FAA Boss Talks To BizAv Industry

In a October 19, 2010, address to the National Business Aviation Association, FAA Administrator J. Randolph Babbitt expanded his familiar aero-stump speech to a crowd assembled for the this year's reinvigorated BizAv convention. His speech covered a lot of ground but was based in the usual topics this Administrator has emphasized time and time again when his audience is an aeronautical one.

Babbitt started his address by noting that when "the NBAA formed in 1947, the industry was just starting to grow after World War II. The United States Air Force had just become its own department. The Boeing 377 Stratocruiser debuted that year. And Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier. The founders of this organization met at The Wings Club in New York and realized that to be successful, they would have to chart a course for the role of business aviation.

They didn’t know exactly how the industry would evolve. But they knew that business aviation would help companies visit customers more efficiently, make sales more easily and service their products more quickly in order to stay ahead of the competition."

From there Babbitt emphasized his concerns over the building of the Next-Gen ATC environment, emphasizing the already growing role of WAAS, RNP and the fact that, "We have published more than 2,000 new satellite-based WAAS-LPV approaches and departures at more than 800 airports in the United States. There are now more WAAS-LPV procedures than ILS procedures in the country."

Babbitt also covered his concerns over pilot fatigue and the fact that the BizAv community will need to address this issue as well as a litany of safety concerns that continue to be a popular theme for this Administrator. Join Aero-TV as we feature Babbitt's remarks from the podium at NBAA2010.

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