Air Traffic Control Association Convention - "Cooperation, Collaboration and Interoperability"

As always, kudos to ATCA on a good show. But before we get rolling, Id like to issue a special welcome to our international visitors, the civil aviation authority representatives, the vendors, the air navigation service providers, CANSO. It is important to the success of global aviation that youre with us at this conference. As you can see from the agenda and as you walk through the exhibits, were here to talk about a number of things, but the big ticket in this hall is NextGen. Lets be candid with ourselves for a moment: if our equation for NextGen doesnt have an international component, were dead in the water. Look at any forecast by any group, and its going to tell you that the international market is on the way up. Its got to be factored in, no questions asked. NextGen is not limited to red, white and blue. If were sure of anything about aviation, its that times are changing. Long-range flights are routine. Detroit to Narita is just one more run. When youre talking about puddle jumpers these days, that puddle is an ocean. Recognizing this, we do indeed need cooperation and collaboration between and among ourselves here in the States. But cooperation and collaboration cant stop at the shoreline. We must make sure that interoperability is the order of the day, and I think we are. If your product or service doesnt work beyond your borders, its time to get back to the drawing board. The Obama Administration and Secretary LaHood are enthusiastic about the potential for international linkage, such as the links between NextGen/SESAR. Ive flown enough to know that this is a success story waiting to happen. As I told RTCA, we need to advance well beyond the preliminaries of NextGen. We as a group need to commit together to giving modernization the momentum it needs. Without equivocation, Im making that commitment for the FAA right here, right now. I didnt want there to be any doubt with my comments to RTCA, and I want to drive home that same message this morning. We have the support of the Secretary and the President. They want this modernization program up and running as quickly as possible, and they are fully supportive. We have the green light. And it should be equally clear to the people in this room that international linkage is only the half of it. Under the philosophy of NextGen, everyone is interlinked. NextGen is not an air traffic control modernization program in its silo, and it was never intended to be. The goal is to have everyone become part of the infrastructure. Aircraft, air traffic control, airline operations centers, airports, defense and homeland security systems and the people who operate, inspect and maintain all of these. Further, NextGen isnt created in the airlines own image. NextGen is also designed for general aviation, military aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial systems, commercial spaceflight the entire aviation community. With that as an over-arching principle, everyones got to be on the same page strategically, tactically, operationally. We want everyone talking together. That is the end-state, if you will, of NextGen. But in order for that to happen, everyones got to start talking together now. Cooperation is needed at unprecedented levels if were going to pull this one off. If youre going into this with a territorial mind-set, dont do it. There is no one major player in the system as contemplated by NextGen. If you have a burning need to put someone at the top of the list, its the passenger. Hes not concerned with multi-lateration or situational awareness. The passenger is focused on the basics. Did I leave enough time to make it through security? Did I take off when I was supposed to? Did I land when I was supposed to? And did my bags have the happy coincidence of being on the plane with me? The RTCA gave us an excellent head start on the acceleration plans with its recommendations. There wasnt a whole lot of ambiguity in there. We asked the question, What do you want? And industry answered. The Task Force has forged a consensus across a wide spectrum of users. The recommendations are clear, actionable, and achievable. And even if it does require us to modify our plans and processes, we are ready to commit appropriate resources and get to work on implementation of Task Force recommendations. Concerning equipage, we will place NextGen capabilities where they matter. The critics who pointed out that we had some RNP and RNAV approaches in ineffective spots are right. Were going to push for these approaches where they deliver greatest efficiencies. And concerning acceleration itself, were not going to sacrifice long-term deliverables at the altar of near-term expediencies. Industry wants maximum benefit from todays tools. NextGens long-term capabilities arent a mutually exclusive endeavor. For example, the lessons learned from implementing the recommendations of this task force will help us derive maximum benefit from ADS-B once the supporting infrastructure and standards are in place. In closing, each of these programs that make up NextGen is designed with the broadest possible application in mind. Were stressing cooperation, collaboration and interoperability. We have the White House behind us, and the industry giving us clear direction about what it needs. The rest is up to us all of us.