Good morning, and thank you for coming. I appreciate the focus
that the Secretary and the Members are bringing to this issue. I
couldn’t agree more with Secretary Peters. We are indeed at a
critical juncture. Everyone involved in aviation agrees that our
system needs a transformation. It's stretched to the max. We know
that our technology needs to be upgraded. And we all agree that the
Next Generation Air Transportation System, NextGen, is the way to
go.
So, the question that follows naturally goes something like
this: If we're all in agreement, what's the problem? We need to
make sure that those not involved in aviation day-to-day share our
sense of urgency.
Too often, people think that if we ignore this, it'll somehow
just go away. The system suffered after 9/11, and it was very
tough, but it bounced back. The airlines were largely in
bankruptcy, and now they're in the black. Passenger numbers were
down, and now we're setting records. Aviation is resilient, so
folks sometimes assume that we'll somehow, someway make it
through.
The difference is that this isn't a rebound or recovery
situation. In this case, we're watching a steady slide toward
gridlock. We all remember last summer. I'm afraid the headlines and
CNN are calling it right: this summer's going to be even worse. But
still, when you're talking about a system of the future, well, it's
easy to think that you can take care of it tomorrow.
Well, tomorrow is here. Tomorrow is today. You can call it
critical mass. You can call it gridlock. But whatever you call it,
we all know that the problem is upon us. This is not a situation
that's going to happen in 2025. It's here. It's now.
But there is good news. We have a plan in place, and it's well
under way. That's what brings us here today. NextGen will enable us
to meet not just capacity needs that will come our way, but it will
enhance safety as well, and provide a much greener, environmentally
friendly system to boot.
We're switching from a ground-based
60s-era system to a satellite-based approach. We're using new
navigation approaches, and they're being adopted quickly by
airlines like Delta, Southwest and American -- all of whom are
making significant investments in equipping their aircraft. New
satellite-based technology like ADS-B is giving pilots real-time
cockpit displays of traffic information, both on the ground and in
the air. ADS-B is the backbone of NextGen. For the first time,
pilots and controllers will have a much better sense of what's
going on around them at any given time. As the Senator [Stevens]
can tell you, with this in play, general aviation accidents are
down in Alaska by 40 percent.
And even though aviation represents about two to three percent
of the greenhouse gases, NextGen also is poised to chip away at a
number that's already low. NextGen pushes the envelope on cleaner
burning fuels. On the air traffic side of the house, direct
routings and new procedures reduce fuel burn, which means less
greenhouse gas emissions and local pollutants, as well as reducing
aircraft noise. That's a game-changer for shrinking aviation's
environmental footprint.
We're also getting ready to launch network-enabled operations to
enhance security — a system that will feed a common picture
of what's happening in the sky to state and federal agencies alike.
We're also working on what I'd call an Internet in the sky, SWIM,
which will provide high-quality, timely data to everyone. The
weather tools we're putting in place will help you land at places
that normally would have been out of reach when the storms rolled
in.
If you're interested in learning more about the future of Next
Gen, the Concept of Operations for NextGen we're releasing today is
the document that brings it all together. There's also a CD-ROM
available.
In closing, though, please keep in mind that the problem I
mentioned a moment ago is really only half the challenge. We know
what we need and how to fix it. The next question is how do we pay
for it? We've put forward a comprehensive proposal to fund NextGen
and are working with Congress to get new legislation enacted. If
we're unable to have a financing reform bill in place by September
30, when the current set of taxes expire, the delays and the missed
connections and the headlines are only going to get worse —
much worse. Without a reliable funding stream, the NextGen program
will start to slow down, and when the bow wave of delays hits,
it'll be too late.
If you walk away from today with only one thought, let it be
this: There are 109 days until September 30. Let's get it done.