Thank you Kristi, and hello everyone.
It’s an honor to speak with the people who provide a lifeline for so many Alaskans—you keep this state moving. When more than 80 percent of communities are accessible only by air—there’s no doubt you’re fulfilling a critical need.
What’s also true is that mountainous terrain, and high latitude weather between those communities, create unique safety challenges. That’s why I’m here today with a simple message:
We made a commitment to Alaska when we launched the FAA Alaska Aviation Safety Initiative, and we are delivering on those promises—today.
We are using last fall’s final report to drive change and do it quickly. Please keep in mind that none of the other work that we had been doing for Alaska safety has been put on the shelf. Just like safety is a journey, our work is ongoing.
Now I won’t be here personally to see a great deal of this through, because, as I’m sure everyone here knows, I’ll be departing at the end of March. But you have my word that the FAA will follow through.
So while my attention will turn to other matters in another 30 days, the FAA’s focus on Alaska will not waiver—we will continue our work with you on our shared safety priorities in weather observation and reporting, airborne communications, navigation and surveillance, fleets and operations.
We will continue to work with the Alaska delegation—Senators Murkowski and Sullivan, and Congressman Young—to make sure that the FAA will have the funding we need to get this done. You simply couldn’t ask for better partners.
Delivering on the 11 recommendations in our final report last fall will provide the greatest benefit to safety and are achievable and cost-effective. Speaking of that collaboration, I want to thank the Alaska Aviation Advisory Board for your endorsement of the report.
Today I can tell you that we’ve finished a detailed roadmap that spells out the Who, What, How, and When for accomplishing each of those 11 recommendations.
We’re looking forward to getting your feedback on the roadmap during a series of listening sessions that will start on March 15.
For now, I want to briefly touch on two recommendations that we put into high gear to make an immediate difference for aviation safety in Alaska —automated weather observing systems and mountain pass charting.
Now, as you know, Part 135 operators must have weather reporting capability at an airport in order to fly IFR operations there, and I think we can all agree that IFR, when possible, is the safest way to conduct your business compared to VFR.
Now Part 91 gives more leeway for IFR operations at airports with no weather reporting. But there’s a penalty on instrument approach minimums if you have to get the weather—in particular the barometer—from a distant airport.
Tok is a good example. Today, Part 135 operators can’t fly IFR into Tok because there is no weather reporting on the field. Part 91 operators can file and fly the GPS approach to Runway 7, for example, but the minimums have to be higher because the nearest weather station is at Northway Airport, 36 nautical miles to the southeast.
That translates to a minimum descent altitude of about 900 feet above the ground for the GPS 7 approach.
Tok is one of eight locations where we’re installing an Automated Weather Observing System—or AWOS—based on the report’s recommendation. In fact, six of the eight AWOS units are already installed—including at Tok. We expect to have all eight units installed with data available to users by the end of the year.
Once the Tok AWOS is certified, the minimums for the GPS 7 approach will decrease by almost a factor of two. That might not sound like much, but 329 feet can make a huge difference in the ability to access the airport and local community. The same is true for the seven other airports getting these weather stations.
I’ll note that two of the AWOS locations—the airports at Tununak and Akiachak —at present are VFR-only airports because there are no instrument approaches. However, with the coming of AWOS, both are in the queue for instrument approaches to be developed.
I mentioned earlier that IFR is the preferred way to go, but IFR can be the exception rather than the rule for Alaska operations because of the navigation, surveillance and communications challenges created by the terrain. To make VFR operations safer in Alaska, the FAA has been working with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association to verify terrain information for dozens of mountain passes, and to map out new passes for Alaska sectional charts.
I’m pleased to say that we’ll be adding a new pass with a new name to the charts up in the Brooks Range on March 24. This previously unnamed pass—now called the Naqsralugiaq Pass—had been used for years by local pilots because it offers a lower altitude route through the mountains. Pilots who are unfamiliar with the pass will now have the critical terrain information that they need to fly it safely.
As you can imagine, there is a great deal more work going on with these 11 recommendations—in fact it’s a full court press.
We are fully committed to developing new WAAS GPS-based instrument flight procedures and special approaches for Alaska, and revising standards to allow for WAAS-enabled Fixed Wing “Point in Space” procedures—basically an instrument approach that terminates at a waypoint rather than an airport.
We’re also developing new standards to allow Alaska operators to use the precision that WAAS provides to be able to fly more precise IFR routes that have lower minimum altitudes to better help aircraft avoid icing while remaining safe from terrain.
It’s because of the challenges like this that Alaska is sometimes called the national testbed for R&D, and the place where, “If we can make it work here, we can make it work anywhere.”
Making it work will take partnership. I’ve said many times before that not all knowledge and wisdom comes from Washington, DC—and that is particularly true when it comes to Alaska. We will only be successful by working shoulder to shoulder with you, the stakeholders. And, as we move into this period of rapid progress for safety, we need your input more than ever.
So please, plan on giving us your thoughts and feedback at the FAA listening sessions that start on March 15th. Together, we’ll go farther.
Alaska demands no less. I’d ask you to keep in mind what’s emblazoned on the Alaska state flag—Polaris, the North Star. Safety has always been my North Star. It’s guided me through four-plus decades in the aviation business, and it was my rock here at the FAA. It doesn’t waiver.
And like Polaris, the FAA’s commitment to safety in Alaska will not waiver.
Thank you.
