer memory doubles about every two years, and that’s when you come out with a new product.  With UAS, they’re thinking the product life cycle might be 4-6 months.  That’s how fast things are changing. 

In fact, we expect there to be as many as 7 million drones sold by 2020.  And we already have more than 430,000 registered drone users in the United States, more than the number of registered aircraft.   

We know that electronic components are becoming more miniaturized to fit on these drones.  Developers are coming up with algorithms and sensors that enable drones to fly in formation.  If they encounter trees, they can split and fly around the trees.  And they can count the peaches on the tree. 

Everything is happening so quickly.  We are only beginning to see some of the ingenious uses of new and miniaturized technologies developed for drones.  We look forward to seeing how these innovations might be applicable to traditional aircraft.  It’s certainly fun to be a part of it. 

Your companies have been at the forefront when it comes to turning electronics into life-saving, life-changing tools.

You’re constantly looking to the next horizon.  In this business, I think everyone ought to be paying attention to what’s happening with drones.

No doubt, industry is moving at the speed of imagination.  At the FAA, we can’t afford to move at the old speed of government.  We have to be willing to innovate the way we do our work, and we are.

For instance, we took steps to streamline the process of issuing exemptions for non-hobby UAS operations.  We recently raised the “blanket” altitude authorization for exemption holders and government operators from 200 feet to 400 feet.  This is another milestone in our effort to change the traditional speed of government. 

We’re also working to be more flexible in our rules by reviewing our small airplane certification standards.  And, based on months of collaboration with manufacturers and others in the industry, we released our proposed rule to rewrite Part 23 in March.

Instead of requiring certain design elements on specific technologies, the new Part 23 rule will enable manufacturers to develop aircraft and safety technologies according to performance-based standards that maintain the same level of safety.

This approach recognizes there’s more than one way to deliver on safety – and it provides room for flexibility and innovation in the marketplace.

We expect that this will reduce the time it takes to get safety-enhancing technologies for small airplanes into the marketplace while also reducing cost.

They might not be required by a rule, but these tools still provide a number of valuable safety benefits – and we want to make sure you can easily take advantage of them.      

Our Part 23 rewrite will overhaul how we certify aircraft in the future.  But we also recognize how important it is to modernize the existing general aviation fleet.

In 2014, we developed a streamlined process for installing angle of attack indicator systems.  Last year, we clarified the process for installing electronic attitude indicators.  We’re now building on this progress with a new policy that will make it easier to install other non-required safety-enhancing equipment in GA aircraft.

We think this approach will help us to drive down the GA fatality rate.  We’re starting to see it move down some, but this has been a stubborn number.

We want to see the kind of improvement that we’ve had in commercial passenger aviation.  There, we’ve reduced the fatal accident risk rate by 83% from 1998 to 2008.  And we’re aiming to reduce it another 50% by 2025.

Much of the reduction has come from designing planes that are stronger and smarter.

We now collect a wealth of safety data, and exchange safety data with industry so that we can identify potential hazards and address them before they can give rise to an accident.  We want to achieve similar results in General Aviation.

As FAA Administrator, I have to say one of the perks of the job is getting a chance to become a student of aviation history.  The walls in the corridor outside my office are lined with black-and-white photographs that capture moments in time.

Some of them are of the aviation heroes and heroines you might expect to see, but a great number of them are of airplanes from a bygone era.

As you look at them, it’s hard to imagine that only a few short decades ago, passengers would climb aboard Ford Tri-motor aircraft with corrugated aluminum skin.

They would sit in wicker seats for flights that sometimes reached the staggeringly high altitude of 10,000 feet.  At night, passengers could look out the window and see tongues of blue flames escaping from the un-muffled exhausts.

Today, our newest jetliners are made of materials these pioneers never would have imagined.  They fly above the weather at altitudes so high that details of the countryside fade away to hues of brown, green blue.

I recently visited Spirit Aerosystems’ facility in Wichita, Kansas, where sections of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner were being built up by giant robots applying carbon-composite tape to a rotating jig.  Who would have thought there would someday be an aircraft factory where the sound of riveting was completely absent?

Similar advances have been made in the world of avionics, and the changes we’re seeing are awe-inspiring.

The FAA is committed to supporting these innovations, while ensuring that all safety needs are met.  As your conference them proclaims, we know that New Horizons Await, and I look forward to seeing how these changes will continue to transform aviation.

Safety Revolution

As Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, Chris (Lehman), for that introduction, and good morning to everyone. It’s great to be back in Orlando at WATS.

Today is April 19^th, and for those of you familiar with U.S. history, it’s the day the American Revolution began in Lexington and Concord, with the shot heard around the world. Our country began as a bold experiment, built on ideals and aspirations. We set out to change the old order and create something that previous generations could not imagine – a country based on equals.

Aviation too, has always been a bold experiment. Through trial and error, and an undying desire to do what no one had done before, two bicycle mechanics from Dayton created a revolution that brought us into the age of flight.

Over the years, as technology has improved, aviation continues to adapt and evolve. Sometimes it’s an evolution and sometimes things change so quickly you’re swept up in a revolution.

We are at the dawn of the age of unmanned aircraft, changing the basic formula of aviation from pilot in the cockpit to pilot on the ground.  We are moving from an air traffic system that relies on radar to one that uses satellites.

But the most crucial transformation may be one that's not as readily apparent: Weare in the age of Big Data, where more information is generated more quickly and from more sources than ever before. 

So how is the FAA dealing with this change? What does this mean for the future of training and for the future of aviation?  Simply put, using data to make decisions based on risk is the way of the future.

The FAA first delved into this kind of thinking when we created the Advanced Qualification Program, or AQP, a quarter century ago.  Some people say the letters stand for “Awesome Quantities of Paperwork.”

Although it might take more work to conduct tailored training, the airlines are given this flexibility because the results show it’s worth it. All major carriers in the United States have chosen to use this voluntary training program to focus their training where they need it most.

With this program, if airlines look at training data and see pilots are doing very well with certain scenarios, then they don’t have to spend as much time continually training for those scenarios.

But if the data show other areas where pilots are not doing as well, the airline may concentrate training there instead.

I’m sure many of you have been around long enough to remember the life insurance kiosks inside the terminals at most major airports. For five bucks, you could buy a policy in case you didn’t make it to your destination.

Well, data sharing, new technologies and much more realistic training helped us put those guys out of business. Today, the most sought-after location in the terminal – other than a Starbucks – is an outlet to plug your charger into.

But here’s the challenge: With so few accidents, we have no choice but to move past the forensic approach of studying what went wrong after the fact.

Today, we have achieved a remarkable level of safety. Working with industry and sharing data has played a role in eliminating the leading causes of commercial accidents like controlled flight into terrain and weather.

To keep up the momentum, we have to continue to identify risks and address them before incidents occur. This is the idea behind Safety Management Systems.

These systems give airlines a structure to look at data from every aspect of their operations. They are designed to identify hazards, assess risks and put measures in place to mitigate them.

Safety Management Systems also foster an environment where aviation professionals will voluntarily provide us and their company observations about problems they have seen or encountered.

The revolutionary part about Safety Management Systems is putting all these parts together over the entire enterprise. It’s about creating cultural change in the organization.

One of the more remarkable stories of cultural change in corporate America is the turnaround at Ford Motor Company under the leadership of Alan Mulally.  Some of you may remember Alan from his many years at Boeing.

At Ford Alan stepped into a culture where information was used against somebody if they volunteered that there was a problem in a particular program or area. There was no trust, and no way to have honest conversations that could lead to solutions.

Alan took some of the methods he developed at Boeing and demonstrated to this group of rivals that they were actually on the same team.

It worked. Ford’s new, collaborative culture helped it to become profitable again. It was the only major automaker to make it through the recession without a government bailout.

Creating an environment of trust where people can openly talk about safety problems is essential.  At the FAA we believe that establishing trust with our stakeholders and having honest conversations about what’s working and what’s not working – without fear of reprisal – will bring us to the next level of safety.

As a result, we have changed the lens we use to look at compliance with our regulations.

The FAA is still a regulatory agency, and we will still use enforcement as a tool for operators who are unwilling or unable to comply. But compliance philosophy focuses on working with the majority of operators – those who are willing and able to comply – in order to find and fix problems before they result in incidents or accidents.

That means changing the way we interact with operators.

We want to work with companies so they will be willing to share information about failings without undue concern about blame. This will help us address problems and mitigate hazards to enhance safety.

There is a lot of churn in aviation and we still rely on our 4,000 safety inspectors to make sure that people are doing things the right way. Sometimes a single error can cause a big problem.

Many times these can be caught at a more local level. So, it’s a balance between using big picture data to guide us on the one hand, and our regular system of checks on the other.

In that vein, we continue to learn lessons from accidents, and we take these lessons very seriously.

New pilot training requirements mandated by Congress go into effect in 2019. These requirements include academic and flight training for the prevention of and recovery from full stall and upset events.

To prepare for this, we just released a new rule for simulator qualification standards that will help make sure simulators are better representing the airplane so pilots can train how to react to these very rare, but serious events.   

This rule will allow everyone to get their simulators qualified and ready for 2019.

I mentioned earlier that we are in the age of Big Data. I’d like to circle back and acknowledge that the flight training industry was one of the first to recognize the potential power of data.

How many of you have ever had the opportunity to step inside an old Link Trainer?

During the early years in the 1930s, these little blue simulators were only slightly more sophisticated—when compared with today's models—than a soapbox derby racer, or a trash can with stubby wings, a door and a control stick.

But the industry kept searching for something better, and each successive generation of simulator became more and more realistic.

Then one day, some of the brightest minds in aviation began harnessing data from flight recorders.

Now, we not only simulate real situations, we duplicate them – in giant, articulating Star Wars-looking machines that are in many ways as complicated as the aircraft they mimic.

This remarkable use of data helped us to truly understand phenomena such as wind shear and microbursts.

 The training scenarios you developed have since saved dozens of flights that might otherwise have fallen victim to one of nature’s most powerful forces. That’s really something, when you think about it.

Today, we’re seeing similar data being used to do more mundane, but still important tasks.

It’s possible for a technician on the ground to receive streaming data from the engines of a speeding jetliner. Something as seemingly innocuous as a slightly high oil temperature reading could be a precursor to a much more serious problem.

With this capability, the technician can order a quick check of the engine at the next stop, well before the problem manifests itself in a way that causes a flight to turn back or be diverted.

Yet, nomatter how much data we collect and no matter how sophisticated our simulators become, technology is just a tool.  All the training in the world won’t matter if the people receiving it don’t retain what they’ve learned.

You may have heard the thoughts of Miracle on the Hudson Captain Chesley Sullenberger on this matter. 

He said, “One way of looking at this might be that for 42 years, I’ve been making small, regular deposits in this bank of experience, education and training,” and one day, “the balance was sufficient so that I could make a very large withdrawal.”

We could look at professionalism and consistent attention to training and behavior as another kind of Safety Management System that we practice individually. Do we follow procedures each time, even if no one is looking? Do our actions form the right habits?

You’ve heard the analogy that for an accident to happen it’s like lining up the holes in a block of Swiss cheese. A series of problems has to take place for the holes to align perfectly. If you change one factor, the accident won’t happen.

Our new Compliance Philosophy and more robust Safety Management Systems are our way of doing everything we can to prevent those holes from lining up.

If we put everything together – better training, better data, professionalism, and a renewed commitment to working together – the revolution we create in safety will be the legacy we leave for future generations of aviators.

Thank you for all the work that you do, and once again, thank you for being our partner in safety.