FAA Report

Sequester and Budget Update

Good morning and thank you, Bill, for that update. Thank you all for coming today. And special thanks to Representative LoBiondo and Deputy Secretary Porcari for their continued support of NextGen.

As you know, we have had an extremely busy year. We’re working on many important projects, but at the same time, we’re dealing with the sequester and all that it entails.

We have had to make sizeable budget cuts that affect our operations and our future.

As the Deputy Secretary said, the sequester is not over. But, Congress gave us the financial flexibility to avoid the furloughs for the remainder of this fiscal year – through September 30. We were able to transfer $253 million from the airport grant program – which was exempt from the sequester.

With this flexibility, we are also able to keep open the 149 low activity contract towers through September. And we’re putting $10 million towards NextGen, to reduce cuts and delays in core programs; and $11 million to maintain equipment and infrastructure that is so necessary for the system.

Metroplex

As part of this flexibility, we are able to restart the Metroplex work that had been put on hold. As you know these projects are highly collaborative and must include our operational air traffic control personnel. Furloughs under the sequester required us to recall air traffic controllers and managers back to their duty stations.

Last week, we started the coordination efforts to get these air traffic controllers back on the Metroplex work. They are experts in their airspace, and we will restart the collaborative process with airlines and the many other stakeholders who are all working to improve congested airspace over busy cities. We are able to do this in seven Metroplex cities where the work will continue, including: Washington, D.C., Northern Texas, Charlotte, Northern and Southern California, Houston and Atlanta.

Sequester not over

Keep in mind however, that the sequester is still in place and that the FAA must still cut a total of $637 million from our budget by Sept. 30.

We’ve also cut our spare parts inventory, which may increase restoration time during outages and reduce system efficiency. And as an interim measure, we’re not training new air traffic controllers or technicians to maintain and operate new technologies, which has led to a shut down of a large part of the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City.

NextGen under sequester

Because the sequester is designed to last ten years, we have conducted an initial assessment of how a long term sequester would impact our current NextGen Implementation Plan. Today, we have seven programs in the implementation phase. These programs are current contract commitments that will deliver new capabilities for all phases of flight by 2018.

The budget profile even under sequester would provide the capital funding required to meet most of those commitments. But, to make this happen we must have the operations funds to maintain our active workforce participation in key activities like procedures design, onsite testing, and training. And, if we are not able to keep the workforce engagement, we simply will not be able to meet all of our current commitments and the associated timelines.

Mike Whitaker

Nonetheless, there are bright spots. And we are delighted that the President has appointed Mike Whitaker to be the Deputy Administrator of the FAA. Mike has more than 20 years of experience in the airline industry and he will be the Chief NextGen Officer. He’ll be in charge of everything NextGen and will be doing these reports from now on with all of you. He just came on board yesterday, and I’m looking forward to a very productive relationship. Please join me in welcoming Mike. He’ll be leading our NextGen efforts, focused on delivering benefits now, and will be taking over as the NAC's Designated Federal Official going forward. He may need a few more days to get fully immersed in all our acronyms, but I’m confident that in working with all of you, he will make a difference. Please join me in welcoming Mike.

Jim Crites

I would also like to congratulate Jim Crites, Executive Vice President for Operations at Dallas Fort Worth Airport. Jim has received this year’s White House Champions of Change award in the category of Transportation Technology Solutions.

Jim has demonstrated a powerful personal and professional commitment to the advancement of NextGen. He has been an effective, vocal advocate, and he has actively participated in the testing and demonstration of key NextGen technologies and programs. As a champion of collaboration, he has brought representatives of various communities to the table when necessary to collaborate on NextGen planning and implementation, and to overcome challenges.

Please join me in congratulating Jim Crites.

City Pairs

Now, I would like to talk about some of the work the FAA has been doing as a result of our collaboration here at the NextGen Advisory Committee.

As you know, Congress has asked us to measure NextGen performance in the context of key city pairs. This was part of reauthorization.

Last summer we asked for your help in identifying these city pairs and we received your suggestions in February. I am pleased to say that the FAA accepts those recommendations for 25 city pairs. We are going to begin to report the benefits we realize between these cities as part of our metrics web page and the NextGen Performance Snapshots.

Also, we plan to release the NextGen Implementation Plan within the month. We wanted to make sure that everything in the plan lines up with the President’s 2014 budget. It will be available online this year. We’re trying to reduce printing costs.

Controller Handbook

Despite the difficulties of the sequester, we are making progress on important work that the NAC has helped to guide and that will make our airspace safer and more efficient.

We are updating our air traffic control handbook, which sets the standards that controllers use to ensure safety and properly separate aircraft. It was published long before the use of performance based navigation, and we’ve identified 15 updates that would allow air traffic controllers to take full advantage of the benefits of NextGen. While these changes are complicated, we are determined to publish many this year.

ELSO

For example, we’re going to expand the use of equivalent lateral spacing operations, or ELSO. You’ll hear more about this later today. The precision of NextGen navigation means we can safely allow jets to take off on headings that are slightly closer together. This small change has been used in Atlanta and we’re seeing an increase of 8 to 12 planes departing per hour. Last year we estimate that this saved customers 700,000 minutes of waiting, or 1.3 years of waiting in line to take-off in Atlanta. It’s better for the environment too. All those jets spend less time on the ground with their engines running. So we’re burning less fuel and decreasing pollution. ELSO saved the airlines $20 million last year in Atlanta alone. We want other major airports to be able to use ELSO, so we are changing the handbook.

Closely spaced parallel operations

We’re also working very diligently to increase the number of aircraft that can land at an airport each hour, while maintaining safety. That is why we have put so much effort into closely spaced parallel operations and will change the controller handbook to make these operations more common.

We are working on improvements to staggered approaches for runways that are very close together – closer than 2,500 feet. About 17 of our busiest 35 airports have runways this close together.

You can’t do simultaneous operations on these runways, but we can still safely lower the separation standard for aircraft that are coming into these close runways.

This is because our entire airspace system has undergone extensive advances over the years. We have the ability to collect and analyze better radar data. Our aircraft have better avionics, and we have more effective training for both pilots and controllers. Technology across the board has improved to such an extent that we are extremely confident that we can operate aircraft at a closer proximity to one another and still be just as safe.

These reduced separation standards of three miles down to one-and-a-half nautical miles for staggered approaches have already been approved for specific runways at eight airports right now. They are: Boston, Newark, St. Louis, Cleveland, Seattle, Memphis, Philadelphia and San Francisco. Before airports can use these new separation standards, the FAA must first train the controllers.

These changes will help the entire air space system by safely increasing capacity at major hubs when the weather prohibits visual approaches. It will decrease the ripple of delays that spreads across the system when one hub is experiencing weather conditions.

Conclusion

We have a lot of good work going on at the FAA and a very dedicated workforce. I’ve really enjoyed working with everyone on the NAC over the past few years. Thank you very much for all of the work you are doing and your dedication to NextGen and to improving flight today and for future generations.

Now I’d like to introduce Pam Whitley, who is Acting Assistant Administrator for NextGen. She’ll introduce the next agenda item which is on the NextGen performance snapshots website. We established this website a year ago to report NextGen specific metrics and to publish NextGen success stories.

The Need for Financial Certainty

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Thanks, Marion [Blakey]. Last fall when I spoke at your suppliers’ conference you had the “countdown to sequestration” clock. Our government set up that clock, with the belief that it would never count down to the very end. But here we are. You know better than most, the recent fix is just a Band-Aid. The FAA needs a long-term solution that will give us the financial certainty we need as we proceed with modernization.

Let me say plainly, the FAA remains committed to safely accelerating the benefits of technology into the public domain – including unmanned aircraft and NextGen. And if we j-u-s-t set aside this s-m-a-l-l issue of funding for a moment, we’re very well positioned to deliver on these commitments.

To begin with, we have a collaborative relationship with our unions.

We have industry cooperation through the NextGen Institute and its Management Council, as well as the NextGen Advisory Committee.

We have a structure and leadership in place that supports timelier implementation. We elevated the NextGen office to reflect that it’s a priority. And on June 3^rd, our new Deputy Administrator, Michael Whitaker, will be joining us, and he will serve as our Chief NextGen Officer.

And through more integrated offices like the Program Management Organization and the UAS Integration Office, we’re able to better manage the necessary collaboration across the agency.

And again, just putting aside for a moment this l-i-t-t-l-e thing called “the sequester,” we have the full support of the DOT, the White House and the Congress for both NextGen and the safe integration of unmanned aircraft.

We’ve made great progress on both fronts. We’ve authorized government agencies to use unmanned aircraft for public purposes including border patrol, firefighting and disaster relief. We’ve issued special airworthiness certificates to companies like Raytheon, AAI corporation, General Atomics, Boeing and others, for the purposes of research, development, testing and training.

But as we proceed, we still need to address many issues including pilot training and making sure that an unmanned vehicle can sense and avoid other aircraft. Also, if it loses its link to the ground-based pilot, an unmanned aircraft still needs to operate safely. And we have a role, in conjunction with other government agencies, to address the privacy concerns of the public.

Operational research is our next step and in February, we issued a request for proposals to host six sites across the country to test the use of unmanned aircraft.

There’s a lot of interest – we have 25 candidates, all of them are public organizations across 24 different states. In choosing sites, we’re going to consider the geographic and climatic diversity and the location of ground infrastructure and research needs. And we plan to consult with NASA and the Department of Defense. We hope to make selections by the end of this calendar year, and our goal is to have the first test site operational within six months following the site announcements.

We’re also making great progress with NextGen. We’re moving from primarily ground-based to satellite-based operations and an air-ground communication system that relies on data exchange as well as voice. In doing so, flying will be more efficient and more environmentally friendly.

ADS-B means we’ll have more precise aircraft surveillance, and we can significantly reduce delays. We expect to complete the installation of about 700 ADS-B ground radio stations by early 2014.

The FAA is working with the airlines, the Port of Seattle, and Boeing Corporation on the Greener Skies over Seattle initiative. At Seattle-Tacoma airport, we added new satellite-based procedures, including the expanded use of Optimized Profile Descents, or OPDs. Alaska Airlines estimates that Greener Skies procedures will cut fuel consumption by 2.1 million gallons annually and reduce carbon emissions by 22,000 metric tons, which is the equivalent of taking 4,100 cars off the road every year. The OPDs are also quieter as aircraft descend at reduced power settings.

Our efforts in Seattle are providing a template for rolling out these benefits throughout the country, and they’re supporting our metroplex efforts, through which we’re making better use of congested airspace around the nation’s busiest metropolitan areas, further reducing fuel consumption and decreasing aviation’s carbon footprint on the environment.

For example, last August, flights approaching the Washington DC area started using satellite-based routes and immediately began saving fuel and emissions. For the airlines, these new routes will save $2.3 million in fuel costs in the first year of operation. We estimate that about 60,000 flights are using these new procedures into Dulles each year. At National, about 57,000 flights are flying the new routes each year.

As you know, we recently started work on Data Communications trials. Data Comm supplements today’s analog voice-only air-to-ground communications system with a digital message system. By sending and receiving digital instructions to and from pilots, we’ll be able to increase overall system efficiency, while reducing the likelihood of hearback and readback errors. We plan to start initial operations of Data Comm in equipped control towers beginning in 2016 and in all high-altitude control centers in 2019.

We have trials underway in Memphis and Newark that are coming along well, and we’re learning some important lessons, particularly as it relates to controller-pilot interoperability. These lessons alert us to the improvements we need to make before deployment.

These NextGen tools and procedures are changing the way we fly. By 2020, we’re projecting that NextGen will provide $38 billion in savings from NextGen. We also project a 41 percent reduction in delays compared to what would happen if we did nothing, a reduction of 16 million metric tons in carbon emissions, and a 1.6 billion gallon cumulative reduction of fuel use[1].

These benefits help make the case for NextGen. They help make the business case for why airspace users should equip with NextGen avionics – and as we all know that’s the other key piece of the puzzle. The FAA is working with several air carriers like Jet Blue, UPS, US Airways and others, to document the benefits of equipage. For instance, Jet Blue equipped 35 of its aircraft with ADS-B. Through an arrangement with them, the FAA will have access to data from flights off the East Coast where ADS-B Out will allow more efficient operations.

As part of another pilot program, the FAA approved avionics developed by ACSS to equip 20 US Airways Airbus A330 aircraft with ADS-B In, which we don’t mandate, but it provides pilots with a cockpit display showing the location of other aircraft. This enhances flight safety, and allows the equipped plane to take advantage of more advanced procedures that save time and fuel.

All of this is great news, and if we could just put the sequester aside, we’d be in great shape. But unfortunately, Congress hasn’t put it aside. They gave us the flexibility to cancel the employee furloughs for the remainder of the year, but the sequester continues, and we still have to cut $637 million. Yes, we were able to transfer $253 million from a source previously off limits – the airport grant program. But we still have to cut $384 million from other areas by September 30. This means we have to maintain cuts in areas like staffing, hiring, awards, contracts, training, and travel.

We’ve cut our spare parts inventory, which may increase restoration time during outages and reduce system efficiency. We may have to postpone technology and procedural deployments that were slated for completion this year. Components of our ADS-B trials with Jet Blue may be delayed. And our ability to train and certify people to maintain and operate new technologies is limited.

Looking ahead to FY2014, the budget situation is still very uncertain. Congress has taken care of this situation until the end of the fiscal year, but two more things have to be dealt with. First, unless the sequester is permanently fixed, it will last for ten years. Congress must cancel it and give us the funding certainty that will enable us to properly plan our future activities as an agency.

Second, we need an appropriations act for FY14. We’ve been running on a continuing resolution for FY13. Under this situation, it’s hard to have a thoughtful discussion about how to move forward. The President’s budget requests $15.6 billion for the FAA. This budget would support our critical safety programs, modernize our aviation infrastructure, and strike a balance between maintaining current infrastructure while deploying key NextGen programs to support the growth and changes in aviation. It does all this at funding levels that are $351 million lower than FY 2012.

But unless these two things are dealt with, we’re looking at a very uncertain fiscal environment.

In closing, I hope the sequester is resolved as quickly as possible. If it remains in effect, the FAA may be required to cut even more next year than we did this year. Because of the financial uncertainty, we can hope for the best, but we have to plan for the worst. This is not a sustainable course of action, and it’s no way to run a government.

Thank you.

[1] Published in the soon-to-be-released 2013 NextGen Implementation Plan. The NextGen Office is using these numbers now, and provided them for this speech.

Strong Partnership As We Face the Challenges Ahead

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Thanks, Paul [Rinaldi].  I want to thank you and Trish for your leadership, as we deal with the challenges with respect to the sequester.  We appreciate the strong partnership we have with NATCA … and I very much look forward to continuing to work together in the days and months, and years ahead. 

I also want to acknowledge and thank everyone here for the great job that you do.  NATCA represents many of our employees.  It’s not just air traffic controllers.  It’s architects and engineers, as well as staff support, technical, and flight procedure specialists.  Due to your efforts, and those of your colleagues throughout the agency, we at the FAA can proudly say we run the safest, most efficient air traffic system in the world.  Our intention is to keep it that way. 

To do so, I’ve stressed three priorities for the FAA.  You’ve heard me talk about them.  The first is to make aviation safer and smarter.  We’re doing it through a more sophisticated safety data and analysis process.  Because of your ATSAP reports, we’ve made nearly 200 safety corrections to the system since the program began five years ago. 

Through voluntary safety reporting, along with automated data gathering toolslike CEDAR, we’ve collected close to a million safety-related reports from all sources. 

Now we’re exchanging information with the airlines and the National Transportation Safety Board through the ASIAS program.  Through the Confidential Information Sharing Program, or CISP, we’ve already exchanged over 8,700 safety reports with 12 airline partners.  Through these partnerships with labor and industry, we will continue to identify, and more importantly, fix more safety issues than any single program could.    

Because of these efforts, and many others, we took home this year’s prestigious IHS Jane’s ATC Award for our proactive safety management system.  Our win shows how far we’ve come in reaching the next level of safety … and shows why we play a lead role in global aviation.

The second priority you’ve heard me talk about is to accelerate the benefits of technology into the public domain.  And the third priority is to empower you, our employees.  You know the system best and we need your full engagement. 

These last two areas have gone hand in hand when it comes to air traffic modernization.  Through collaboration with all of you at NATCA, and with your subject matter expertise, we’ve made great progress with the implementation of ERAM and those lessons learned are being applied to TAMR as well.  We’re also making great progress with Performance-based Navigation procedures and other programs as part of our transition to NextGen.

Take ERAM.  We’ve benefited by having a national user team led by a labor and management counterpart from each of our en route centers.  And through the ERAM Steering Committee meetings, centers that have successfully deployed ERAM have passed on the lessons learned to the centers whose deployments are coming up.  Personally, I think it’s a great process, and with it, we’ve come a long way in the past 16 months.  To date, we have 11 out of 20 en route centers using ERAM on a daily basis, and another five have reached initial operating capability. 

We’re also seeing the benefits of FAA-NATCA teamwork in our metroplex initiatives, through which we’re making better use of congested airspace around the nation’s busiest metropolitan areas, reducing fuel consumption and lessening aviation’s carbon footprint on the environment.

For example, last August, flights approaching the Washington DC area started using satellite routes and immediately began saving fuel and emissions. For the airlines, these new routes will save $2.3 million in fuel costs in the first year of operation.  We estimate that about 60,000 flights are using these new procedures into Dulles each year.  At National, about 57,000 flights are flying the new routes each year.

And through Performance Based Navigation, we’re deconflicting traffic at busy adjacent airports like Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway.  Over the past two years, we’ve made better use of this congested airspace by publishing a satellite-based procedure used by RNP-equipped aircraft when they’re flying into Midway.  This procedure has allowed O’Hare to improve its arrival rate by eight to 12 aircraft per hour when the ceilings are low.  That’s huge.  And aircraft flying into Midway travel fewer miles and save fuel, also very important.

We’re also continuing to make progress with our Data Communications trials in Memphis and Newark airports.  As part of the Memphis trial, we’ve moved from using the tool for “cleared as filed” procedures to processing amended routes for flights.  By sending and receive digital instructions to and from pilots, we’ll be able to increase overall system efficiency, while reducing the likelihood of hearback and readback errors. 

These are just some examples of how the collaborative process is helping to implement NextGen.  And how NextGen is helping to deliver more on-time flights, reduce fuel burn and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

This is an approach that works.  And when you have the kind of professional and constructive relationship we have, you need to keep it going.  I’m personally very committed to it. 

But as you all know, things aren’t perfect when we look to the future.  The sequester poses a major challenge to the entire agency, including to the collaborative efforts that have been so instrumental to our modernization.  It challenges our effort to deliver greater benefits to the flying public as soon as we would like.   

As air traffic delays mounted last month, the nation saw exactly why the sequester, as designed, is flawed public policy … and Congress decided to give us the financial flexibility to cancel the furloughs for the remainder of the fiscal year.  With this flexibility, we’re also able to keep the 149 low activity towers open through September 30.  And we’re putting $10 million towards NextGen, to reduce cuts and delays in core programs; and $11 million to maintain equipment and infrastructure that is so necessary for the system. 

But the fix is just a Band-Aid.  It only lasts until the end of the fiscal year.  It doesn’t address the long term fiscal challenge we have.  Although the furloughs have been cancelled, the sequester continues … and we still have to cut $637 million.  Yes, we were able to transfer $253 million from a source previously off limits, the airport grant program.  But we still have to cut $384 million from other areas by September 30.  This means we have to maintain cuts in areas like staffing, hiring, awards, contracts, training, and travel.  

We’ve also cut our spare parts inventory, which may increase restoration time during outages and reduce system efficiency.  We may have to postpone technology and procedural deployments that were slated for completion this year.  And with the Academy shut down, we’re not conducting trainings and getting people certified to maintain and operate new technologies.   

Looking ahead to FY2014, the budget situation is still very uncertain.  President Obama has proposed a workable solution to our nation’s budget challenge and the FAA’s 2014 budget request of $15.6 billion is part of that.  This budget request supports our critical safety programs, modernizes our aviation infrastructure, and strikes a balance between maintaining current infrastructure while deploying key NextGen programs to support the growth and changes in aviation.  It does all this at funding levels that are $351 million lower than FY 2012.  This is a 2.2 percent decrease, which is part of the President’s effort to reduce the deficit.

What’s going to happen between now and the first of October?  We don’t know.  Congress has taken care of this situation until the end of the fiscal year, but two more things have to be dealt with.  First, unless the sequester is permanently fixed, it will last for ten years.  Congress must cancel it and give us the funding certainty that will enable us to properly plan our future activities as an agency.

Second, we need an appropriations act for FY14.  We’ve been running on a continuing resolution for FY13.  Under this situation, it’s hard to have a thoughtful discussion about how to move forward.  Unless all of these things are dealt with, we’re going to be dealing with a very uncertain environment.

Against this backdrop, I want to thank everyone for their patience and professionalism as we continue to deal with what is an extremely difficult fiscal issue.  I hope the sequester is resolved as quickly as possible.  If it remains in effect, the FAA may be required to cut even more next year than we did this year.  While we can hope for the best, because of the financial uncertainty, we have to plan for the worst.  As you and I both know, that’s not a sustainable course of action … and it’s no way to run a government.  In either case, the FAA remains committed to working closely with NATCA as we face the challenges ahead. 

Before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee concerning FAA Reauthorization – One Year Later

Oral Testimony:

Chairman LoBiondo, Ranking Member Larsen, and Members of the Subcommittee: A year ago, Congress reauthorized the Federal Aviation Administration after four and a half years of uncertainty and stop-gap measures. The biggest benefit of reauthorization was that it would provide predictability and allow us to invest with greater certainty in the future. So we’re grateful for your effort on this, and we have been working very diligently in the past year to implement the provisions of reauthorization.

Safety

As we move forward, the number one mission of the FAA is safety. That will always be our priority.

In the last few years, Congress has given us much guidance on how to advance aviation safety. And we have accomplished a great deal. The FAA overhauled flight and duty rules to guarantee that airline pilots have the opportunity to get the rest they need to operate safely. And we are raising the required number of hours of experience before a pilot can operate the controls of any airline flight. We are also finalizing a rule that will require more rigorous and training so that flight crews can better handle rare but serious scenarios.

We are also improving our safety culture at the FAA and throughout the industry by voluntarily reporting hazards before they become a problem, and by adopting safety management systems. Internally, we created the Aviation Safety Whistleblower Investigation Office. One of the cornerstones of our safety culture is to ensure that employees can provide information without fear of reprisal.

Technology

While we are enhancing the safety of the system that we know today, we are also working to deliver the benefits of new technology to create the aviation system of tomorrow, through NextGen.

We are working to safely integrate Unmanned Aircraft Systems into our airspace. Earlier this year – as directed by Congress in the reauthorization – we requested proposals to host six sites across the country to test unmanned aircraft systems. This is a matter of significant public interest. We need to better understand operational issues to safely integrate these aircraft into our airspace. We need to explore pilot training and make sure that unmanned aircraft sense and avoid other aircraft. And, if they lose the link to their ground-based pilot, these aircraft need to operate safely.

Collaboration

If we are going to continue to move aviation forward, and remain a world leader, we need to collaborate across the FAA, as well as with other government agencies, and also with industry. Reauthorization asked us to do this, and we have made great strides in collaborative efforts.

Chairman LoBiondo, as you know, Atlantic City is a leader in NextGen research. The William J. Hughes Technical Center plays a key role in fostering NextGen, and we appreciate your support.

We have worked with our labor unions, industry, airports and others to address the problem of congested airspace over busy metropolitan areas. We are producing satellite-based procedures much more quickly. And we’re using these NextGen procedures right now to reduce the miles that aircraft must fly; to create more direct routes, cut delays; and to reduce fuel burn and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

We are pleased that the President has announced his intent to appoint Michael Whitaker as Deputy Administrator of the FAA. Mr. Whitaker is a veteran of the airline industry and would serve as the FAA’s Chief NextGen Officer, responsible for fostering the transformation of our nation’s airspace.

The FAA has an initial set of NextGen metrics available on our website, and we expect to publish additional performance metrics in the coming months. Our NextGen Performance Snapshots show that NextGen is happening now.

For example in Chicago, we have been able to reduce delays at O’Hare International Airport in bad weather thanks to NextGen. O’Hare and nearby Midway International have overlapping airspace at times. We made better use of this congested airspace in the past two years with a satellite-based procedure that aircraft use when flying into Midway. This procedure has allowed O’Hare to improve its arrival rate by eight to 12 aircraft per hour when it’s rainy or foggy and the ceilings are low. And aircraft flying into Midway travel fewer miles and save fuel. This is one of the many positive effects of NextGen and the type of improvement that reauthorization supports.

The reauthorization laid out a vision to address the future needs of our nation’s aviation system. And these needs have not gone away. It’s important for us to work together to protect the great contribution that civil aviation makes to our economy of $1.3 trillion and 10 million jobs.

As you know, we are again facing fiscal uncertainty and unpredictability. The sequester is requiring the FAA to make sizeable budget cuts that affect our operations and our future. While we are grateful that Congress found a temporary solution to the FAA furloughs, this stop-gap measure does not end the sequester.

We will not enjoy the benefits or the stability that reauthorization provides until we end the sequester and find a sensible long-term solution.

I sincerely hope that we can work together to ensure that America continues to operate the safest and most efficient aviation system in the world.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared remarks. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

Commercial Space Transportation & the Future of Aviation

Thank you, George (Nield).  It is a pleasure to be here to speak at today’s event.

Commercial space transportation is an important, and growing, part of our aviation system.  And, the innovation seen in this industry today parallels the challenges, imagination and courage of the early pioneers of flight over 100 years ago.   

Space transportation has come a long way since John F. Kennedy first noted more than 50 years ago that the United States was not built by those “who waited and rested and wished to look behind them.  This country was conquered by those who moved forward, and so will space.”  Exploration and travel into space has certainly come a long way since those early days.         

The partnership we have – government and industry working together – plays a significant part in this forward motion.  This cooperation allows us to hear one another’s viewpoints, but also to outline any challenges we may foresee.  Putting these issues out in the open helps to move us forward. 

And, the impressive development in space transportation is due in large part to the efforts of many in this room. 
I would like to take a moment to recognize a few who have made a big difference.  

First, I would like to thank former COMSTAC Chair, Will Trafton.  As many of you know, Will served as COMSTAC chair from 2007 until last year.  As chair, he pushed the committee forward as a relevant and important voice for industry on how to regulate commercial space transportation.  For your leadership and service, we would like to thank you, Will. 

I would also like to present our thanks to former COMSTAC Vice Chair, Chris Kunstadter.  Chris served as the Vice Chair from 2009 until last year, and continues to serve as Chairman of the Business/Legal Working Group.  He has provided outstanding leadership for the committee.  Thank you, Chris, for your excellent guidance and advice. 

Today, the growth in commercial space transportation is more and more noticeable to the American public.  Last year, SpaceX completed its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services demonstration mission by launching and berthing its cargo capsule to the International Space Station.  And then it safely returned with cargo intact back to Earth.  This was the first time that private industry resupplied the Space Station.  Since that time, SpaceX has completed two more cargo missions.    

Orbital Sciences also demonstrated its launch capabilities last month for the same service, taking off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia.  

The innovations don’t stop there.  SpaceX has already started testing a new design to create the world’s first fully reusable launch vehicle.  In Texas, SpaceX has been operating under an experimental permit from the FAA to use the Grasshopper rocket to conduct a launch and then return to a vertical position on the launch pad.  These innovations might further reduce the cost of launches and create new commercial space industry opportunities.

The goal of lowering the cost for access to space is noble, not only for business, but also for science and the accessibility of space to more people.  Virgin Galactic has begun powered test flights of its Space Ship Two design, in an effort to begin flying tourists from Spaceport America in New Mexico.

As with space itself, the possibilities are endless, and they are not limited to a few locations or a handful of companies.  The FAA has licensed spaceports in Mojave, California, in Kodiak, Alaska, and in several other locations.  There is also interest in developing other launch facilities in Florida, Texas, and Colorado, to name just a few.

XCOR Aerospace has begun advertising the capability of its Lynx spacecraft to take people and payloads on a half-hour suborbital flight.  Boeing, Sierra Nevada, and SpaceX continue to work on their own designs for a commercial crew vehicle to take astronauts to the International Space Station.  And Bigelow Aerospace is working toward giving spaceflight participants new destinations in orbit.  These are all impressive developments.

While we have seen many developments in space transportation, a challenging road remains ahead for the FAA.  We all know that we are in a very tough fiscal situation.  Congress has given us the ability to move funds around to end furloughs of FAA employees, but we still have to meet significant mandated sequester cuts.  We have instituted a hiring freeze and significantly cut travel, and we continue to reduce contract expenses.

The FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation continues to experience a significant increase in the number of requests and applications for new licenses or permits.  However, we have notified all of our stakeholders that actions could be delayed due to the effects of the sequester.  Despite these major challenges, we remain focused on our mission at hand, which is safety. 

Our activity shows our commitment to space transportation.  There have been a total of over 200 commercial launches licensed since 1989 with no loss of life or serious injury or property damage to the public.  The level of launch activity is increasing rapidly.  In fiscal year 2012, the total number of licensed and permitted launches was three, and in fiscal year 2013, there have already been 13 licensed and permitted launches.

As this business continues to grow, we face important decisions.  One of our main tasks will be the continued safe integration of commercial space operations into our airspace.  Usable airspace is a limited resource, and safety considerations require the careful coordination of aviation and space activity.

We will continue to work with the broader community on commercial space transportation activity in our airspace. And, we’ll continue to work with other nations on the potential hazards of space launches and reentries.  We will also continue to manage the hazards to aircraft from reentering space debris.

We will accomplish these goals by not only working with industry partners, but also with other government agencies. |
This past year, the FAA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NASA to cover the future licensing of commercial crew vehicles to the International Space Station.  Under the terms of the MOU, the FAA will license the launch for the safety of the public, while NASA will ensure human safety on board and mission assurance.

The FAA itself cannot propose any new regulations on human spaceflight safety until 2015.  However, thanks to you here at COMSTAC, we continue to prepare for the future together in multiple ways.  And, you continue to inform us of potential issues that we will need to address.  

In December, Congress passed a one year extension to the public-private risk sharing regime that is generally referred to as space launch “indemnification.”  In a license, the FAA requires that a launch provider purchase insurance to cover the maximum probable loss that could result from a launch failure.  In the event that third party losses exceed that, the government would seek to appropriate funds for the payment of these claims. 

Although there have been no claims involving a request for Congressionally appropriated funds, the potential liability exposure of launch operators far exceeds the available private insurance coverage.    

We understand that a one-year extension is challenging for industry, as it does not provide the needed long-term certainty gained from an extension of three, four, or more years.  We continue to be engaged in conversations with Congress regarding the length of this indemnity clause. 

Working together, we will continue to address matters of concern.  This open dialogue serves us well.  When industry and government join together at events like today’s meeting, we are able to move forward.  

Watching the space transportation industry grow is truly remarkable.  And, you here in this room are at the forefront of this industry’s success.  We ultimately have the same goal – the safety of flight and the successful integration of innovative space transportation into our airspace. 

I appreciate you inviting me to be here today, and I’d be happy to take any questions.

Thank you.

Before the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development concerning FAA's 2014 Budget Request

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Chairman Latham, Ranking Member Pastor, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to be here today to discuss the FAA’s 2014 budget request. 

As you are aware, this is my first appearance before you as the confirmed Administrator of the FAA. We have a great number of challenges and opportunities ahead, and I look forward to a long and effective relationship with this subcommittee.

The FAA’s fiscal year 2014 budget request is $15.6 billion. The budget upholds our critical safety programs, while also deploying key NextGen benefits to our stakeholders, and modernizing our aviation infrastructure. It does this at funding levels that are $351 million lower than fiscal year 2012. This is a 2.2 percent decrease, which is part of the President’s overall effort to reduce the deficit.

The FAA’s proposed budget for 2014 assumes a long-term solution to our nation’s budget deficit and no sequester.

The 2014 proposed budget would allow us to maintain staffing for air traffic control and aviation safety. It would allow us to maintain capital investment in both airport infrastructure and FAA facilities and equipment, and fund research and development.

The budget requests $1 billion for NextGen, which is an increase of about 7 percent above 2012. This request would help us to continue to mitigate congestion in busy airspace above metropolitan areas. And it would help us with the continued deployment of radio transceivers that allow us to use very precise satellite-based information to control air traffic.

The FAA is requesting $9.7 billion in our Operations account. This represents an increase of just about a half a percent above the FY 2012 level. This request will enable us to run the agency on a day-to-day basis. It ensures the safe operation of the airlines and the certification of new aviation products. It would also enhance the safety of the commercial space transportation industry, and provide overall policy oversight and management of our airspace.

The Operations budget includes an additional $30 million to maintain and operate the new En Route Automation Modernization system, or ERAM, that became operational in the last two years.

ERAM is at the heart of NextGen. It helps us to advance our transition from a ground-based system of air traffic control to a satellite-based system of air traffic management.

The 2014 budget also allows the FAA to meet the dual challenge of maintaining the capacity and the safety of the current system while moving forward with our comprehensive modernization and transformation efforts.

The majority of the $2.8 billion requested for facilities and equipment is to sustain legacy areas. This includes aging infrastructure, power systems, information technology, navigational aids, and weather systems.

This year’s request for Research, Engineering, and Development is $166 million, a decrease of 1 percent from 2012. We intend to continue critical research in NextGen and other areas such as: fire research and safety; propulsion and fuel systems; advanced materials research; alternative fuels; aging aircraft; and unmanned aircraft systems.

Our budget emphasizes cost efficiency and reflects the hard choices we must make to provide the most benefit to the flying public.As a result, we are proposing to modify the mix of funding available for airport development projects.  

The budget would allow commercial service airports to increase Passenger Facility Charges from the current maximum of $4.50 to $8.00. This gives airports greater flexibility to generate more of their own revenue. And it allows us to reduce our request for the ongoing airport grants program by $450 million.  

This change focuses federal resources on smaller airports that don’t have the passenger volume to generate their own revenue, yet are still important to our nation’s air transportation network.

The President’s 2014 budget request represents a balanced approach to achieving a long-term solution to our nation’s budgetary challenges. This is critical when one considers the impact of the sequester on our aviation system. The cuts required by the sequester have forced us to slash contract expenses and furlough 47,000 of our employees for up to one day every two weeks.

With 10 percent fewer hours available from each employee, there will be impacts on all FAA operations.

At air traffic facilities, this imposes limits on the amount of air traffic that we can safely allow to take off and land.

It means that our safety inspectors will work fewer hours and it will take longer to certify new aircraft for the market.

I want to emphasize that as we undergo the difficult process of implementing these deep cuts, we refuse to sacrifice safety–even if this means less efficient operations. Since February we have publicly described the possible effects of the sequester. And over the past few weeks we have been working with our industry partners, including the airlines, to share more detailed information on the impacts we expect at our nation’s largest airports. We are tracking airport delays throughout the system and making adjustments where possible to minimize delays.

It is my hope that we can work together to rally around our nation’s air transportation system and protect the great contribution that civil aviation makes to our economy.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared remarks. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

Before the Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development concerning FAA's 2014 Budget Request

Chairman Murray, Ranking Member Collins, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to be here today to discuss the FAA’s 2014 budget request. 

As you are aware, this is my first appearance before you as Administrator of the FAA. I appreciate the support of the Senate in moving my confirmation forward. We have a great number of challenges and opportunities ahead, and Isincerely hope to enjoy a long and effective relationship with this subcommittee.

The FAA’s fiscal year 2014 budget request is $15.6 billion. The budget upholds our critical safety programs, while also deploying key NextGen benefits to our stakeholders and modernizing our aviation infrastructure. It does this at funding levels that are $351 million lower than fiscal year 2012. This is a 2.2 percent decrease, which is part of the President’s overall effort to reduce the deficit.

The FAA’s proposed budget for 2014 assumes a long-term solution to our nation’s budget deficit and no sequester.

The 2014 proposed budget would allow us to maintain staffing for air traffic control and aviation safety. It would allow us to maintain capital investment in both airport infrastructure and FAA facilities and equipment, and fund research and development.

The budget requests $1 billion for NextGen, which is an increase of about 7 percent above 2012, in order to continue to support near-term progress. This request would help us to continue to mitigate congestion in busy airspace above metropolitan areas. And it would help us with the continued deployment of radio transceivers that allow us to use very precise satellite-based information to control air traffic.

The FAA is requesting $9.7 billion in our Operations account. This represents an increase of just 0.6 percent above the FY 2012 enacted level. This request will enable us to run the agency on a day-to-day basis and maintain and support our air traffic control and air navigation systems.

It ensures the safe operation of the airlines and the certification of new aviation products. It would also enhance the safety of the commercial space transportation industry, and provide overall policy oversight and management of our airspace.

The Operations budget includes an additional $30 million to maintain and operate the new En Route Automation Modernization system, or ERAM, that became operational in the last two years.

ERAM is at the heart of NextGen. It helps us to advance our transition from a ground-based system of air traffic control to a satellite-based system of air traffic management.

The 2014 budget allows the FAA to meet the challenge of both maintaining the capacity and the safety of the current system while keeping our comprehensive modernization and transformation efforts moving forward.

The majority of the $2.8 billion requested for facilities and equipment is to sustain legacy areas. This includes aging infrastructure, power systems, information technology, navigational aids, and weather systems.

This year’s request for Research, Engineering, and Development is $166 million, a decrease of 7 percent from 2012. Nonetheless, we intend to continue critical research in NextGen and other areas such as: fire research and safety; propulsion and fuel systems; advanced materials research; alternative fuels; aging aircraft; and unmanned aircraft systems.

Our budget emphasizes cost efficiency and reflects the hard choices we must make to provide the most benefit to the flying public.As a result, we are proposing to modify the mix of funding available for airport development projects.  

The budget would allow commercial service airports to increase the Passenger Facility Charge from the current maximum of $4.50 to $8.00. This gives airports greater flexibility to generate more of their own revenue. And it allows us to reduce our request for the ongoing airport grants program by $450 million.  

This change focuses federal resources on smaller airports that don’t have the passenger volume to generate their own revenue, yet are still important to our nation’s air transportation network.

The President’s 2014 budget request represents a balanced approach to achieving a long-term solution to our nation’s budgetary challenges. This is critical when one considers the impact of the sequester on our aviation system in the current fiscal year. The cuts required by the sequester have forced us to slash contract expenses and furlough 47,000 of our employees. With employees working fewer hours, we will have less efficient air traffic operations and less time for safety inspectors to certify new aircraft for the market.

It is my hope that we can work together to rally around our nation’s air transportation system and protect the great contribution that civil aviation makes to our economy.

Madam Chairman, this concludes my prepared remarks. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

Before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation concerning FAA’s Progress on Key Safety Initiatives

Good afternoon, Chairman Rockefeller, Ranking Member Thune and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to discuss the FAA’s progress on key safety initiatives.

As you are aware, this is my first appearance before you as Administrator of the FAA. I appreciate the work of this committee and of the full Senate in moving my confirmation forward. We have a great number of challenges and opportunities ahead, and I look forward to enhancing our productive working relationship.  

The FAA’s number one priority is safety. It’s our mission, and we focus on it 24 hours a day.  

First let me briefly address the Boeing 787. The company has redesigned the internal battery components and conducted extensive testing. This includes limited test flights–without passengers–using the redesigned battery prototype. The FAA is reviewing these test reports and analysis to make sure that the 787’s new battery system ensures the safety of the aircraft and its passengers.

Turning to broader safety considerations, while aviation safety encompasses many technical issues, we cannot overlook the role of human beings in aviation and how they interact with sophisticated technology. 

In the last few years, Congress has given us much guidance on how to advance aviation safety. And we have accomplished a great deal. The FAA overhauled flight and duty rules to guarantee that airline pilots have the opportunity to get the rest they need to operate safely. And we are increasing the required hours of experience a pilot must have before operating the controls of any airline flight. We are also finalizing a rule that requires more realistic training so that flight crews can better handle rare but serious scenarios.

The best way to enhance safety across the board is to improve the safety culture of an organization. Part of this effort involves self-reporting by our own employees on safety issues.

We have put programs in place for air traffic controllers and aviation technicians to report a problem, or even a mistake they may have made – and not fear retribution. This makes the system even safer.

We are taking many other actions to enhance safety across the board – including promoting safety management systems and sharing more data between industry and the FAA. By analyzing this data, we are able to identify trends and hazards across the airspace system and mitigate issues before something happens.  

As you know, we are in a very uncertain and unpredictable fiscal environment.

The sequester is requiring the FAA to make significant cuts in services and investments. These cuts will impact air traffic control, NextGen implementation, and our certification services.

We are exercising all options to reduce costs – a hiring freeze; cutting contracts; cutting travel and other items not related to day-to-day operations.

One of our largest contracts is the Federal Contract Tower Program. We have notified 149 airports across the country that federal funding for their air traffic control towers will end in mid-June. These airports have lower activity levels, and together, these contract towers handle less than 3 percent of the commercial operations nationally and less than 1 percent of the passengers. Communities still have the option to keep their tower open if they are able to provide the funding, and the FAA stands ready to help with that transition.

I want to emphasize that as we undergo the difficult process of implementing the deep cuts required by the sequester, we refuse to sacrifice safety–even if this means less efficient operations.

In addition to contract towers, large facilities will also be affected. To reach the figure we need to cut from our payroll—which is our largest operating cost—we have to furlough 47,000 of our employees for up to 11 days between now and September.

The furloughs will reduce controller work hours at all airports with towers, but also at radar facilities across the country. Again, safety is our number one concern. We will only allow the amount of air traffic that we can handle safely to take off and land. This means travelers should expect delays. Today we are meeting with air carriers to go over specific operational impacts related to the furloughs facility by facility. 

Furthermore, our aviation safety inspectors will have to focus their attention on the most pressing priorities and will devote their time to overseeing current activities to ensure continued operational safety of the existing fleet. These activities will take precedence over new projects.

Our overarching principle in making these difficult decisions is to maintain safety and offer the best air traffic services to the largest number of people both now and in the future.

It is my hope, and the hope of everyone at the Department of Transportation that our leaders can work together to rally around our nation’s air transportation system and protect the great contribution that civil aviation makes to our economy.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared remarks. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

Working Together to Strengthen Our Safety Culture

Good morning everyone. Thank you, Sarah (MacLeod, Executive Director of ARSA).

It is a pleasure to be here with you today for what sounds to have been a very productive symposium. I want to take a moment to thank all of you for the vital work you do and for your professionalism. I often talk about the importance of doing the right thing, even when no one is looking. America has a very high standard for the aviation community and expects perfection from the aviation industry every hour, every day, all year long.

From the largest repair station down to the line mechanic, it all rests on our trust in the individual. The technicians have the knowledge and the tools. And while the FAA writes the rules, it really does come down to each one of you. We cannot regulate personal responsibility and pride. That is something that has to come from within each individual. ARSA members are experts in maintenance and design and production.

And there is a real professional satisfaction and personal pride in being part of aviation. I hope you realize that you are all part of something very special.

The FAA’s number one priority is safety. It’s our mission, and we focus on it 24 hours a day.

We have had a lot of focus on the Boeing 787. We are continuing the review of the critical systems of the aircraft, including the design, manufacture and assembly of the Dreamliner.

Our certification team has worked more than 3,600 hours to support the safe return of this aircraft to service. As part of this review, last week we approved Boeing’s certification plan for a redesigned battery system. This is the first step in the process to evaluate the 787’s return to flight.

What the plan includes is a redesign of the internal battery components to minimize a short circuit within the battery and has insulated the battery cells to prevent propagation from one cell to another. There are a total of eight cells in the battery. They also have added a robust battery containment and venting system to prevent a problem in the battery from spreading to the aircraft.

The certification plan includes a variety of ground tests and reviews that will enable Boeing to demonstrate whether the proposed fix is going to work as designed, and whether it complies with our regulations. We won’t allow the plane to return to service unless we’re satisfied that the new design ensures the safety of the aircraft and its passengers.

Certification of the 787, as with certification of any new aircraft, will continue to be a collaborative effort between the FAA and manufacturers.

Aviation, from its very beginning, has stretched technological boundaries. For more than five decades, the FAA has compiled a proven track record of safely introducing new technology and new aircraft, and that is really a credit to the aviation industry.

As we continue to do this, I want to make one thing crystal clear. The FAA takes very seriously its responsibility to establish aircraft safety standards and certify new products and technologies. When we have a concern, we will analyze it until we are satisfied.

Some have asked the question whether the FAA has the expertise needed to oversee the Dreamliner’s cutting edge technology. The answer is yes, we have the ability to establish rigorous safety standards and to make sure that aircraft meet them. The best way to do this is to bring together the best minds and technical experts in aviation to work on understanding how these new systems work and how to establish and meet appropriate safety standards.

The way to enhance safety is to keep the lines of communication open between business and government – to foster the ability and willingness to share information about challenges we might be facing. We want to create an atmosphere where people feel they can share what they know, all in the pursuit of maintaining the highest level of safety. That’s why we’re all here.

We all want the same outcome. We want to harness advances in technology to produce safe aircraft. We will never lose sight of our respective roles, but that does not mean that there is not a seat at the table for bright minds from industry to help inform the best way to navigate the complex technological issues we encounter. It would be short-sighted to overlook anyone’s valuable expertise.

In addition to certification, we are also benefiting greatly from the sharing of ideas on aviation rulemaking committees. You are helping us to solve problems and I want to thank members of ARSA – and Sarah – who has played a big role in this – for your service on these aviation rulemaking committees.

These include the ARC on Consistency in Regulatory Interpretation; the ARC on airworthiness directives and the Safety Management Systems ARC. We convene these committees to work with the best minds in industry and to create the best policies to guide us in the future. So again, thank you for your involvement.

The best way to enhance safety across the board is to enhance the safety culture of an organization, and that is what we have been doing at the FAA. Part of this effort involves self-reporting by our own employees on safety issues. We are making a cultural shift inside the agency for more transparency and dialogue.

We have put programs in place for air traffic controllers and aviation technicians to report a problem, even a mistake they might have made – and not fear retribution. The goal is to encourage people to share information that we would not normally get in order to make the system even safer. This is a key element to taking a smarter, risk-based approach to safety.

We are taking many other actions to enhance safety across the board – including promoting safety management systems and sharing more information between industry and the FAA. By analyzing data, we are better able to identify trends and hazards that exist all across the system and mitigate issues before something happens.

Our goal at the FAA is to take aviation to the next level of safety and to leverage technology to make air travel more efficient and much more sustainable.

 As you all know, we are trying to do this now in a very challenging fiscal environment. The sequester is requiring the FAA to make significant cuts in services and investments.

These cuts will impact air traffic control services, our implementation of NextGen, and our certification and safety services.

Because we are in an especially difficult budget environment right now, I do want to set realistic expectations for certification and oversight efforts under the sequester.

While we will manage them as best we can, there will be impacts.

Our aviation safety inspectors will have to focus their attention on the most pressing priorities and devote their time to overseeing current activities to ensure continued safety. We are not in a position to take on a lot of new projects.

The sequester requires us to cut more than $600 million from the FAA’s budget. We are looking at all options to reduce costs – we have implemented a hiring freeze, we are cutting contracts, and we’re reducing travel and other items not related to day-to-day operations.

But, to reach the large figure we need to cut, we have sent notices to 47,000 FAA employees letting them know that they could be furloughed up to one day every two weeks. Furloughs will begin on April 21, and are expected to continue for the remainder of the fiscal year, which runs until Sept. 30th. Unlike government shutdowns that we have seen before, the furloughs include critical personnel such as air traffic controllers and safety inspectors.

This also means we will have to cut back on preventative maintenance, meaning that critical airfield equipment might not be repaired as quickly. This could lead to delays.

Safety remains the FAA’s top priority, and we will only allow the amount of air traffic we can handle safely to take off and land. This translates into probable delays for travelers.

Flights to major cities like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco could experience delays up to 90 minutes during peak hours. The reason for this is because controllers will be working fewer hours, and there will be limited flexibility in shifting or reassigning controllers to other duties. Delays in those major airports will ripple across the country.

We are aware that these service reductions will adversely affect commercial, corporate, and general aviation operators. And we also expect that airlines will consider changes to their schedules, or even cancel flights as they realize the effects of the furloughs.

The FAA has notified 189 airports across the country with federal contract towers that their facilities could be closed. These towers, when taken together collectively, handle less than 3 percent of commercial operations nationally and less than 1 percent of passengers. We expect to make a final decision today on whether any of these towers should remain open. We are taking into consideration whether closing them would adversely affect the national interest.

It is my hope, and the hope of everyone at the FAA and the Department of Transportation that our leaders can work together to rally around the improvements that we need for our air transportation system.

We all know that it’s important for us to work together to protect the great contribution that civil aviation makes to our economy. Aviation is our largest export industry. It strengthens our balance of trade. It adds $1.3 trillion to the economy and provides 10 million jobs.

As we move forward in uncertain times, I think we all need to remember that we share the common bond of aviation. We may face budget and other challenges, but we are all part of a very special and historic time in aviation. Many of you have heard me say before that we are making critical decisions over the next several years that will affect the air transportation system in this country for decades to come.

Whether you are a mechanic or whether you run a repair station; whether you design or produce aircraft, I look forward to working with you on our common goal to ensure that America continues to operate the largest and safest aviation system in the world. The coming months will be challenging, but we’ll get through them together.

Enhancing Safety and Performance at Airports Through NextGen

Thank you, Todd (Todd Hauptli), for that introduction.  It is great to be here today, and I appreciate the invitation to share my views on airports and their important contribution to the economy.

Airports are the gateways to locations near and far.  It is at the airport where we greet arriving family members, or depart for that important business trip.  It is where we experience all facets of our global village: vacationers, business travelers, students departing to study abroad, or people traveling to far off lands to visit relatives.  And airports are the place where so many components of aviation converge.

We all know the importance of aviation to America and the global economy.  Airports big and small are part of this economic engine – they contribute to local, national, and global economies alike.  Aviation and airports fuel jobs and trade.  

Our goal at the FAA is to take aviation to the next level of safety and to leverage technology to make air travel more efficient and more sustainable.

We are trying to do this now in a very challenging fiscal environment.  The sequester is requiring the FAA to make significant cuts in services and investments.  These cuts will impact air traffic control services, NextGen implementation, and our certification and safety services.

The sequester requires us to cut more than $600 million from the FAA’s budget.  We are looking at all options to reduce costs – we have implemented a hiring freeze, we are cutting contracts, and we’re reducing travel and other items not related to day-to-day operations.  

But, to reach the large figure we need to cut, we have sent notices to 47,000 FAA employees letting them know that they may be furloughed up to one day every two weeks.  Furloughs will begin on April 21, and are expected to continue for the remainder of the fiscal year.  Unlike government shutdowns that we have seen before, the furloughs include critical personnel such as air traffic controllers and safety inspectors.  We are also cutting back on preventative maintenance, meaning that critical airfield equipment might not be repaired as quickly.  This could lead to delays.

Safety remains the FAA’s top priority, and we will only allow the amount of air traffic we can handle safely to take off and land.  This translates into probable delays for travelers. 

Flights to major cities like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco could experience delays up to 90 minutes during peak hours.  This is because we will have fewer controllers on staff, and there will be limited flexibility in shifting or reassigning controllers to other duties.  Delays in those major airports will ripple across the country. 

We are aware that these service reductions will adversely affect commercial, corporate, and general aviation operators.  We also expect that airlines will consider changes to their schedules and cancel flights as they realize the effects of these furloughs.

The FAA has notified 189 airports across the country with federal contract towers that their facilities could be closed.  These towers handle less than 3 percent of commercial operations nationally, and less than 1 percent of passengers.  We expect to make a final decision Friday on whether any of these towers should remain open.  We are taking into consideration whether closing them would adversely affect the national interest.

An area that is exempt from the sequester, however, is the Airport Improvement Program and the staff that run the FAA’s Office of Airports.  This not only includes the AIP grant program staff, but also personnel that manage airport safety standards, improvements, and programs.  And now that we have a four-year reauthorization, the AIP has much more predictability and stability. 

We fully obligated 100 percent of AIP funds available for grants in fiscal year 2012 to support airport planning and infrastructure projects.  That amounted to nearly $3.4 billion dollars for critical investments and upgrades to improve our nation’s aviation infrastructure.  A strong infrastructure is the foundation for healthy commerce and a robust economy.  

Over the last four years, the FAA has issued grants totaling more than $14 billion.  During that time, airports throughout the United States have successfully completed many development projects.  This has included the rehabilitation or extension of runways, taxiways and aprons.  Some of these airports have also received grants to enhance runway safety areas, to build and improve airport terminals, and to reduce environmental impacts.  These improvements are extremely important to the enhanced safety and efficiency of our entire national airspace, and to meet the demands of growing air travel.  They are critical to preserving our airport infrastructure, and for helping expand the benefits of NextGen. 

Let me give you some examples of how AIP has contributed to our nation’s airports.  Last year, the FAA awarded $1.3 million in grants for Chicago O’Hare, Denver and San Francisco International Airports to buy vehicle surveillance equipment that will increase safety by helping to reduce the risk of conflicts between airport vehicles and aircraft. 

In another grant, $14 million was given to rehabilitate the main runway at the Tri-Cities Regional Airport in Blountville, Tennessee.  And, $2.5 million was awarded to the Raleigh County Memorial Airport in Beckley, West Virginia to relieve congestion on the parking area for transient aircraft.  It will also accommodate aircraft that now have to park on taxiways, and it will accommodate current airport users and future growth.

Many other grants are helping us make the changes needed to improve infrastructure and to build NextGen capabilities at airports throughout the U.S. 

As we know, NextGen is about creating a more efficient, environmentally sound, and ultimately safer aviation system.  It is helping us evolve from the ground-based radar system of today to a satellite-based system of tomorrow. 

Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, for example, is one of the key developments in NextGen.  It is now available in about two thirds of the United States, and in 2014, coverage is expected in all areas currently served by radar.  ADS-B transmits the location of aircraft to controllers and other ADS-B equipped aircraft with a faster update rate than radar. 

With NextGen, more precise departure and arrival paths will optimize routing and operations, especially for metropolitan areas, and improve access to locations previously challenged by terrestrial-based navigation.        

We are also changing the way we handle air traffic in congested metropolitan areas with NextGen.  We are working with airports, airlines, air traffic controllers, and other federal agencies to improve air traffic flow around all of the airports in busy metroplexes.

At several airports around the United States, we are using satellite-based procedures that allow aircraft to descend with engines almost idle – all the way from cruising altitude to just before landing.  This system, called optimized profile descents, is an environmentally friendly procedure that allows an aircraft to reduce engine power as it descends from cruising altitude.  These descents save fuel and cut emissions.  For example, in Phoenix, these new approaches are reducing environmental impact, and are creating a better passenger experience.

In Atlanta, we are using new NextGen departure routes to improve operations at the world’s busiest airport. Hartsfield-Jackson can clear an additional 10 planes per hour thanks to these improvements.  This reduces the amount of time planes wait to take off.  In fact, we estimate PBN saved customers 700,000 minutes, or a total of 1.3 years, waiting in line to take off in Atlanta last year. 

But under the sequester, arrivals into Atlanta could slow down.  Right now, Atlanta can handle triple arrivals, but that ability may be limited in light of air traffic controller furloughs.

We’ve also seen dramatic changes at other airports because of NextGen.  Under our Greener Skies Over Seattle program, for example, we’ve partnered with the airport, Boeing, and airlines to reduce the amount of time needed to descend into SEA-TAC.  This initiative is saving airlines an average of six minutes per flight.  This reduces the amount of fuel used, and ultimately, saves money. 

All of these upgrades are happening because of the hard work and great collaboration of many.  NextGen requires a strong partnership with all aspects of the aviation industry to evolve our airspace and how it is used.  Working with all stakeholders is crucial as we maximize benefits for everyone.  And, we will work to minimize the impacts of the sequester on NextGen implementation. 

Despite these uncertain times, I am confident in aviation’s ability to connect the world, and to provide economic benefits to many.  Airports are at the center of this activity.  They create impressions of our nation for arriving and departing passengers.  And, ultimately, they symbolize the rapid advancement in aviation that we’ve all benefitted from over the last several decades. 

Thank you for inviting me here today, and I am happy to answer any questions.