Amazing is What You Do

Remarks as prepared for delivery

Thank you, Paul. I’m happy to be here. I want to thank you and Trish for your leadership … and for being such great partners.

I also want to thank our controllers for the job you do every day. You safely handle about 45 thousand IFR flights a day … over 31 million miles of domestic and international airspace.

To the layperson, this is nothing short of amazing.

But it’s what you do, every single day.

When it comes to safety and efficiency, you have set an incredibly high bar.

I’ll give you a good example.

Last month, controller Tim Martin at Daytona Beach Tower came through for a 20-year old student pilot who was in trouble.

The pilot was flying solo when engine oil sprayed all over his windscreen. He couldn’t see anything forward or sideways.

Tim calmed him down, and got him towards the Daytona Beach Airport. Once the aircraft was close to the runway, our tower controllers gave vertical guidance to the radar controller to relay to the aircraft. 

Tim and his colleagues worked together to guide this pilot all the way to touchdown, and then let him know how much runway he had left.

When the student landed, he said we had saved his life.

Saves like these remind us that we must always be vigilant. Whether you’re in the cockpit, the tower cab or the center–the calmest, most benign day can turn on a dime into a life and death situation.

This became all too clear after Captain Shultz’ engine failed on Southwest Flight 1380. Tragically, this event took a life.

But, if not for the calm professionalism and coordination of the flight crew and air traffic controllers, it could have been much worse.

We had gone 9 years and 3 months without a commercial passenger fatality. But that tragedy reminds us that ensuring safety is a never-ending task.

The FAA and NATCA are doing everything possible to drive down safety risk. We have to continue to collect and share safety data … identify and target the highest risk areas … and work with our stakeholders to address the problems.

Over the past 10 years, FAA controllers have submitted more than 147,000 ATSAP reports. From these reports, we have put in place 181 corrective actions.

That’s 181 more ways to extend the safety margin so that accidents don’t happen!

Let me give you some examples. 

A controller at Albany Tower reported that trees were obstructing the view of Runway 28.

That’s a potential trigger for runway incursions.

ATSAP’s Event Review Committee shared the report and coordinated a full Obstruction Evaluation. And following that, we put out a contract to remove or trim the trees from public and private property.

Employees at Kansas City Center also submitted ATSAP reports indicating problems with some frequencies for Kirksville, Missouri.

There were “scratchy” readbacks, numerous repeats, and missed calls. The frequencies had become useless on main and standby.

This is a bad thing all the way around. It could lead to miscommunication between controllers and pilots.

This could result in increased workload, distractions, and the potential for airspace and separation issues.

Technical Operations looked for causes and solutions, and last year they implemented a series of mitigations to solve the problem.

It was the ATSAP reports that really elevated the issues, so they could get the attention they needed.

None of that happens without you leaning forward. ATSAP turns up things that otherwise would have gone unattended to. We’re as safe as we are because we make sure we get things right, and when they’re not, we fix them. Together.

As I said, this is what we do.

And it’s the same approach we need to take as drones come into the field.

This industry is rapidly evolving, and the FAA must stay a step ahead.  

Our goal is to ensure safety while enabling innovation.

We could be looking at 3.5 million drones by 2021. As part of this effort, we have to ensure the safety of other aircraft and people and property on the ground, while safeguarding the needs of traditional airspace users.  

Earlier this month, Secretary Elaine Chao announced the ten selectees that will take part in the FAA’s UAS Integration Pilot Program.

These sites are going to change how we look at aviation. We’re well familiar with border patrol, package delivery, and emergency response. We’re just used to having someone sitting up front to do it.

It’s a new day.

Over the next two and half years, the selectees will collect drone data on night operations, flights over people and beyond the pilot’s line of sight, and on detect-and-avoid technology.

For specific drone flights, they will be able get expedited approval for airspace authorizations. In turn, they will give us the data that will inform our regulations on drones.

Last month, the FAA announced a national beta test of a new automation tool called LAANC.

We’re at the mercy of acronyms. LAANC is the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability.

LAANC is designed specifically to expedite requests by drone users to operate in controlled airspace near airports.

At early prototype locations, LAANC has cut the average approval time from three months to less than one minute.

As part of the beta test, over the next six months, the agency will be rolling out LAANC to nearly 300 air traffic facilities and about 500 airports.

We look forward to seeing the results.

Through the UAS Pilot, LAANC and the other efforts we’re making, the U.S. will continue to lead the world in safe drone integration.    

None of this happens without you, and we’re going to hire more than 5,000 controllers in the next five years, to make sure we’re in a place to succeed.

Again this year, our hiring has been going very well. As of last week, we were at 82 percent of our hiring goal of 1701. This will be the third year in a row we have exceeded our goal.

Our largest staffing challenge is at New York TRACON. As you know, N90 is one of the world’s busiest and most complex RADAR facilities.

Over the past year, we’ve posted two announcements for experienced applicants to be assigned to N90. The ATO is providing the selected applicants with more intense simulator training that comes close to matching the real traffic there.   

We have also taken steps to enhance Academy training. It’s called Ten Eleven Twelve Radar Assessment, or TETRA. In the future, we will employ this training for new hires at N90 and other large complex RADAR facilities.

Thanks to NATCA’s advocacy, there was a change in the law allowing us to post an announcement to hire applicants with no experience within a local commuting area.

We plan to post this announcement on June 19th, preceding an all-sources announcement scheduled for June 27th.

And whether it’s hiring, or any other important investment we make at the agency, stable funding is an important issue.

We must have a funding stream that’s sustainable and matches what we’re trying to accomplish.

We were pleased that the House passed a five-year FAA reauthorization bill last month. But it certainly didn’t play out the way we had hoped.

While we understand the political dynamics that prompted Chairman Shuster to remove the air traffic control reform title from the bill, we all agree that the status quo has not provided a stable, predictable funding stream to operate and modernize the NAS.  

The stop-and-go funding has delayed needed system improvements. It makes planning for modernization projects difficult and more expensive.

And the 2013 sequestration forced us to suspend controller hiring and shutter the Academy for a year.

The pending bills are far from perfect, but I’m committed to ensuring that you get the resources you need to continue delivering the level of service that the American people expect.

Under the leadership of Chairman Shuster and Chairman Thune, I’m confident that a long-term bill will be enacted this year.  

As controllers, your professionalism and teamwork are major reasons for aviation’s historic safety record.

I mentioned Flight 1380 earlier. When the pilot told Corey Davids, controller at New York center, they had to make an emergency landing, Cory and nine other controllers cleared the airspace so the plane could land in Philadelphia, as soon as possible.

Otherwise, the tragedy could have been much, much worse.

People who read or watched this story thought it was amazing.

But, I think Cory put it best when he said, “We have thousands of controllers around the country that go in everyday, do their job, leave, and no one hears anything about anything.”

Cory’s right. This is simply what you do. This is why FAA remains the gold standard around the world.

I look forward to working with you to keep it that way.

Writing History in Real Time

Remarks as prepared for delivery

Good morning.  I often wonder if the Wrights around 100 years ago really understood the magnitude of their invention.  Or were they so caught up in flying that they didn’t allow themselves a moment to ponder—to ponder what would become their indelible thumbprint on the page of history? 

We find ourselves today at a juncture not unlike that one, but in this case, we’re acutely aware of the ripple created by unmanned aircraft.  In this day and age, we’re surrounded by innovation—perhapsbuffetedis the better word. 

I went to the Consumer Electronics Show in January, and I tell you – if you can dream it, I saw it at CES in Vegas.  Retailer and ridesharing companies are creating their own skunk works on pilotless aircraft to deliver packages and people.  The commercial space industry is making reusable rockets a reality.  They just put a Tesla into orbit.  We’re on the cusp of a new age of supersonic travel.  And self-driving cars are moving from Disney’s drawing board onto America’s roadways. 

If you are a student of aviation and a fan of innovation, today is your day.  History and innovation are about to meet at the intersection we call unmanned aircraft.  Drones are the future of aviation, but if past is prologue, and it most certainly is, drones are also the today of aviation, very much today.  This is history in the making—real time—and the people in this room are making it. 

In fact, I think the size of this audience is an indication of why we’re moving as quickly as we are.  Aviation has always depended on innovation—but as we’ve seen, innovation without collaboration is a non-starter.  Our recently completed Pathfinder program featured groups that we’d never partnered with before—like train operators and broadcasting outlets. I’d like to thank these partners – CNN, PrecisionHawk, and BNSF Railways – for successfully concluding Phase 3 of their pathfinder operations late last year.  

We also successfully completed the prototype evaluation for LAANC – the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability.  This automates how UAS operators get permission to fly in controlled airspace – a crucial first step for UAS traffic management.  We’re going to conduct a national beta test starting April 30.  Nearly 300 air traffic control facilities and 500 airports will be covered by September.  That’s a significant expansion of a successful program designed specifically and directly for the people in this room. 

In addition, beginning April 16, we’re going to start accepting applications from new partners looking to provide LAANC services.  Right now, there are five—Skyward, AirMap, Project Wing, Boeing and Rockwell Collins.  If you’re interested, you can find information on the application process on the FAA web site. 

With LAANC, pilots and drone companies can receive near real-time airspace authorizations – eliminating the manual authorization process that can sometimes take weeks. Controllers can see where planned drone operations will take place. This allows them to mitigate risk by ensuring no other aircraft are operating near the drone. I want you to know:  we’re listening.

I’m particularly proud of another effort I’m sure you’ve all heard about by now—the UAS Integration Pilot Program.  We’ve created an opportunity for State, local and tribal governments to partner with the private sector—people like UAS operators and manufacturers.  President Trump established this to accelerate integration … to ensure U.S. global leadership in this industry.  The response has been enthusiastic.  Given this crowd, no surprise there.  We had 149 lead applicants, from which Secretary Chao will select at least 10.  The pilot program is going to broaden our concept of what drones can do and help inform a streamlined regulatory posture going forward. 

That said, it’s important that safety continues to guide each step we take.

I’ve said on more than one occasion that safety is the key to the front door of the National Airspace System.  Our goal for unmanned aircraft remains full, complete and total integration.  But the cautionary tale from well-established aviators is, as I said a moment ago, one simple word:  safety.

Safety is our top priority, but it is everyone’s shared responsibility.  The U.S. national airspace system is the envy of the rest of the world.  It runs well, but it runs that way because safety guides everything we do. 

Other challenges warrant our attention.  Despite our success with the Part 107 small UAS rule—the world’s first comprehensive framework for UAS regulation—we’ve much more ahead of us.  We’re working to expand small UAS operating parameters while making sure we appropriately consider security and privacy issues.

The FAA, the Department, and the White House are all on the same page in this respect – working well both inside and outside the government is key to getting things done.  You’ll be hearing more about this in the near future.

As the regulator, we’ve got to adopt an attitude of “regulatory humility.”  We’ve got to get things done faster.  The U.S. Government is a behemoth – it doesn’t adapt very well to change. So while a big change like unmanned aircraft is happening as I speak, the FAA cannot make the mistake of thinking we have all the answers, all the time. We have to work with industry to develop technology and solutions to our common problems.

Ultimately, it’s the responsibility of the FAA to ensure we have the appropriate standards in place to assure the NAS is safe for all users.  Likewise, we mustn’t lose focus of the safety of the people on the ground.  Working together, we’ve begun the iterative process of UAS integration while maintaining safety.

We also continue to evaluate remote identification for unmanned aircraft.  For this industry to flourish commercially and be of public service, all aircraft—unmanned or otherwise—must be identifiable.  You wouldn’t expect to see unlicensed vehicles on the highway.  Dirt bikes are fine for the woods, but when you see one on the beltway, there’s a problem—a problem for them and a problem for everyone around them.

We’re committed to moving very quickly to establish remote ID requirements.  Civil aviation in the United States has become the symbol of safety because of situational awareness.  If you want to fly in the system, you have to be identifiable and follow the rules. 

The provisions excepting model aircraft in the FAA Modernization Act of 2012 from any regulation must be revisited—soon—to address ongoing concerns related to security, law enforcement and integration.  Reasonable steps should be taken to ensure accountability without overburdening the public, and collaboration between government and stakeholders, as mentioned before, will be critical to meeting these challenges.  

I’d be remiss not to mention the need to mitigate risks to national security and public safety posed by people who aren’t playing by the rules--whether by intent or ignorance.  If you think about it, a malicious act could put a hard stop on drone integration.  And in that case, we’d lose the true safety benefits to people like powerline and mine inspectors who would have to put themselves back into harm’s way without the use of drones. 

Obviously, we can’t let that happen.  We can’t lose traction, nor can we jeopardize public safety or national security.  We’re working with partners across the government to find ways to address security issues.  We must ensure that the United States remains a global leader—and that we benefit from this rapidly developing sector of the economy.   Make no mistake that public safety and national securityremaintoppriorities. 

Congress has given DOD and the Department of Energy the authority to counter UAS that threaten sensitive facilities.  From where I stand, that’s the right move.  We support enabling other security partners such as the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to protect assets and operations critical to national security. By enabling Federal security and law enforcement agencies to detect and mitigate risks posed by errant or malicious UAS operations, the United States will continue to offer the safest and most efficient aviation system in the world.  As you can imagine, there’s considerable churn over this subject, and the public discourse needs to be robust—which is why I highlight it here. 

Congress is heavily involved with the drone issue, which I view as a positive sign.  As an agency, we appreciate some of the provisions in both Reauthorization bills.  The details of the provision in each bill are different, but both bills take the issues head on, particularly related to accountability and risk.  

There are a number of provisions regarding UAS safety.  As I said, Congress is leaning in here, and that’s helpful for all of us.  We look forward to Congress getting a long-term FAA bill finished so the FAA will have the appropriate tools to continue our work advancing safe drone integration.

I believe the next 12-18 months are critically important to integration.  If you’re an innovator or an operator, the FAA wants to work with you.  We’re heavily invested.  Drones are new to our airspace, but we’re in the business of handling the next big thing.  We’re used to new technology.  We have the best controllers, the best inspectors and the best technicians.  Other industries have asked us for insight on safety:  automotive; power; finance.  We’re good at connecting the dots, and we are equal to this task. 

I’m encouraged by the energy in this industry and the willingness of everyone in this room to work together. We’ve raised the collaboration bar to a new height—and we’re just getting warmed up.  We have obstacles, but none of them are insurmountable.  And in truth, I think the best is yet to come.

A Hot Streak

Remarks as Delivered

Commercial aviation is on a hot streak, but so is commercial space.  And we can do better.  We all want to see more launches.  We want more spaceports.  But what we need is streamlined regulatory processes.  FAA can’t be a rubber stamp; nor can, or should, we be a hurdle.  Time waits for no one, and I think that’s true of commercial space.

Let’s get to it.  We need to license launches faster.  But, Industry must improve its safety performance—just like the airlines.  I expect more from FAA.  I expect more from industry.

Before we move too far along, I think more talk about safety is time well spent.  The importance of safety cannot be overstated—especially in what I consider still are our early days. 

As exciting and promising and attractive as commercial space may be, we must take caution not to get ahead of ourselves.  This industry can ill-afford the barnstorming reputation that affixed itself to aviation a hundred years ago. 

Space flight was no stranger to missteps in its infancy, some catastrophically so.  Thankfully, those days are mostly behind us, but they are instructive these many decades later. 

Now, in our zeal to punch through and make commercial space a viable and reliable enterprise, we can’t overlook the importance of safety. 

Safety is the key to the front door of the national airspace system.  I’m optimistic about commercial space transportation—as long as safety is its cornerstone. 

What I see is a positive indicator, a very positive indicator.  We set a record for licensed commercial space launches last year you set a record– and we’re on track to surpass that in 2018.

But the numbers don’t tell the whole story.  Innovation is changing what’s possible in commercial space on an almost daily basis.  If you think about it, that’s how it is in the U.S.  We know that economic prosperity and world-class leadership begins with innovation.  The unrivaled prosperity and quality of life that our country enjoys has almost always begun with some kind of innovation. 

And that’s true, of course for commercial space.  Without sacrificing safety, we must act with the urgency and agility to match pace with the speed of innovation. 

The idea of reusing boosters was just a pipe dream a few years ago. Today, it’s routine. Well, 2 out of 3, but I think that’s still impressive, if you ask me!

History’s going to remember this one.  It was a day the entire the aerospace industry took a giant step forward.  And the best part; an American company, on American soil, an American car will be circling the sun. 

Neil Armstrong took that one giant leap for humankind.  The next step is here in this room, and it’s time to take it.  America has always been the world’s leader in space.  That can – and must – continue. It’s essential to both our economic and national security interests.

NASA relies on commercial space launches to support the International Space Station.  DoD is increasingly using them for national security missions and technology demonstrations.

These operations also have the potential to support countless new industries that will transform the U.S. economy.

President Trump made space a priority by reconvening the National Space Council last summer. I attended the first meeting last summer at Udvar-Hazy.  Vice President Pence has officials at the highest levels of government working together to clear the way for companies that want to do everything from build space stations to mine asteroids.

The FAA has an important role to play in this process.  Our job isn’t just to ensure the safety of America’s airspace.  It’s to ensure equal access to it.

We’re committed to balancing the needs of all airspace users. This means moving from a system where we accommodate commercial space operations to one where they are fully integrated into our system.  That’s how it will be for drones, and that’s going to be the lay of the land for commercial space transportation as well. 

We chartered an Airspace Access Priorities Aviation Rulemaking Committee. It’s going to help the FAA develop criteria that can be used to consider competing requests for airspace access.  Many of you have been invited to participate in this Committee.  Thank you in advance for your input as we begin this process.

We’re also using technology to help manage increased airspace demands.

The FAA is testing the Space Data Integrator, a tool that reduces the amount of airspace that has to be blocked off for commercial space operations. Once deployed, it will automate procedures for air traffic controllers.  It more efficiently releases blocked airspace so it’s available for other users.

These are important steps forward. But we know more still needs to be done.  As the industry grows, so does the number of license applications.  If the size of this audience is any indication, that’s not going to change.  We need to keep up—which is why we’re committed to transforming the way we do business.

We’ve developed a plan to streamline the steps a company needs to take to secure a license. Our goal is to create a consolidated, performance-based system that will maintain safety while speeding up the review process.  But it’s still going to take some time. So the FAA is also taking steps that will provide more immediate relief to commercial space operators.

We’re going to eliminate the most frequent sources of waiver requests.  We’re going to improve license planning and application development.  We’re going to reduce administrative paperwork and costs for industry and the agency.  And there’s more, much more.  Stay tuned. 

Ingenuity and innovation have always fueled our nation’s success at home and abroad.  We don’t want a rocket tethered to a launchpad with red tape.  We can’t let burdensome government regulations get in the way of America’s thriving commercial space industry.  We must exercise “regulatory humility.”  We must avoid being the government of arrogance.  Government does not always know best.  We believe that when enabled and allowed to do what they do best, American ingenuity will provide the best answer.

As I look around this room, I see academics… engineers… policymakers… and the most visionary technology and aerospace companies in the world.  Each of you has an important role to play in shaping the future of commercial space in America.  And the FAA looks forward to keeping it safe … and collaborating with you to continue taking bold steps toward that future.  Together, we can get there. 

Thank you.

Aero Club, "Temporary Stewards”

When I first entered FAA headquarters as Deputy Administrator in 2010, I couldn’t have predicted the exhilarating journey I was about to take. And as my years with the agency near a conclusion, it’s fitting that I’m back here today with all of you.

Much has changed in our industry in the last seven years. And that change has been driven by the people in this room, and so many more, who were willing to work with the FAA to make big things happen.

We took these great strides during a time when the stakes were high. The airlines were coming off a decade of staggering losses, and we were embarking on an ambitious overhaul of America’s air traffic system – all while our nation was still feeling the pain of a recession.

Coming into this job, it was apparent to me that we needed more consensus and clarity around the goals we were pursuing as an industry. We had the expertise and the ability to do anything we wanted. We just couldn’t do everything all at once.

We also couldn’t just think about making technological changes – although there were many in the works. We also needed to think about changing the culture inside the FAA. 

Things clearly had to move faster. And the only way forward was to foster a more constructive relationship with the aviation community.

I never expected to have such a long term as Administrator. But I knew my tenure would be pretty short if we couldn’t achieve better ties with industry.

Fortunately, you were more than willing to work with us on finding better ways to do business.

And look at where we are now. Most of what we envisioned nearly a decade ago is here –  and more is on the way.

The result is the safest, largest, most complex, and most efficient air transportation system the world has ever known.

Sometimes we take this for granted. But it’s big news. And it’s something we accomplished together.

Across the board, we are now unleashing a host of technologies that will profoundly change what aviation looks like for decades to come.

Satellite technology has modernized the backbone of our nation’s air traffic system.

For three years now, GPS-based procedures have outnumbered the old ground-based navigation routes, and more users are taking advantage of them every day.

We’ll take the next big step in 2020, when all aircraft in the U.S. use ADS-B to broadcast their precise location in real-time to air traffic controllers.

We’re also taking safety to the next level by incorporating risk management into our compliance work. As the aviation community shares more data with us than ever before, we’re focusing our oversight resources where they’re needed most.

This is part of a larger shift in how we interact with the industry as a whole.

We’ve brought together the best minds in government, academia, aviation, technology, and law enforcement to help us address our most pressing challenges.

Whether it’s through our Drone Advisory Committee or the NextGen Advisory Committee, close collaboration has helped us deliver the right technologies, at the right time, to meet industry needs.

This has consistently yielded better results than if the FAA had tried to go it alone. And the aviation community today is stronger, better, and safer as a result.

Collaboration will only become more important in a future where constant change is the new normal.

We stand on the cusp of the next great age in aviation – when the skies will be home to multitudes of new users, flying in ways we can only imagine.

We can debate when drone taxis will emerge and how many people they’ll carry. But there’s no debate they’re on the horizon. Just last week, Uber announced it was partnering with NASA to develop traffic systems for flying cars.

Meanwhile, the emerging commercial space industry could easily evolve into a system where travelers take rocket ships to Asia, Europe, or the Middle East in a matter of minutes.

These changes are coming, and they’re coming fast. The industry has a new “need for speed.”

And as a regulator, the FAA can’t afford to move at the traditional pace of government. We’ll get left behind at the launch pad, wondering what just happened.

That’s why I’ve focused so much of my time as Administrator on creating room for a new culture to take root within the FAA.

As an agency, we traditionally spent a lot of time studying things – thinking through all the angles before taking even a single step. We also viewed things in terms of black and white. It’s either right, or it’s wrong.

We no longer have time for these luxuries.

We must all become comfortable working in the gray. We don’t need to know all the answers before we make a move.

I’ve delivered this message to my colleagues around the nation. And they’ve heard it, loud and clear.

One of my favorite moments happened a few years ago, when we first began to get serious about changing the way we certify new general aviation aircraft.

Dorenda Baker, the manager of the project, started off her presentation by looking me straight in the eye and saying, “All right, so you said it was okay to break some china…”

When she was done walking me through a proposal that very much tore up the old rule book, I asked her team, “Do you really want to do this?”

And they all agreed: “Not only do we want to – we have to.”

Whether it’s responding to a crisis or shepherding in a new form of aviation, my colleagues have risen to the challenge at every turn.

They’re questioning the way we’ve always done things. They’re thinking outside the box. They’re finding flexible solutions that can work today – and adapt to the demands of an ever-changing future.

As an agency, we’re embracing a proactive attitude that prizes being the innovator – and not the obstacle. We know we have to take thoughtful and calculated risks. Some things are going to work. Others won’t. And that’s okay – as long as we keep making progress.

Safety is always going to be the FAA’s top priority. But we also know that doesn’t mean we have a monopoly on the best way to achieve it. That’s why we’re looking to our traditional partners – as well as new ones – to help us figure it all out.

Our aviation family is only going to keep expanding. Our table has to grow with it. We need to hear from a broad range of voices if we’re going to get things right.

A small business owner might look at a drone and see the opportunity for a profitable new venture. An airport manager looks at the very same device and wants to keep it out of his airspace. Meanwhile, the airline CEO wants to make sure the drone doesn’t cause any disruptions at the company’s biggest hub. And the GA pilot just wants to fly with minimal hassle.

Guess what? Every one of those viewpoints is important. And all stakeholders deserve to have their interests considered.

Now like any family, we’re going to have our disagreements. And it’s very easy to dig in when somebody challenges the status quo.

We’re in the midst of an important conversation right now, about the future of our air traffic control system. And there are a lot of opinions about the best way to position our nation’s aviation infrastructure to meet the demands of the future.

People are entitled to their own opinions. But they’re not entitled to their own facts.

We need to have a transparent discussion that’s based on where we are today – not a decade ago.

It also needs to go beyond defending whatever your personal position might be. We need to be focused on the future.

Structure alone can’t solve the core funding challenges facing air traffic control. It’s time to have an honest conversation about what the American public expects us to do, and how best to pay for it.

We can’t keep talking past each other. We need to talk with each other.

The sky above our heads is one of this nation’s most valuable assets. We must protect it. We must help it thrive.

Aviation is where it is today because we’re standing on the shoulders of the giants who came before us – the scientists, engineers, and yes, the dreamers, who were brave enough to tackle that next great challenge.

Their names are on airports and street signs. Their achievements inspire us to this day.

They’re giants because they were good stewards. They saw the bigger picture. And they dedicated their lives to building an aviation system that could stand the test of time.

As my time as FAA Administrator comes to a close, I’ve been thinking more and more about the transitional nature of this job.

Every day, I walk through a hallway outside my office that’s lined with the portraits of those who sat in the chair I now occupy. They all faced challenges, and they all left their own marks on the agency.

In a few months, I’ll join my predecessors on the wall, and a new person will take that chair.

My advice to him or her? Embrace change. Be a good listener. And make the tough decisions. The pace out there is full throttle, and the aviation community needs someone at the FAA who is going to lead.

I’ll extend the same advice to each of you.

We’re all proud to be a part of our nation’s great aviation system. But it stands still for no one. We are all temporary stewards.

It started with Orville and Wilbur Wright. And the torch has been passed through the generations.

Now, we are lucky enough to hold it. And it’s our responsibility to do something that’s worthy of that legacy.

We’ve got tough questions to answer. But I’m confident we’re prepared to face them head on.

And someday soon, it will be our turn to pass that torch on to the next generation. It will be up to them to decide whether we were giants.

But I can see just far enough to be optimistic. The possibilities are vast, and the horizon has never seemed closer.

Managers are a Driving Force

Hello everyone. I'm happy to be here. First off, I want to thank all of the FAA’s managers for everything you do in support of our mission.

These last two months have shown to a lot of people how important our mission really is.

Aviation has been at the heart of our recovery efforts in the aftermath of the hurricanes that struck southeast Texas, Louisiana, Florida and the Caribbean.

We set up mobile air traffic control towers in places like St. Thomas and Key West, Florida.

We got aircraft carrying relief supplies in and out of affected areas.    

We authorized hundreds of drone operations for damage assessment, and we did countless other things.

The world might have heard about some of these things. But what they didn’t see were the people of the FAA who are doing the great work, and providing the tremendous leadership, so that these things can happen.

They didn’t see the FAA employees that worked tirelessly, often in adverse conditions to help restore equipment and operate traffic.  

In that sense, I think many people in the agency can relate to your convention theme this year: “Honoring the Unsung Hero.”

It’s certainly true about our managers.

And actually, when Andy asked me to talk about who I consider to be an unsung hero, one group that came to mind was our Front Line Managers.

You are the first line of defense in dealing with everyday operational issues.

You ensure that rules and procedures are followed, and that employees are trained and ready to work.  

In many ways, Front Line Managers are often the bridge that enables us to communicate what the agency is doing, and why we’re doing it.  

And whether it’s on the front line, or throughout the agency, our managers are a driving force that enables us to succeed, and be the gold standard throughout the world.

We’re looking to you to play a key role, as we address the many changes and challenges ahead.

Aviation is growing and changing at a pace not seen in many decades.

We’re seeing more and more drones, maybe as many as 4 million by 2021.

We could be looking at several commercial space launches per week by the same time.

We could be looking at electric air taxis that take us to the airport, or even across town.

Of course, the NextGen transformation is happening every day.

And we’re going to have to respond to all of these changes, even as we face an uncertain budget climate.

Over the past decade, the agency has been given short-term funding extensions more than two dozen times. And we’ve been shut down multiple times.

I think we’d all agree that this is no way to run greatest aerospace system in the world.

Last month, Congress passed another Continuing Resolution that will keep us operating at roughly last year’s funding levels until December 8 – only about five weeks from now!

And Congress passed a six-month extension of our authorization, so that we can carry out our mission until March 31, 2018 – the same mission that serves 2 million passengers every day, and the same mission that was so vital during this year’s hurricane season.

These kinds of short-term measures really constrain our ability to plan and execute our strategic investments.

There are discussions about how to best solve these funding problems. Some have advocated that we restructure air traffic control into an independent, not-for-profit, non-governmental corporation.

This new entity would be governed by a board of representatives from civil aviation, and would be funded directly by the users of the system.  

The House bill is largely in line with the principles that the Trump Administration has issued for air traffic control reform.

The Senate has also proposed a long-term authorization bill, which, unlike the House bill, does not contain any restructuring of air traffic services.

We’ve stressed that any conversation about restructuring needs to involve all users of the airspace system and deliver benefits to the system as a whole.

These discussions will play out in the coming months. But regardless of the politics, and regardless of the structure of air traffic control, our people must never lose sight of the fact that we still have a job to do.  

We have to maintain the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world.

We have to continue to collaborate with one another, and with our stakeholders.

And we’re going to have to do these things, in spite of the uncertainties that are happening.

Simply put, we’re going to have to be comfortable with being a little uncomfortable.

Our workforce must take the attitude that we’re going to be prepared no matter what challenges come our way.

As managers, you have the ability to really help us instill this workforce culture.

I ask you to foster an inclusive work environment, where everyone is engaged, and everyone is eager to learn.

This is really at the heart of the agency’s Workforce of the Future Initiative.

During this time of transformation, it’s important that you set aside time and engage your direct reports about these potential changes. During times of uncertainty, people want to know that someone cares. And we find that when we engage employees during uncertain times, whether it be a hurricane or a government shutdown, they continue to stay engaged.

Build a working relationship with your direct reports where clarity and candor are routine. We need to have an open dialogue where everyone feels like they can give and receive feedback.

For some people, this isn’t easy. The general sense is that feedback means, “I’ve done something wrong.” But that’s not necessarily the case.

It’s an opportunity to make improvements, and find ways for us to innovate. It takes some personal courage by everyone, but there has to be a willingness to put things on the table.

Encourage your employees to be eager to learn. Because today, success is very much about how well rounded you can be. Technical skill is a must. But other skills like communication, problem solving, and collaboration, are very important.

As managers, you must continue to set that example, and be committed to your own professional development. I think your attendance at this conference speaks highly about your commitment.

And I encourage you to take full advantage of the agency’s leadership develop programs, and encourage your employees to do the same.

Because our employees, even ones that don’t report to you, are looking to you as an example.

Let me give you an example of one of our managers that I think is exemplifying many of these traits. His name is William Tewelow in the ATO’s Mission Support Services, and he’s a member of the F-A-A-M-A.

William leads a team of ten people that sort and validate obstacle data, such as new buildings or cell phone towers. This data is then used for aeronautical charts that provide minimum safe altitudes for pilots.  

William believes strongly in mentoring others. In fact, through the Professional Women Controllers Mentor program, William teaches a seminar on the importance of professional networking.

This is a skill that’s especially important as we work to collaborate with our stakeholders.

William has mentored several employees, including Veronica Carpio, an outstanding young lady in the FAA’s Office of International Affairs.  

As part of the Mentor program, Veronica wanted to inspire young people to pursue careers in aviation. There are potentially many ways to go about doing this.

Veronica chose to get behind a special, history-making project. She chose to promote the goal of a young woman named Shaesta Waiz, who was determined to become the youngest woman to fly solo around the world.

Shaesta was born in a refugee camp in Afghanistan, and her family emigrated to the United States in the 1990’s. She and her five sisters grew up in Los Angeles.

Shaesta is now both a US and an Afghani citizen, and she is the first female certified civilian pilot from Afghanistan.

With Veronica’s help, the FAA was able to provide publicity to support Shaesta’s goal. The agency also provided support in the form of airspace clearances and international coordination, and helped bring national recognition.

Shaesta’s feat would then inspire others to accomplish their dreams as well.  

As Veronica’s mentor, William helped her devise and coordinate a plan to promote this event. He put her in touch with the FAA’s Aviation and Space Education office.

From there, she made a connection with the agency’s Office of Talent Development. William also brought a writer in to cover this great story which was published in the FAA Today and several other outlets.   

In May of this year, Shaesta set out on this journey in a Beechcraft Bonanza A36. And on October 4^th, at the age of 23 years old, she completed the task of flying solo around the world.

The route included 30 stops in 22 countries, totaling almost 25,000 miles flown. And through the experience, there were 32 outreach events conducted around the world that inspired thousands of young people about aviation!

Shaesta is the hero. And through her non-profit organization, Dreams Soar, she will inspire countless others.  

And Veronica and William were the unsung heroes. They have the satisfaction that comes from being part of such an important history-making effort. And they supported two of the agency’s important strategic priorities: Global Leadership and Workforce of the Future.

Now the FAA continues to build a relationship with Shaesta, so we can encourage others to pursue flying as well.

There’s an old saying, that “when you drop a stone in the pond, the ripple effect doesn’t end in that moment.” And that’s certainly going to be the case here.

The mentoring that William provided through this program, helps him to hone his leadership skills. In turn, he’s a better supervisor for his direct reports.

He has a monthly performance check-in with employees, one on one, and he creates the kind of relationship where everyone is comfortable giving and receiving feedback.

If an employee has a problem, William sees it not as “THEIR” problem, but “OUR” problem. And they work together to bring about improvement.

And sometimes that improvement is incremental, but it’s worth it. It translates into an agency that is even more effective.

As we mentor others, and as we commit to our own professional development, we’ll be in a position to provide the leadership that will help this agency carry out its vital mission in the years and decades ahead.

Let me close by saying that, I have been proud to work with all of you.

Let’s continue to do the great and vital work of the FAA.

Let’s continue to build on the professionalism and comradery in our workforce.

I hope you have a great conference.

General Aviation Safety

Good afternoon, everyone. It’s great to see you all again.

We first started this group to address the stubbornly high general aviation fatality rate.

And I’m happy to report we’re seeing results from these efforts.

We’re still finalizing the numbers, but it looks like 2017 will end up being our safest year yet.

Mike [O’Donnell] will be going more in-depth on this later, but the fatal accident rate continues to decline – far below our target rate of one per 100,000 flight hours.

This is a significant accomplishment.

And it wouldn’t have been possible without all of you – and your commitment to advancing general aviation safety.

We all know there’s no silver bullet when it comes to making GA safer.

It’s an issue that needs to be approached from many angles – some regulatory, some technological, some educational.

And we’ve made a lot of progress over the last several years.

With your help, the FAA completed its rewrite of Part 23, which went into effect on August 30^th.

We’ve also streamlined the approval process for Non-Required Safety Enhancing Equipment.

These actions will ensure that new GA aircraft can benefit from innovative, performance-based technologies – while making it easier for the existing fleet to modernize and install life-saving equipment.

We’ve also made substantial advances since the GA Joint Steering Committee was revitalized in 2011.

Their data-driven, collaborative efforts have allowed them to spearhead a number of valuable safety enhancements aimed at addressing the most common causes of accidents.

For example, after zeroing in on Loss of Control as the largest cause of fatal accidents, we were able to work together to streamline the process for getting Angle of Attack indicators into cockpits.

But finding technological solutions to problems isn’t enough on its own. We’ve also had to continue educating pilots about risk, and about the tools available to them to help mitigate it.

The GA JSC determined that an organized and united outreach approach would help communicate these important safety messages. So I want to thank you for helping to make the Fly Safe campaign such a success.

Together, we’ve reached millions of our social media followers with information on how to avoid Loss of Control accidents.

This is an impressive list of accomplishments, and it’s one we should all be proud of.

But in aviation, we’re always chasing the perfect.

And as long as general aviation accidents keep occurring, we must stay vigilant and keep finding new ways to advance our shared safety mission.

General aviation’s engagement in ASIAS is crucial. We need to continue using data to identify trends and direct our efforts where they’re needed most.

We also need to focus on developing consensus standards that will support the implementation of the new Part 23.

Industry participation in consensus standards committees will be essential to creating the method the FAA uses to determine compliance with the rule.

Your active engagement in this process is going to determine its success – and I trust you’ll make your voices heard.

Finally, we all need to keep our eye on the January 1, 2020 deadline for GA aircraft to equip with ADS-B.

ADS-B is more than just a critical piece of the FAA’s NextGen modernization efforts. It’s also a life-saving technology.

I want to thank all of you who joined us in promoting the FAA’s year-long ADS-B rebate program.

Unfortunately, only about two-thirds of the rebates were reserved before the program ended in September.

And just under 31,000 GA aircraft currently have ADS-B installations that comply with the mandate.

To put it simply: we’re just not where we want to be a little more than two years out from the deadline.

Moving the needle on this issue is going to require some creativity on all of our parts. And I’m grateful that so many of you are willing to step up and help.

The FAA recently received proposals on some “ultra low cost” and “easy to install” ADS-B Out systems.

We’ll be working closely with the applicants to ensure these devices still meet the mandate’s performance requirements.

But we’re excited about the potential for these kinds of innovative solutions.

This is just one example of why it’s been such a pleasure to work with this group over the years.

When we identify issues that need to be addressed, no one ever says, “That doesn’t concern my members,” or “That’s someone else’s problem.”

Instead, each of you has been willing to roll up your sleeves and ask, “How can we fix this – together?”

With that kind of attitude, I know we can tackle anything that comes our way.

It’s been a pleasure getting to work with each and every one of you over the years.

Thank you for your dedication to improving general aviation safety.

NACC Directors of Civil Aviation Meeting

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Good morning, everyone. It's a real pleasure to join you today.

My schedule kept me from being here before now, but I understand it's been a very productive week.

I’d especially like to congratulate COCESNA and IATA on their new agreement to share safety data, as well as Canada on its accession to the Multiregional Civil Aviation Assistance Program.

I’m happy we were all still able to come together for this meeting. I was starting to think Mother Nature wouldn't let it move forward as planned.

There's no question that it's been a challenging few weeks for our region.

Harvey… Irma… Jose… Katia… and now Maria.

The 2017 hurricane season has already devastated too many of our nations.

And as if that wasn't enough, our friends in Mexico were struck by two deadly earthquakes as well.

Some of our attendees here today have family in Mexico City, where the extent of this week’s quake is still being determined. Please know all of our thoughts are with you during this trying time.

These moments of tragedy bind us together.

We grieve for the lives lost. We comfort the displaced. And we vow to rebuild.

They also serve as a reminder of how closely our fates are tied together.

We’re neighbors. What happens to one of us affects all of us.

We no doubt have weeks and months of recovery work ahead of us.

The FAA is continuing to support efforts to get all Florida airports – including those in the Keys – back to full operations.

And we airlifted a mobile air traffic control tower from Boise, Idaho to St. Thomas last week to manage relief flights to and from the island.

But the United States is also committed to doing its part to help the region as a whole recover.

In response to a request from the Netherlands, the FAA sent an airports safety inspector to St. Martin to help assess the readiness of the airfield for non-military relief flights.

The Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, served as a base of operations for evacuations and relief efforts to areas in the Caribbean affected by the hurricanes last week.

And as Hurricane Maria continues on its path, we stand ready to assist once more.

This isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s a necessary thing to do.

Aviation is a lifeline, particularly in times of natural disaster.

It can evacuate people to safety, and bring in desperately needed food, water, and medical supplies.

We’re also beginning to see the role emerging aviation technologies can play.

The FAA has issued hundreds of unmanned aircraft authorizations to aid in hurricane response efforts.

Drones are being used to quickly and safely assess damage to homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure. And they’re helping us target and prioritize our recovery activities.

We’re learning a lot from these operations that will no doubt aid the FAA’s efforts to further integrate drones into our national airspace.

And hopefully, we’ll be able to share some of those lessons learned with all of you at a future meeting.

That’s the value of forums like this. They give us an opportunity to come together, share ideas, and find new ways to work together toward our common goals.

But they’re even more important in times like this – when we can reaffirm our partnerships, and ask for and receive assistance when it’s needed.

Thank you again for joining us this week. It’s been an honor for the United States to host this event.

And since my time as FAA Administrator is drawing to a close, let me say what a privilege it’s been to work with all of you over the years.

I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together.

Thank you.

FAA Small Drone Rule Lets Unmanned Aircraft Soar

InterDrone

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, Ted, for that introduction. And good morning everyone.

I’m delighted to be here in Las Vegas today. Welcome everyone to what I know will be an energizing and enlightening experience.

Whenever I speak at these conferences, I always marvel at the number of new faces I see among the many familiar faces. That’s certainly true of the crowd this morning.

Indeed, the very fact that you’re sitting here today speaks to the incredible transformative power of this industry.

Please take a moment to look around this packed room. Then consider this: Just three years ago, this conference didn’t even exist.

Last year, Ted told me that the number of people attending and exhibiting here at InterDrone was about 50 percent higher than the year before.

This year, those numbers have surged again, with attendees representing a total of 59 countries.

You know, when I began my tenure as FAA Administrator in January 2013, very few people would have envisioned that within a few years, drones would be the fastest growing field in aviation.

And few people would have envisioned that the FAA would be devoting so much of its energy and resources to this field.

But you only have to look at the recent flooding in Texas after Hurricane Harvey to see what a transformative role that drones are playing.

After the floodwaters had inundated homes, businesses, roadways and industries, a wide variety of agencies sought FAA authorization to fly drones in airspace covered by Temporary Flight Restrictions.

We recognized that we needed to move fast – faster than we have ever moved before.

So we basically made the decision that anyone with a legitimate reason to fly an unmanned aircraft would be able to do so. In most cases, we were able to approve individual operations within minutes of receiving a request.

By the end of last week, we had issued more than 70 authorizations covering a broad range of activities by local, state and federal agencies – and that number will continue to climb.

A railroad company used drones to survey damage to a rail line that cuts through Houston. Oil and energy companies flew drones to spot damage to their flooded infrastructure.

Unmanned aircraft helped a fire department and county emergency management officials check for damage to roads, bridges, underpasses and water treatment plants that could require immediate repair.

Meanwhile, cell tower companies flew them to assess damage to their towers and associated ground equipment and insurance companies began assessing damage to neighborhoods.

I could go on and on.

In many of these situations, unmanned aircraft were able to conduct low-level operations more efficiently – and more safely – than could have been done with manned aircraft.

Our ability to quickly authorize unmanned aircraft operations was especially critical because most local airports were either closed or dedicated to emergency relief flights, and the fuel supply was low.

So essentially, every drone that flew meant that a traditional aircraft was not putting an additional strain on an already fragile system.

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the hurricane response will be looked back upon as a landmark in the evolution of drone usage in this country.

And I believe the drone industry itself deserves a lot of credit for enabling this to happen.

That’s because the pace of innovation in the drone industry is like nothing we have seen before. If people can dream up a new use for drones, they’re transforming it into reality.

A colleague of mine at the FAA got a first-hand look at this a few weeks ago. While vacationing on the Outer Banks in North Carolina, he witnessed a group of fishermen on the beach use a red quadcopter to carry a baited fish hook hundreds of yards out over the ocean before dropping it into the water.

While this might not be one of the more societally transformative uses of unmanned aircraft, it is a microcosm of the creativity that’s being applied to this new technology.

As an agency, we at the FAA realized very early on that we  had to change our regulatory approach in order to safely integrate this new technology without stifling innovation.

We recognized that we needed to be more flexible and nimble than we had been in the past – and that we could not accomplish this monumental task on our own.

Now, managing the safe integration of drone technology into the world’s busiest and most complex airspace system is kind of like managing a massive and endless to-do list. Every time we scratch off an item, we add three more, it seems.

What’s unique about this to-do list is that it doesn’t belong to any one group. It isn’t our list, and it isn’t your list. It belongs to all stakeholders.

The FAA. The drone industry. Aviation groups. Public safety. Academia. Privacy advocates. To name just a few.

I’m pleased to say that we’ve have scratched some of the big-ticket items off our list.

That’s because we have approached integration in a spirit of flexibility, partnership and collaboration. We realize that progress necessarily entails compromise.

If you’ve heard me speak before, I might sound like a broken record when I talk about the importance of collaboration. But if it weren’t for everyone’s commitment to collaboration, and commitment to putting safety first, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

In fact, if the FAA had tried to go it alone, integration would already be a spectacular failure.

If the FAA had tried to go it alone, we wouldn’t have just celebrated the first anniversary of our Small Unmanned Aircraft Rule, which makes it a lot easier for businesses and public agencies to operate drones.

We wouldn’t have a Pathfinder Program, in which industry is helping research how to safely fly drones over people and beyond the operator’s line of sight.

We wouldn’t have a Drone Advisory Committee that’s tackling tough issues such as how to remotely identify and track unmanned aircraft and what role various players should have in crafting safety rules.

To be sure, there are some who say we are too flexible in our approach to integrating unmanned aircraft. That we should be placing more limits on how drones can be used.

And there are those who say we are not flexible enough. That we should be doing more to open up the skies.

That’s OK. Disagreement can be a good thing.

The tension between different interests and perspectives helps bring us all to the middle, creating the right balance that we’re striving to achieve.

One area where there is substantial debate is the issue of who should have a voice in regulating drone operations. Like many aspects of drone integration, this debate raises new and complex questions.

What roles should the federal, state and local governments play? How do we ensure that unmanned aircraft operations can occur with a minimum amount of disruption and interference, particularly over densely populated areas?

We issued preliminary guidance about this issue in 2015. But it’s continuing to get lots of attention from state and local governments throughout the country.

Legally, the Federal Aviation Administration has regulatory authority over all U.S. airspace. But successfully blending unmanned aircraft into busy airspace will require state, local, and tribal governments to build upon existing federal efforts to develop and enforce safety rules.

Not long ago, I had a conversation with the mayor of a major metropolitan city who summed up the challenge. “With traditional aviation, we know exactly where the airports are,” the mayor said. “But with drones, my entire city is an airport.”

His comments drive home the point that we need greater clarity as to what state and local governments would like to see, and what roles they would like to play.

Over the past several months, we have been working closely with the Drone Advisory Committee to tackle this and other pressing issues.

Meanwhile, we’re also working on two next steps that are key for truly unleashing the potential and power of this transformative industry. Those are allowing operations over people, and allowing operations beyond the pilot’s visual line of sight.

One of the main building blocks for safely enabling these new uses is remote identification and tracking of unmanned aircraft.

In March, we stood up an Aviation Rulemaking Committee to help develop the identification and tracking system we’re ultimately going to put in place. We tasked the committee with answering a number of tough questions.

What technology is available or needs to be created to identify and track unmanned aircraft in flight?

How can we work closely with law enforcement to ensure safe and secure operations?

And how can we smoothly incorporate this new system into the world’s most complex airspace?

Answering these questions will require making tough decisions and coming to a consensus. We gave the committee an aggressive timeline to get its work done, and we are expecting their final recommendations this month.

I can’t stress how important this work is.

While most players are figuring out how to use drones to benefit society, there are bad actors out there who want to use them for nefarious purposes.

A recent news report found that people have used drones more than a dozen times to fly contraband into federal prisons over the last five years.

Just last month, three men were arrested for allegedly using a drone to drop drugs and a cell phone into a prison in Ionia, Michigan.

And as we all know too well, there also are people out there who are simply ignorant of what flying safely means.

These are the folks who interfere with wildfire fighting operations. Who crash drones in crowded urban areas.

Who fly them near sports stadiums, and in the busy airspace around our nation’s airports.

We’re receiving an average of about 200 drone-sighting reports from pilots each month this year. That’s significantly higher than in both 2016 and 2015.

In fact, we’ve had a number of reports from pilots right around Las Vegas in just the past month – at altitudes of up to 6,000 feet. It’s concerning to me, and I know it’s concerning to you, too.

The work we’re asking the Drone Advisory Committee to undertake complements other work that’s already been done to evaluate technology that might be used to detect drones flying without authorization around airports and other critical infrastructure.

This spring, we completed the fifth and final field evaluation of potential drone detection systems, at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

We’re going to use the information we got from the evaluations to develop minimum performance standards for drone detection technology that might be deployed around airports here in the U.S.

Key players in this effort included our partners in the Pathfinder and unmanned aircraft test site programs, including the test site here in Nevada.

And the FAA’s Center of Excellence is researching the potential safety ramifications of what might happen if a drone hits a person on the ground.

A few moments ago, I mentioned that we just marked the one-year anniversary of our small unmanned aircraft rule, or Part 107. That happened at the end of last month, on August 29.

The rule really was a game changer, because it allows for routine public and commercial operations, without getting case-by-case FAA approvals – provided they are conducted within the parameters of the rule.

In the past year, people have registered more than 79,000 commercial aircraft. We have issued more than 59,000 remote pilot certificates, and 92 percent of the people who take the pilot certificate exam pass it.

The rule is also flexible – there’s that word again – because it enables people to get waivers to some of its provisions. And the waiver requests we’re receiving shed interesting light on what people want to do with this technology.

The bulk of the non-airspace waiver requests we’re getting are for flying at night. There’s also a significant number for flying over people or beyond the pilot’s visual line of sight.

To date, we’ve approved almost 1,000 waiver requests. We’ve also approved more than 7,000 authorizations and waivers to fly in controlled airspace.

More than 900 of these were for the highly controlled Class B airspace around major airports. Of course, these approvals come with restrictions ensuring the operations won’t pose a hazard to manned aircraft.

These are solid numbers, to be sure. But we want to streamline the process. So we’re taking steps to make it easier and faster to process Part 107 authorizations and waivers.

This spring, we began publishing downloadable facility maps that depict areas and altitudes near airports where unmanned aircraft can safely operate. These maps can help people tailor their waiver requests to have a higher chance of getting a quick approval.

By making it easier to fly, we’re not just helping support the economy and fuel innovation. We’re also making the system safer.

If people know that it isn’t a burden to play by the rules, they’re more likely to get all the certifications, authorizations and waivers that those rules require.

And in the process of fulfilling all the requirements, they’re educating themselves about what flying safely means.

That’s why we’re working so hard to spread our educational safety message as wide and far as possible.

This spring, the FAA began using the hashtag #DroneQuestion on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to answer drone-related questions from the public. If someone has a question, they can tweet it at @FAANews and we will get back to them within 24 hours.

We’re partnering with the National Interagency Fire Center on their “If you fly, we can’t” campaign, and with a number of private and governmental organizations on No Drone Zone campaigns.

One of our oldest, and most effective, educational partnerships is the Know Before You Fly program. A few short years ago, it began as an initiative among the FAA, Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International and Academy of Model Aeronautics.

It now has almost 150 partners including drone manufacturers, law enforcement, aviation groups, retailers, labor organizations and academia, among others.

It underscores that the solution isn’t you, it isn’t us – it’s all of us working together. We all have skin in the game.

And I’m not just talking about the solution to educating people about safe operations.

You are all going to play an incredibly important in this process. Because technology can solve some of the most complex safety and security challenges we’re facing.

Your creativity and imagination can get it done more quickly and efficiently than we ever could through regulations alone. We’ll hand you the ball, but you have to figure out how to get it into the end zone.

At the turn of the last century, after a couple of bicycle mechanics named Orville and Wilbur made the first known powered airplane flight, some people dismissed aviation as a fad. They said it would never replace trains and ships as the primary modes of long-distance transportation.

Just over two years ago, a popular technology website ran a story under the headline, “Are drones a fad or here for good?” (The reporter’s conclusion was they’re here for good. I’m pretty sure he was correct.)

While drones are clearly here for good, the reality is that the industry is still in its infancy.

A century ago, people couldn’t foresee that clunky wood-and-fabric biplanes would morph into sleek aluminum jets capable of knifing through the air at supersonic speed. And today, we can’t possibly predict everything drones will be doing five or 10 years down the line.

In addition to playing critical roles in disaster response and relief, is it unrealistic to think that these aircraft will become routine household items?

Will suburban gardeners someday relax and sip iced tea (or maybe something stronger) while hummingbird-sized aircraft trim their backyard rose bushes as larger models wash and wax their cars?

In a decade or two – or maybe in just a couple of years – I’m sure many of us will look back and say, “Wow, who could have believed drones would be used for that?”

I’m also sure that as long as we continue to journey down this road together, with a laser-focus on safety and in a spirit of collaboration and inclusion, that we will succeed in meeting the challenges that we’ll face along the way.

Thank you.

Turning the Corner

Good morning, and thank you, Joe [DePete].  I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you this morning.

This is my second month as the Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety.  Although I am new to this position, I am certainly not new to FAA and its safety mission.  In fact, the FAA safety mission and the dedication of the employees in this organization were the key drivers for my return to the agency.  It is a privilege and an honor to be part of the AVS team again.    

Let me also take a moment and express my thanks and appreciation for what you all do for aviation safety.  There is no question that working together, we have a greater impact on promoting and advancing safety.  Industry and regulators have been very active to improve safety through proactive means … using data and identification of precursors.  And developing mitigation to address them.  We’ve made significant progress over the past two decades.  Each one of us should take pride in having a role in achieving our collective successes.  In this partnership, our respective roles and responsibilities can’t be overemphasized.   Today’s safety record is a testimony to what can happen when we work together, share information and take our role  and responsibility seriously.

The numbers prove it.  Colgan and UPS were a long time ago, but we certainly have not forgotten.  We’ve set the safety bar very high.  The target for the Commercial Air Carrier passenger fatality rate this year was no more than 6.4 fatalities per 100 million persons on board.  As of July 31, the actual number is zero point three.  The numbers for GA are headed in the right direction as well.  In FY 2017, our target for GA was not to exceed 1.01 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours.  As of July 31, the rate stands at 0.81 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours.  That’s remarkable. 

Despite these successes, despite advances in analytical tools to identify precursors, we became aware of shortcomings in a highly specialized segment of aviation, after a horrific crash, captured for millions to see, through the lens of a dashcam.  There are certain images that will always stay with us.  The accident in Bagram is definitely one of those images.

To be clear here, the FAA does not view this industry through the lens of that dashboard video.  Your position as an economic driver is without question:  a million jobs and revenues over a hundred billion.  90 percent of domestic revenue ton miles, and just about three-quarters internationally.  To say that you’re an important part of the economy in an ever changing world is an understatement.  You have as many business models as you have clients.  If it’s in someone’s house, chances are someone here touched it somewhere along the way. 

There is no doubt in my mind that everyone in this room recognizes the need for learning all the key lessons from that accident and doing our best to prevent similar unfortunate events.  However, I hope you agree with me that the first step in fixing a problem is recognizing that there is one:  awareness, acceptance, and the willingness to address it.  

The word focus implies a number of elements, all of which are necessary for defining solutions, communication, and eventual implementation of those solutions.  Focus is about being aware of our environment, being on top of it.  In aviation, we have to be fully aware of what’s really happening out there.  We’re here because we want to make absolutely sure that everyone is on the same page.  That we’re all aware of what’s going on.  That we know what everyone is doing about it.  That my plan and your plan are at the very least cognizant of a destination we can all agree on.

The time we spend talking here about challenges will help make sure we’re all communicating, working together and using the same language to describe the same issue.  That we’re aware that there are different perspectives, but we’ve all got to come out to the same place, and that place is safety.  Steve Moates is going to talk about that at greater length later. 

I’ve known many of you for many years, but for those of you I’m just meeting for the first time, this is where I’m coming from:  In safety, communication matters.  In cargo safety, consistency matters.  If you don’t have both of those, we’ll never get to the place where collaboration can make a difference. 

I want you to know we’re cognizant of your challenges.  A very diverse fleet and very diverse operations.  Lack of OEM support for legacy aircraft, which also happens to be a problem for us.  Attracting pilots.  Retaining pilots.  There’s a difference between supplemental and scheduled, just the way there’s a difference between cargo and passenger operations. 

With all of that as context, we’re moving in the right direction. 

If we walk away from Bagram thinking it’s only a lesson in special cargo and tie downs, I think we’re missing the point.  The NTSB made its thoughts clear on inadequate restraint procedures.  Operators must remain vigilant about the carriage of cargo.  What are they carrying?  How are they loading it?  And, how are they restraining it? 

The Cargo Focus Team is blunt recognition by us that we didn’t have a good grasp on cargo.  I think the Cargo Focus Team is the special attention that was called for.  Their mission is simple:  to improve the safety of cargo operations.  They evaluate cargo operations and provide technical support. 

This team makes things happen.  They issued a new notice on custom data collection tools for all 121s using computerized weight and balance programs.  They issued two SAFOs on non-compliance with the weight and balance manual, and another on pallet straps.  Separately, I should note that there is a rulemaking committee tasking on loadmaster certification. 

This is important work that we must do together.  The Cargo Focus Team makes educational outreach to ASIs in the field a priority.  Last year, they crisscrossed the country visiting Flight Standards and Aircraft Cert offices.  And they’re going to keep doing that. 

Our collaboration doesn’t end there.  I think the Commercial Aviation Safety Team seals the deal.  It shows all of us what happens when the regulator, industry and labor are all sitting down at the same table.  I don’t know if you know this, but the CAST model is catching on elsewhere, such as highway safety.  About a year ago, they came in, filled the FAA auditorium, and then they picked our brains about how we got so safe.  The short story is that when the automotive executives came in, it was a fireside chat—and CAST provided the spark. 

I talked about some short-term success a moment ago.  CAST is what’s going to help us build on those.  It’s a multi-step process, and everyone in the room is leaning in every step of the way.  At InfoShare, ASAP and FOQA.  With the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing system that helps us scrub data from across the industry.  And from CAST—which develops effective mitigation strategies that all of us voluntarily adopt.  Collaboration works.  And we see it in the cargo industry, where you and your labor partners are the cornerstone to ensuring the highest standards in safety. 

Speaking of CAST, some of its mitigation strategies might not be compatible with some of your operational requirements.  That’s OK.  You may have other mitigation strategies that are equally effective.  From our perspective, under a safety management system, carriers are expected to conduct a risk assessment of systemic risk identified by CAST … and then take appropriate action as the operator considers to be adequate.

I think we can get there.  I know from John Duncan that you’re interested in working with us on special cargo, on load master requirements, the Cargo Focus Team, and what is perceived as different treatment between domestic and foreign carriers.

I’m hopeful that you’ll view this conference as a sign that we can work through all of this.

My confidence is based on what is quickly becoming Exhibit A when it comes to demonstrating the agency’s ability to take a different approach and make it stick.  That’s the compliance philosophy, which by any measure is an overwhelming success.  The Compliance Philosophy is founded on the assumption that everybody in the aviation community wants aviation to be as safe as possible. And so far, the results are positive.

We’re finding that the time spent to correct problems through Compliance Actions is much less when compared with the time spent on enforcement. Since the program began two years ago, we have cut the number of enforcement actions by 70 percent. During the same time, we have corrected over 8,000 safety issues using non-enforcement Compliance Actions.  These actions represent issues that were identified, documented, and addressed with a corrective measure.  These are risks that were mitigated, problems eliminated, safety of the NAS improved. 

We used to measure success by how high our stack of hate mail was compared to the previous year.  That’s no longer the case. 

I know, for example, that the Cargo Focus Team has encountered numerous instances of inappropriate, incomplete or missing procedures.  In most cases, the carriers were given time to make corrections without interruption to their operations.  These instances did not create immediate safety of flight issues.  But when they did, the carrier was asked to discontinue the practice until correction could be accomplished. 

My point here is that when we, or the carrier discover noncompliance or potential noncompliance, if the carrier is willing and able to make correction and become compliant, we will use compliance actions rather than enforcement. 

We want to work with industry to determine the root cause of the noncompliance.  We want to establish mitigations that will prevent these type of issues from happening again. 

We’re about education.  We’re about making sure that issues come to the fore, that they’re analyzed, and that inappropriate behavior, techniques and situations are identified, mitigated and eliminated.  The feedback we’re getting is helping to drive the change.  The compliance philosophy is dynamic:  the better the feedback, the stronger it becomes.

The shift from forensics to data study that came about through CAST is showing us that we’re not going to raise the safety bar if we try to lift it with a heavy hand. 

Let me close with this:  Let’s never forget the lesson learned from Bagram.  We must pay greater attention to what cargo we are loading, and how we are loading and restraining it.  That’s a lesson we can’t afford to learn twice.  In our view, the whole cargo process has improved since the development of the Focus Team.  There’s a give and take that quite frankly wasn’t there before.  John Duncan calls it a different mindset.  I like that.

We recognize there’s a real difference between bulk cargo and special cargo, and you’ve helped us get a handle on that.  We’re light years ahead of where we were just four short years ago.  Cargo operations really are an ever-changing landscape, and I think we’ve demonstrated that we can change with you.  We’re not talking about new rules or standards:  just compliance with what we’ve already got. 

I think we’ve turned the corner.  I think you think that, too.