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Prime Minister Endorses Australian-based search

On March 24, Najib Razak, Malaysia’s Prime Minister, announced that new computations by Inmarsat and the AAIB, flight MH-370 ended in the South Indian Ocean west of Perth (Australia). At this point, Malaysia endorsed the new search search parameters.

The full statement:

“This evening I was briefed by representatives from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch — or AAIB. They informed me that Inmarsat, the UK company that provided the satellite data which indicated the northern and southern corridors, has been performing further calculations on the data. Using a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort, they have been able to shed more light on MH370’s flight path.

Based on their new analysis, Inmarsat and the AAIB have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth. This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites.

It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.

We will be holding a press conference tomorrow with further details. In the meantime, we wanted to inform you of this new development at the earliest opportunity. We share this information out of a commitment to openness and respect for the families, two principles which have guided this investigation.

Malaysia Airlines have already spoken to the families of the passengers and crew to inform them of this development. For them, the past few weeks have been heartbreaking. I know this news must be harder still. I urge the media to respect their privacy, and to allow them the space they need at this difficult time.”

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IATA Says Last year was the safest in aviation history

In a speech at the AVSEC World in New York, the director of IATA, International Air Transport Association, Tony Tyler, said “The industry’s 2012 record safety performance was the best in history. Each day approximately 100,000 flights arrive safely at their destination.3 billion passengers flew in 2012. There were six crashes and 75 accidents, with the lowest accident rate on record in the west.”

The rate is not the same all over the world, however.

In S. Africa, a plane is ten times more likely to crash than in Latin America.

The speech is located here: http://ht.ly/io0S4

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Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Receive Aviation’s Highest Award


DENVER, Jan. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Few aircraft since the Wright Flyer have truly become an “Aircraft of Legend.” Like the DC-3, the technological advancements of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner are expected to profoundly impact commercial aviation. The Living Legends of Aviation have chosen the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to receive the “Aircraft of Legend Award” which will be presented at the 9th Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards to be held January 20th at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, Calif. Mr. Scott Fancher, VP and General Manager of the Boeing 787 Program, will be accepting the award on behalf of all who have contributed to the “Boeing Dreamteam.” The
Living Legends of Aviation Annual Awards is the most important and prestigious recognition event of aviation.

On December 17, 1903 at 10:31 am with Orville at the controls and Wilbur running along side steading the wing, the world experienced the first controlled powered flight. Exactly 100 years later the Living Legends of Aviation organization was born to celebrate and recognize significant contributions for the second hundred years of aviation.
The “Living Legends of Aviation” are a group of extraordinary people of accomplishment. They are defined as aviation entrepreneurs, innovators, record breakers, astronauts, industry leaders, pilots who have become celebrities and celebrities who have become pilots.

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Kotaite Lecture on the Future of Aviation Safety

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah A. P. Hersman delivered the 8th Annual Assad Kotaite Lecture last evening at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Hosted by the Montreal Branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society, the annual lecture is a tribute to Dr.Assad Kotaite, former Secretary General of ICAO and President of the Council of ICAO.

Chairman Hersman’s talk, “Assuring Safety in Aviation’s Second Century,” highlighted the past, present, and future of accident investigation and addressed how accident investigation must adapt to play an even more pivotal rolein creating civil aviation’s safer and stronger future. Citing examples from recent accident investigations, Hersman said that it’s clear that future accident investigations will depend far more on data and cooperation than in the past.

“While traditional tin-kicking will never go away, it is increasingly being joined by sophisticated data analysis,” Hersman said. “In this era of dynamic growth and greater complexity, data is more important than ever.”

Hersman applauded the agreement reached last year at the 37th ICAO Assembly to foster data sharing through the creation of the Global Safety Information Exchange. This information can be vital to investigators as they seek to learn what really happened and determine what can be done to
improve safety.

“Data and cooperation is how the aviation community will maintain – and enhance – its strong safety record into the second century of powered flight,” Hersman said.

See Speech Here

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Speech – “Dream Big, Build Big”

“Dream Big, Build Big”
J. Randolph Babbitt, Washington, DC
February 9, 2011

Good morning, and thank you, George [Nield]. For those of you who were with us last year, you might remember that this conference came at the apex of Snowmageddon, about 22 inches as I recall. I was the opening speaker but I ended up delivering last year’s speech over the phone while sitting at my kitchen table. George said I never looked better.

Commercial space is looking up. At the State of the Union, the President told us to dream big and build big. And here we are. I see a direct connection to what he said last April and what brings us here today, and I quote: “Our goal is the capacity for people to work and learn, and operate and live safely beyond the Earth for extended periods of time, ultimately in ways that are more sustainable and even indefinite. And in fulfilling this task, we will not only extend humanity’s reach in space – we will strengthen America’s leadership here on Earth.”

The successes of 2010 have that exhortation well in hand. Last year, there were four licensed launches, bringing the overall total to 200-plus, without any fatalities, serious injuries or property damage to the public. We issued a launch site operator license to Cecil Field in Jacksonville giving America its eighth spaceport. And we issued spaceport grants for the first time to the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, the Alaska Aerospace Corporation, Jacksonville Aviation Authority and the East Kern Airport District. It seems like just yesterday, well, April 12, 2007, to be exact, that someone named Bigelow was telling the Washington Post that he had plans to send a series of inflatable space stations into orbit over the next decade.

If you’ve come to this conference looking for an endorsement from the Federal Aviation Administration, you’ve got the right address. I am 100 percent behind our commercial space endeavor. I think that as aviation moves toward NextGen, commercial space is part of that future vision. There is a market for the upper crust of the atmosphere, and there is a lot of evidence that suggests business can thrive there.

With that said, recognize that commercial aviation has set the bar very, very high. The expectation of the flying public is that the safety record must remain unfailingly consistent and extraordinarily strong. If you follow the numbers at all, you know that commercial aviation safety requires 99 point and a string of nines of error free performance. That’s where commercial space should want to live and stay.

If your project doesn’t have the word safety at the top of its list, I can tell you from my experience in the commercial aviation sector, you won’t be successful and you’re not going to be in business very long. But I am confident that safety has a permanent seat at commercial space’s table.
My hope for all of us is that we are able to make the difficult become routine. The commercial space launches that we have now are intricate interplays that require a lot of people with intricate moves expected from the commercial aviation world, from air traffic, from the military. In short, everything stops to accommodate a commercial space launch. As this industry emerges from these early steps, you should be aiming for something as common as the New York shuttles that leave every 30 minutes from 6:30 in the morning to 9:30 at night all day long, everyday.
Now that’s a ways down the road, but it’s doable. The brainpower and the perseverance that have become the foundation for this industry are proof that where there’s an idea, there’s someone who can make it happen.

Our approach at the FAA is to create regulations that promote safety without becoming a hurdle between you and what this industry can and will become. The retirement of the Shuttle will require that commercial space takeover the responsibility for a long queue of customers with fairly large packages to deliver. The FAA is solidifying its relationships with the Air Force and with NASA to ensure this happens seamlessly. Charlie Bolden and I are absolutely in lock step when it comes to how we see the potential for commercial space.

The standard we have set for George Nield and the Office of Commercial Space – for all of the FAA lines of business you deal with – is that we be fair, that we be reasonable, and that we listen. And that’s important. When it comes to licensing, regulation, inspection and the availability of air space, we want to be enablers, the people who help you make it happen, and help you make it happen safely.

Our aviation system has a track record for safety that’s become an international model. We want our commercial space activities to develop an identical reputation. In aviation, the airlines and the pilots and the mechanics and the inspectors and the technicians and the controllers all have seen the benefits of working together, pushing in tandem for success. We intend to use precisely the same approach with commercial space. All I’m asking for you to remember is that for us, the predicate for success must be safety. I have all the confidence in the world, even 62 miles up, that you agree. Thank you.

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Speech by Mr Raymond Lim, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs at the MOU Signing between Singapore and International Air Transport Association on 10 February 2011

Mr Giovanni Bisignani, IATA Director General & CEO, Distinguished guests, Ladies and gentlemen:

A very good evening On behalf of the Singapore Government, I am happy to be signing this Memorandum of Understanding with IATA, which as Mr Bisignani mentioned earlier, marks the strong partnership and excellent relationship IATA has with not just Singapore, but the Asia-Pacific region. IATA – A ‘Blue-Chip’ Organisation

IATA represents some 230 member airlines from more than 125 countries that fly over 93% of the world’s international scheduled air traffic.

However, IATA is not just an industry association of the world’s airlines.

IATA plays an active and influential role on aviation issues of concern, such as:

the fair application of market-based carbon trading schemes for environment protection
overhaul and liberalisation of the global aviation regulatory regime on air traffic rights
e-ticketing initiatives for passengers
e-freight initiatives for air-cargo documentation
fair competition advocacy
As a representative of the majority of the world’s airline operators, IATA holds valuable insights into airline interests, concerns and views that have helped governments and other international bodies in the formulation of sound and appropriate civil aviation policies.

IATA is thus a highly useful intermediary for governments to work with airlines, drawing on their experience and expertise to develop global standards for one of the world’s largest industries and for the promotion of safe, efficient and economical air transport.

IATA has close working relations with other strategically important aviation bodies like the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA), as well as national aviation bodies of various countries.

Furthermore, IATA has a special institutional relationship with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), playing an active role in various ICAO fora.

It is recognized as a key industry organisation[1] and often consulted by ICAO on aviation-related matters such as implementation of new international aviation standards, and aviation’s role in combating climate change.

This reach enables IATA to influence the thinking of decision-makers in industry, international organisations and even governments.

In terms of reach and influence, there is no similar industry organisation that is comparable in stature. IATA’s Asia-Pacific Regional Office

Recognising IATA as a “blue-chip” organisation, we were supportive of IATA’s decision to establish its Regional Office for the Asia-Pacific region in Singapore back in 1994.

While physically small, the role of IATA’s Asia-Pacific Regional Office in Singapore is anything but that, and its presence has brought benefits to Singapore and the region.

For instance, IATA has played an instrumental role in implementing air traffic management initiatives that have helped airlines reduce operating costs, and enhanced overall safety and efficiency of flight operations in Singapore and at the regional level.

IATA’s Regional Training Centre, attracting on average some 2,000 students to Singapore annually, has also helped to develop the human capital needed to grow the industry over the years.

With its unique access to industry information and resources, IATA has been a valuable partner with whom Singapore has co-organised the highly successful series of Singapore Aviation Leadership Summits that are held in conjunction with the biennial Singapore Airshow.

The close collaboration has enabled Singapore to attract captains of the aviation industry and key government officials to a premier event which has put Singapore and Changi Airport on the circuit of key global aviation events. The work behind the scenes on this project has been possible only with the presence of IATA’s Asia-Pacific Regional Office, which has staff of the appropriate seniority and experience to work with Singapore officials in the organisation of the Summit.

Over the next 10 years, IATA intends to ramp up its operations in Singapore significantly. It also plans to increase the number of conferences, events and training courses to be held here. This will strengthen Singapore’s proposition as a ‘Home for Talent’, and as a centre for knowledge exchange.

IATA’s expansion will add to the vibrancy of international non-profit organisations (INPOs) established in Singapore. This is testament to our unique proposition to the global INPO community as a base to do good work in the region, as well as develop and expand their Asian footprint.

Conclusion

Looking ahead, I am confident that IATA will continue to serve the region well, as it grows its operations here.

Let me also take the opportunity to wish Mr Bisignani the best of health and every success in his future endeavours, after he steps down as IATA’s Director General and CEO later this year.

Thank you.

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Statement of J. Randolph Babbitt, Administrator Before the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Aviation, on Reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration Programs

Chairman Petri, Congressman Costello, Members of the Subcommittee:

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the need to pass comprehensive reauthorization legislation for the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) programs. Before I begin my statement, I would like to acknowledge the many changes that have occurred to this Committee and Subcommittee since I last appeared before you. The Committee has many new Members whom I look forward to getting to know. Since I am a frequent guest of this Committee, I am sure I will get to know those of you who are new to the process and I look forward to working with all of you.

FAA’s mission is to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world. We make sure the planes are safe. We make sure runways are safe. We make sure that aircraft in the National Airspace System (NAS) operate safely and efficiently. While this sounds simple, I can assure you it is not. Approximately 50,000 flights are operated on any given day. We move approximately 750 million people through the system on an annual basis. Yet, even as the number of passengers and flights increase, the accident rate continues to decrease. In calendar year 2010, there were zero commercial passenger fatalities in the United States. In the past four years, we have had only one fatal passenger accident. During that time, 42 million passenger flights were operated safely. Every fatality is a failure and we continue to strive to make those failures even rarer than they are today, but we are proud of the strides we’ve made.

As the sheer volume of the traffic indicates, aviation is critical to the way we live our lives and run our businesses. The aviation industry alone directly employs 1.1 million people and supports more than 11 million jobs in related industries and through spending by direct aviation employees. Altogether, this represents 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Consequently, long term authorization of FAA’s programs is extremely important.
For some of you who may not know the long history of the reauthorization effort, there have been 17 extensions of FAA’s programs since the last comprehensive legislation expired in 2007. There are many reasons why we are at this point, but the bottom line is that the failure to enact long term, comprehensive aviation legislation has had troubling impacts. While there has not been a gap in the authorization of FAA’s programs, there is always uncertainty about the passage of the next extension. Many of the extensions have been for relatively short periods of time, which has made managing our programs, particularly our airport grant program, extremely difficult. In addition, there are many legislative provisions that direct the agency’s action in certain areas. Some of these provisions would require the FAA to redirect resources or modify strategic decisions. Passage of long term legislation would provide needed clarity. Uncertainty about how Congress may act in certain areas makes moving forward in those areas more complicated. If we make a strategic decision that the legislation requires us to change, it could be costly and inefficient. We can no longer afford to operate in a continued state of uncertainty.

The program that has sustained the most profound effects of the short term extensions is the Airport Improvement Program (AIP). Airports and their contractors have been forced to divide construction projects into smaller components so that they can be funded by the money made available by a particular extension. Airport sponsors cannot risk embarking on a project for which the funds are not available in their entirety because of lack of a long term authorization. Some airports have chosen to delay important safety and capacity projects until a more certain funding source is in place. This has caused a major increase in the amount of entitlement funding being carried over each year. For several years before the expiration of our authorization, the average amount of funding carried over each year was approximately $400 million. Due to the serial extensions, the average amount carried over each year has consistently stayed in the $500-$600 million range, an indicator that the available funding is not being used in the best or most efficient way.

Administrative and project costs have increased due to the need for multiple grants to be issued for a single project. The number of AIP grants issued in 2008 through 2010 increased 35% over the three year period prior to the expiration of the last reauthorization in 2007. Such cost increases and project inefficiencies cannot be justified.

During my tenure as Administrator, I have not had the luxury of guiding the agency under a comprehensive, long term authorization. But I want to assure the Subcommittee that the agency has not been idle while awaiting passage of comprehensive authorization. This is a dynamic time in an extremely dynamic industry. NextGen will transform the way we fly and do business. It will move us from radar to satellite, from radio to data communications, from traditional airways to streamlined routes. Knowing what the future holds, it is imperative that we transform our national aviation system and the FAA over the next 15 years. Our goal is to work closely with industry to implement new technologies and procedures that are sustainable and to work with our international partners to establish uniform standards around the globe.

Last year, we asked an outside group to help us evaluate how we could effect change to better support the upcoming challenges. Representatives spent five months talking with employees and other stakeholders and surveying opinions. The review team talked with more than 100 executives, former FAA employees, and representatives from the Department of Transportation. Twenty-five hundred managers were surveyed, across the agency. The results showed that FAA’s culture is highly operational, tactical and safety-oriented. FAA employees are committed to and proud of our safety mission. However, the findings also indicated that, as an organization, we need to take a hard look at how we operate. We need to make sure we are structured to effectively implement the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or “NextGen,” deliver shared services and reach out and engage our stakeholders.

Based on the information obtained and evaluated, we are implementing recommendations for change in a variety of areas that will help us reach our long term goals and increase our effectiveness. One such recommendation is to avoid duplication of effort and streamline similar functions as much as possible. In addition, we need to improve our capabilities in areas such as hiring, promoting and retaining employees, so that we have the world class workforce necessary to support NextGen. This will require a more holistic approach with better collaboration across different parts of the organization. The agency is creating shared goals and metrics that all employees can work toward. Achieving these improvements will require strong leadership across the agency which can only happen if we improve the way we select and develop executives. Changes and streamlining in the agency will better position us to improve our flexibility and effectiveness, make the most of our resources, and meet the challenges presented by this dynamic period in aviation.

As it happens, this dynamic period in aviation coincides with a time of great economic challenges. That is why I feel very passionately that the FAA must demonstrate the strong business case for our major initiatives, and there is no greater example than NextGen. We need to demonstrate the operational and fiscal benefits to encourage widespread participation.

For example, we are moving forward with nationwide deployment of the satellite based surveillance system, Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B). In the Gulf of Mexico, we’ve installed ADS-B radio stations on oil platforms as part of an agreement with Helicopter Association International, oil and natural gas companies and helicopter operators. ADS-B equipped aircraft will receive air traffic services direct to the platform, giving the users far greater flexibility than the restrictive grid system that was in place. We’ve opened up about a quarter of a million square miles of new, positively controlled airspace. In addition to the Gulf, ADS-B is up and running in Louisville, Philadelphia, and Alaska, all with very positive results. Just last week, we announced a partnership with JetBlue to demonstrate the benefits of ADS-B on flights between the Northeast and Florida.

NextGen is also helping us to improve efficiency and provide benefits through the deployment of Performance-based Navigation (PBN) procedures that save fuel and emissions of greenhouse gasses and other air pollutants. We are working in collaboration with Alaska Air Group on a program called “Greener Skies Over Seattle” to deliver reduced emissions and fuel burn through optimized descents and Required Navigation Performance approaches. Technical working groups are determining what FAA can do to make flights as environmentally friendly as possible. In the longer term, the FAA will explore the further leveraging of RNP to achieve even greater reductions in emissions and increases in efficiencies.

To date, we’ve published more than 900 Performance-based Navigation procedures, also known as Area Navigation (RNAV) and Required Navigation Performance (RNP) for precision arrival and departure routes and procedures. Again, making the business case, PBN pays for itself, having already saved millions of dollars in fuel at major U.S. airports. Southwest Airlines is a prime example. It is estimated that for every single minute of time saved on each flight, their annual savings quickly add up to 156,000 metric tons in emissions per year, which translates into a savings of $25 million in fuel costs. When commercial aircraft burn thousands of pounds of fuel per hour, seconds do count.

Surface management is another area where NextGen is making a difference. Airports need to manage, not only aircraft, but the many other types of vehicles that service the aircraft and airport, which can be challenging. We’ve deployed airport surface detection radar, ASDE-X, at 27 airports, with another eight scheduled to receive it by 2013. Initiatives at JFK and Memphis demonstrate that the technologies and procedures put in place reduced taxi times by about two to four minutes. Again, seconds count. But most importantly, ASDE-X provides another layer of safety by improving situational awareness for both operators and controllers.

Our NextGen goals include environmental and energy sustainability. As we implement NextGen operational capabilities, we will apply environmental management systems to improve environmental performance and streamline environmental reviews. We are also working to accelerate improvements in engine and airframe technologies to reduce noise, air pollution, and fuel burn through efforts such as FAA’s Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions, and Noise (CLEEN) technology partnership with industry. Our Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI) achieved a landmark in 2009 with the approval of a fuel specification that allows alternative fuels to be deployed as jet fuels. We seek to strengthen efforts to achieve affordable commercial scale production of sustainable alternative aviation fuels.

One final point of pride that I would like to share with you is the results of our Navigation (NAV) Procedures Project or NAV Lean. NAV Lean is a good example of how FAA listens to our stakeholders and works to address their concerns. Airlines that invested in equipping their aircraft with technology to take advantage of PBN are dependent upon the FAA to approve, certify, and publish RNAV and RNP arrival and departure procedures. The existing procedure development process accomplishes the desired production goals with the highest level of safety. However, the question was, could we do our work more efficiently? To answer this, we set up NAV Lean team to evaluate our current processes for developing all Instrument Flight Procedures, both performance-based and conventional, to determine where streamlining could occur. Our goal was to maximize customer value, while minimizing waste. The group worked to identify areas containing unnecessary redundancies, inefficiencies or delays, know as the “Lean Process.” Obviously, the overarching goal is to ensure the safety and integrity of the process, procedures and training, but to do it in a smarter way.

The group worked for almost nine months. I am pleased to announce today that their report was recently issued. It contains 21 recommendations for streamlining the procedure development process which will result in up to a 40% reduction of the time it takes to develop and approve a requested procedure. A team is now working on our plan to implement the recommendations. We expect to complete our implementation plan for these recommendations by June 1. Not only will this mean users of the system will see the benefits of their navigation technology investments sooner, but the FAA will improve the efficiency and utilization of the airspace and demonstrate our commitment to NextGen.

In conclusion, although FAA has continued to work to improve safety and efficiency in the absence of a long-term authorization, I strongly urge the Committee to act to pass this much needed legislation. We need the certainty and clarity such legislation would provide. We need to understand the direction in which Congress wants us to move in order to act in an efficient and effective manner. We need to be able to rely on stable funding for the agency. And we need for programmatic efficiencies to be restored.

I think we all understand that the challenges of implementing NextGen and improving the safety and efficiency of aviation come at a time when tough investment choices need to be made. I plan to continue to make the case that investment in aviation is important, not only to airlines, passengers and pilots, but to the strength of the overall economy and businesses around the country. In an industry like aviation, standing still or moving backward is not an option. This Committee, in particular, demands a lot of the FAA, and rightly so. But meeting these demands requires investment. I think our case is compelling and the return on investment is not one we can or should ignore.

I look forward to continuing to work with those of you I know and getting to know those of you I don’t. We all have our work cut out for us.

This concludes my statement. I look forward to answering any questions you may have.

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Speech : JetBlue Press Event

“NextGen Makes Business Sense”
J. Randolph Babbitt, Reagan Washington National Airport
February 3, 2011

Thank you, Mr. Secretary. It’s good to see everyone here this afternoon.

The great thing about this partnership with JetBlue is that it’s going to give us a glimpse into the future right now.

Companies that are equipping today with NextGen are going to reap the benefits of the transformation of our air space system, sooner rather than later. They’ll see greater efficiency, fuel savings and more on-time arrivals as we continue to increase the availability of NextGen procedures.

It makes business sense to get your customers where they’re going quickly, safely and efficiently. It helps a company’s bottom line.

JetBlue’s A320s will fly more direct routes and cut delays. They’ll save fuel and also leave a smaller carbon footprint on the environment.

That’s because the aircraft will use new GPS-based technology to fly less congested routes.

JetBlue will also share with us their flight data, which is going to show us in detail how and where the GPS-based technology is saving time, distance and fuel.

JetBlue will benefit from more reliable arrival times on its East Coast routes.

We have partnered with other airlines and helicopter companies in the past to test GPS-based navigation in different geographic regions such as the Gulf of Mexico and routes over the Pacific.

A number of airlines have already adopted GPS-based procedures in their daily operations, and they are reaping the benefits ahead of the pack.

Southwest Airlines started using GPS-based arrival procedures at a dozen airports last month. The company estimates it will save $60 million a year in fuel costs once it uses these procedures nationwide.

And the state of Alaska is where NextGen was first introduced. Alaska Airlines has been using GPS precision approaches and departures at Juneau International Airport since the mid-1990s.

And by using GPS technology, Alaska Airlines can land at a number of airports with pinpoint precision using more direct approaches, which saves fuel.

Also, aircraft fly precisely through mountainous terrain with low visibility right into the airport thanks to the higher accuracy of GPS.

Alaska Airlines estimates it would have cancelled 729 flights last year due to bad weather at Juneau if it were not for the GPS approaches.

By not cancelling those flights Alaska Airlines saved $7.5 million last year, and passengers got where they wanted to go. And that’s just at one airport. The figure doubles to $15.8 million in savings taking into account the other 25 airports where the airline also uses such approaches.

These are some of the examples of airlines that are saving money and offering better service now thanks to NextGen.
JetBlue will be able to take advantage of new NextGen routes from Boston and New York down to Florida and the Caribbean that are like an HOV lane. They bypass the congestion.

By using GPS navigation, instead of relying on radar, JetBlue’s aircraft will benefit from more reliable arrival times and the ability to schedule more flights.

It also means that equipped aircraft can jump ahead of others in line for take-off because they’re using the less congested NextGen routes.

I’m very excited that we will be able to quantify the cost savings and improved efficiency as a result of this partnership. We want to share the data and spread the word. It’s best to come on board sooner and take advantage of the innovations that are moving our airspace system forward.

Thank you very much for your attention.

I’ll open it up to questions now.

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Jump Starting the Discussion

Thank you, Lee [Sander]. It’s great to be here with you.

Let me start out with an observation. Sue Baer called a few weeks ago to ask if I’d be coming to New York for lunch. I should have asked if she had also invited 300 other people as well. Just kidding.

I did not hesitate to come. The Regional Plan Association’s report raises big ideas that, quite frankly, we’ve all been thinking about and talking about for quite some time. It’s my hope that this report serves as an impetus for forward movement.

If there’s a bottom line in all of this, I think it’s best to start there: The FAA is not in the position of telling this region what path to take or what decision to make. That’s your purview, and there’s little doubt that it has to be decided in the context of what role you see the airports in this region playing. From a federal standpoint, I should point out, though, that the decisions cannot be made in a New York/New Jersey vacuum. The ripple effect of what happens here in New York, not just the big three, has a tremendous impact on the rest of the system.

Back in my office, I have what’s called a TSD monitor – the traffic situation display. It’s a map of the United States, and it shows all aircraft being tracked with a flight plan, and it has a weather overlay. Lots of dots. I’d say it looks like a Christmas tree, but you’d never want to put this many lights on a Christmas tree. In the morning around 7, I can watch the East Coast “light up” as traffic starts to flow to and from the great Northeast from across the country. Over the next couple of hours, you see a steady march west as Chicago, and then Dallas and Denver, and finally the west coast open for business. It stays like that until early afternoon, when there’s another queue forming from across the pond.

Meanwhile, New York stays busy throughout the day and that lasts until early evening, when it intersects the push out of the city across the pond that lasts until 8 or later.
On the TSD, this region is a starburst that glows all day and into the night. The airports up here are just like the George Washington Bridge: everyone wants to get in or out at the same time.
The decisions you make about the paths you take with these airports has an effect that’s local, national and international. Delays, efficiency, capacity – they affect ledgers from here to the other side of the globe and back.
And by no means are economics the only consideration. What we’re all after is to provide a positive experience for the flying public. There are proximity and land constrailand and environmental effects as well.

Our role at the FAA is to help as best we can with critical tools like NextGen. There’s an incomplete understanding of what NextGen is and what it can do. The concept is simple: NextGen is a set of technologies, processes, procedures and policy that together will revolutionize how people fly. It’s a radical departure from the ground-based radar of years gone by, a shift toward satellite control and navigation. It’s a game changer for the controller, the pilot and the passenger. If you want to say it’s like going from an abacus to an iPad, I think you’re not overstating the case.

We’ve estimated the delay reduction at the New York airports that we would expect to occur from mid-term NextGen improvements. Overall, we expect arrival delays to be reduced by 48 percent. We think gate departure delays will be reduced by 17 percent. Taxi-out delays are even more dramatic, with a reduction of 64 percent. We commissioned a report by UC Berkeley, and just last October, the direct costs of domestic flight delays put a dent in the economy to the tune of just under $33 billion. The passenger foots half of that.

The RPA report we’re discussing today had equally sobering numbers with equally sobering consequences: In 2009, air passengers and cargo generated 16 billion in wages, 48 billion in sales, and 400,000 jobs. If we don’t make it possible for additional passengers to come here, over the course of two decades, that amounts to 125,000 lost jobs, 6 billion in wages and another 16 billion in sales.

Those numbers are hard to ignore. But with the technology and procedures of NextGen, we can help turn that around. But we are well aware that that is not the whole story. If you want to get maximum return on the investment, if you want to support unconstrained market growth in aviation, you must take an aggressive approach to upgrading your infrastructure to maximize the benefits of NextGen.

I understand, and I sympathize with you, about the political will and the time it takes to put in a runway. That’s not lost on anyone. But with the status quo, the equation will not work. “I love New York” isn’t just a jingle. People fly here in ever-increasing numbers, actually record-breaking numbers – over 48 million. That puts you right near the top of the list of destinations on the planet. I don’t see that trend slowing down even a little.

If this report does anything, it’s a red flag that says this conversation cannot stay at a whisper. It also says that finger-pointing and waiting for the other guys to make the first move are non-starters. To realize capacity, NextGen is a must, but without expansion – no pun intended – you cannot get there from here. Better utilization of the outlying regional airports is part and parcel with that expansion.

As you know, the FAA continues to make strides to eliminating the bottlenecks here. We have created a special program office to concentrate our resources to address this problem. We’re making NextGen advancements like ADS-B for satellite navigation and ASDE-X for increased safety on the ground. Working together, you’ve been at the forefront of collaborative surface traffic management at JFK. We dedicated a new tower at LaGuardia last Friday. We are successfully rolling out the redesign of airspace here. We provided the Port with an $89 million letter of intent to fund eight delay reduction taxiway projects. Those alone are expected to reduce delays by more than a minute per operation for a savings of $46 million annually at Kennedy.

In closing, let me say with all emphasis that I completely disagree with the people out there who say that there’s no solution here. In fact, there is. Active collaboration will get us where we need to go. Between and among governments – federal, state and municipal. Cooperation among airlines, authorities, and all of the stakeholders right here, right now. Let’s not overlook inter-modalism. Heavy and light rail, maritime, vehicular traffic, and the passengers and the neighboring communities. When you have full-out collaboration, we’re able to make huge strides, like we did with the major construction program on the Bay runway at Kennedy this past summer.

With respect to what brings us here today, I can’t say it any more plainly: Everyone has a role, and I want to thank the Regional Plan Association for jump-starting the discussion to bring all of this to the table and initiating what needs to be a very public discussion regarding some very hard choices. This independent study is indeed a step in the right direction. Thank you.

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Harrison Ford

Wright Memorial Dinner

Good evening, and thank you, Lisa [Piccione]. I’ve got to tell you … I had to resist the go-to move to, in the interest of safety, to spend some time talking about why doing “Indiana Jones” style stunts in an airplane would be a really, reallybad idea.

But that’s not what tonight is all about. We’re honoring a pilot, a man who in spite of being a very well known celebrity has used his passion to serve as a springboard for aviation. Even in this room, Harrison Ford’s passion for aviation stands out. When he and I met and talked at a fundraiser at Oshkosh a few years ago, I learned pretty quickly that this is somebody who just loves aviation. Here’s a guy who is on Hollywood’s speed dial, and he wants to talk about hisidea of fun… which is actually a two-parter: flying, or talking about flying.

In my book, he’s very clearly a student of the craft. Our system is as good as it isbecauseof him and people like him. There’s no special setting for pedigree on the yoke. You have to know your aircraft, and youhave to make sure that you’re both current and qualified when it comes to flying it.

The good news here is that is exactly what we find in Harrison Ford. I’ve been flying now for almost five decades myself, and after a while you learn that you really can separate the ones that have it from the ones that don’t… Well, trust me, he’s got it.

There’s a hangar in Santa Monica that shows he’s got it bad for things that fly. Fixed wing and rotorcraft rated. Walk in that hangar, you’ll find a Bell, a Beaver, a Husky, a Bonanza and a Caravan. He’s a one-man air show. That’s the inventory of someone who is a student of aviation.

But I must tell you, that list of aircraft takes a back seat to what he has given toour industry. As chairman of the Young Eagles, he has been instrumental in giving our youth their first taste of aviation … their first flight. In his case, the word “chairman” was not a ceremonial title. You might expect that as chairman, he might have flow a fewyoungsters by himself. But you know what? He’s actually flown 306 … to be exact. That’s right kids; Han Solo is the pilot in command. Except you can bet those kids didn’t want to be Han Solo. They wanted to be Harrison Ford, the pilot.

We’re always looking to ways to boost aviation… to inspire the next generation into aviation, especially to the youth of America. Here’s a guy who does it. We’re all about getting more science, more math, more engineering into our school curriculums. With aviation, you can do all three in with just a barrel roll or two. Wall Street can have Michael Douglas. We got Harrison Ford. Score one for aviation.

Harrison has also been an outspoken advocate for aviation safety. He’s spoken up about runway incursions and airborne turbulence. His ticket shows me enough ratings to know that he’s not casual about aviation … he’spassionate. And when I talk about professionalism, I’m talking about the man we’re honoring here tonight.

He has given much to aviation, but his legacy will be as a pilot… as an advocate… as a man whose passion is to enjoy the cockpit view of the horizon … and to give others a chance to do the same. And thatis a very fine legacy and certainly worthy of the honor he’s receiving tonight. Thank you.

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Driving Toward NextGen

Williams Trophy Luncheon

Thank you, David [Whitestone], and thank you to the Washington Airports Task Force for giving me the opportunity to participate in this celebration.

Make no mistake about this: Gary Kelly and Southwest Airlines are serious. Over the last year and a half, I’ve been making a steady drumbeat for NextGen. Southwest Airlines was in gear for NextGen long before I got here. I can say without hesitation that Southwest Airlines is a leader when it comes to NextGen.

You can see it in their business operation. They aren’t content with the status quo. They recognize that NextGen is the front door to opportunity; that it’s the key to operating successfully and profitably in a system that doesn’t look like the one from 10 or 20 years ago.

Gary Kelly and Southwest Airlines and several airlines are saying, “This is not your father’s NAS,” and they’re 100 percent right. NextGen transitions us from an air traffic control focus to a more holistic approach – a system focus that makes full use of all of the technology that’s out there today and will provide benefits from technology that’s yet to come.

And this didn’t “just happen.” Back in 2008, Southwest committed to NextGen full-bore. This business decision was driven by a difficult economic environment, the high price of gas and competition. When you cut your fuel costs, you boost the bottom line. That’s not high level math, that’s street-smart maneuvering. Southwest committed to upgrade its 737 fleet with required navigational performance capabilities – RNP. They committed to train their aircrews for the performance based navigation operations made possible by NextGen.

This wasn’t a decision for the faint of heart. They’ve equipped all of their aircraft to be performance based navigation capable. That was $175 million. They’ve trained 6,000 pilots to fly the approaches. In about a month, pilot training should be complete and their pilots will be approved to conduct RNP routes and approaches that require authorization. As part of its internal training plan leading toward operational approval for RNP use, Southwest has a self-imposed requirement to log approximately 3,200 RNAV GPS approaches.

Southwest Airlines actively supports the FAA in the development and implementation of RNP procedures across the nation, either in the role as lead carrier or as a participant with other operators. Last year, 59 RNP procedures that required special authorization for participating aircrafts and aircrews were published for 15 airports, including 10 served by Southwest. Eventually, these types of procedures will be developed and implemented through a continued collaborative effort, at airports across the country.

So that’s a mouthful of numbers and acronyms, but what it means is that Southwest Airlines and Gary Kelly understands that the system of tomorrow is hinged on the equipment, and they have no intention of waiting until tomorrow comes to get the new stuff into their cockpits. When they hear “best equipped, best served,” they don’t want to be in that line, they want to be at the front of it.

None of this is free, and I’ll be the first to admit that if you look back, the FAA has been slow on our promise to deliver the goods. But with NextGen, we are, and let me say without equivocation that Southwest and Gary Kelly are putting their airline in the optimum position to cash in on it and providing incentive for others to match them.

With both leadership and vision, not only did Southwest commit to this effort financially, but they also did so from a company culture standpoint. From the start, Gary Kelly and Southwest took great pains to educate and motivate their entire work force on the wide-ranging benefits to be gained from becoming a performance-based navigation airline; benefits not only to the company, but to the country as a whole. I’m talking about reduced airspace congestion, more efficient air travel, reduced emissions and a reduced dependency on oil.

The savings adds up to real money. Performance based navigation means shorter, more direct routes. Southwest figures that for a single minute of time saved on each flight, the annual savings quickly add up to 156,000 metric tons in emissions per year. And $25 million in fuel savings per year. Seconds count.

At the end of all this, Southwest Airlines will have transformed itself from an airline navigating solely by fixed ground-based navigation aids to one flying satellite-based precise, optimally designed routes that will allow for reduced flight times and contribute to a more efficient national airspace system benefiting the entire U.S. population.

I’ve been flying in this system for going on five decades now, and I appreciate what Southwest has done. They, and several of their competitors, have shown real leadership in pushing for new technology and the efficiencies that it brings. That’s forward thinking.

And this kind of approach doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It only happens when an airline like Southwest says, “This is where we need to go, and this is how we’re going to get there.” And then they do it. Congratulations.

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Number of Serious Runway Incursions Cut in Half

Thank you, Laura (Brown). And thank you to everyone for coming to Logan today.

I want to share with you some very good news about runway safety in the United States.

This year we have cut the number of serious runway incursions in half. It’s the second year in a row we’ve cut the number by 50 percent.

A serious runway incursion is when a collision is narrowly avoided.

We are down to six serious incursions in the entire country. And that is down from 67 ten years ago.

This marked increase in safety would not have been possible without the concerted efforts and partnership of the aviation industry.

The FAA made a call to action in 2007 to ask the entire industry to focus on reducing runway incursions.

And the entire industry really came together—airlines, pilots, air traffic controllers, airport vehicle operators, associations, management, labor and the FAA. We all worked together to reduce these occurrences. We have maintained the focus and we have cut the number.

Our goal is to get the number down to zero.

That brings me to some great safety innovations we are rolling out in Boston.

We just finished 90 days of testing a new warning system at Logan International that will keep our runways safe. Boston is among the first airports in the country to get this new safety technology.

This runway safety system consists of three types of safety lights that give pilots direct warnings about possible dangers on the runway.

In a simplified explanation, the new safety lights work much like a traffic light. They warn a pilot if it’s not safe to cross, enter or proceed down a runway.

Boston is the first and only airport in the country to install these lights at intersecting runways.

A series of red lights embedded in the pavement at Logan will provide 3,000 feet of warning leading up to the runway intersection.

If there is a potential safety problem, the red lights come on and stay on as long as the collision potential exists. You stop what you’re doing and stay where you are.

Boston has added two more types of safety lights. It now joins Dallas/Fort Worth, San Diego and Los Angeles airports with these safety features.

Boston added safety lights for planes leaving a taxiway and entering a runway. The lights turn red if it’s not safe to enter or cross the runway.

The third type of safety lights are called takeoff hold lights. These lights turn red if it’s unsafe to begin or continue to takeoff on a runway.

These three types of runway status lights are going to give us an additional layer of safety. They will help us improve the exceptional work we are already doing with runway safety in this country.

By working together we have markedly reduced the serious incursions and we’re making progress on all of them.

We want to get at the root cause of an incursion, no matter how serious or minor, in order to improve our procedures and training.

Why do incursions happen, you may ask?

Why can’t a pilot tell if a danger exists on a runway?

Ideally the air traffic controller will tell the pilot where to taxi and the correct runway to use. And ideally the pilot will hear it correctly and follow through.

But we are all human. And with larger airports there is a lot more to keep track of, including vehicles and people.

These lights will make it very plain that a pilot should stop and avoid the runway intersection.

If you see a red light, the typical human reaction is to stop. That’s the whole idea.

We plan to add runways status lights to an additional 19 of our busiest airports in the country over the next five years.

These lights provide a direct and immediate indication to pilots and vehicle drivers that a potentially unsafe condition is developing and they should avoid it.

They will help us to continually improve safety.

I’m happy that you will have the chance to board a plane today and see how they work.

Thank you for your time.

Next I’d like to introduce Congressman Michael Capuano who represents Massachusetts’ 8th District, including Logan International Airport. We have worked closely together on many issues and I’m pleased he could be here today.