**STATEMENT OF MARION C. BLAKEY,**

**ADMINISTRATOR,**

**FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION**

**BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE AND TRANSPORTATION,
SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION**

**ON THE JOINT PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE**

**JULY 25, 2006**

Good morning Chairman Burns, Senator Rockefeller, and Members of the
Subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today about the
multi-agency Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) and the work
we are doing together to develop and deploy the Next Generation Air
Transportation System (NextGen) while providing operational and safety
enhancements that deliver benefits to our customers today.

Our nation\'s air transportation system has become a victim of its own
success. We created the most effective, efficient and safest system in
the world. But we now face a serious and impending problem, one that the
FAA and this committee are well aware of. Demand for air services is
rising, and could as much as triple over the next two decades. While the
industry downturn following the attacks of September 11 temporarily
slowed the growth in the aviation industry that began in the late
1990\'s, demand is growing rapidly. And we have to be ready to meet it.

The warning signs are everywhere. Flight delays and cancellations have
reached unacceptable levels. Other issues, ranging from environmental
concerns to the complexities of homeland security are placing additional
stresses on the system.

If we fail to address issues such as increased capacity in a deliberate
and focused way, we will suffocate the great engine of economic growth
that civil aviation has become.

The FAA and the JPDO have taken a dual track yet complementary approach,
keeping our eyes focused on the NextGen Vision while using existing
technology to provide important and tangible operational benefits now
and in the future to users of the National Airspace System (NAS). We are
finding ways to make existing capacity work more efficiently through
advanced technology and operational improvements, with many of these
efficiencies not only providing relief today but helping to lay the
foundation for the Next Generation System.

The JPDO now serves as a focal point for coordinating the research
related to air transportation for agencies across the Federal
government, including the Departments of Transportation, Commerce,
Defense and Homeland Security, as well as NASA and the Office of Science
and Technology Policy. The initiative achieved important milestones in
2005 towards designing the NEXTGEN system. The JPDO completed its
internal organization and created eight government/industry Integrated
Product Teams (IPTs) to break this large and complex project into
manageable strategies. These strategies focus on those aspects of
aviation that hold the keys to capacity and efficiency improvements --
airport infrastructure, security, a more agile air traffic system,
shared situational awareness, safety, environmental concerns, weather
and global harmonization of equipage, and operations. The Teams work
closely with our stakeholders to ensure that they have an early window
into the planning process and that we take full advantage of their
expertise every step of the way. Further accomplishments to date are
highlighted in the recently published "2005 Progress Report to the NGATS
Integrated Plan" that was transmitted to Congress on March 10^th^ as
required by Vision 100.

We need the best minds in America across both the public and private
sectors working on the task of creating a NEXTGEN system. To achieve
this, we have established a Next Generation Air Transportation System
Institute (the NGATS Institute) that allows stakeholders to get directly
involved in the transformation process. And, while the Aerospace
Industries Association (AIA) is the host for the Institute, it is
co-chaired by the presidents of the Air Line Pilots Association and the
Air Transport Association and open for participation by all segments of
the industry.

What truly sets this new structure apart is that it minimizes
duplication of effort and resources among Federal agencies and maximizes
the input of the private sector toward a common goal -- the creation of
a NextGen system.

One of the common misconceptions about the NextGen initiative, however,
is that we have to wait until 2025 to start seeing the benefits. FAA is
currently implementing a system known as Required Navigation Performance
(RNP). RNP uses on-board technology that allows pilots to fly more
direct point-to-point routes reliably and accurately. RNP is extremely
accurate, and gives pilots not only lateral guidance, but vertical
precision as well. RNP reaches all aspects of the flight -- departure,
en route, arrival, and approach. For example, in January 2005, in
partnership with Alaska Airlines, we implemented new RNP approach
procedures at Palm Springs International Airport, which is located in
very mountainous terrain. Under the previous conventional procedures in
use at Palm Springs, planes could not land unless the ceiling and
visibility were at least 2,300 feet and three miles. With these new RNP
procedures, air carriers with properly equipped aircraft can now operate
with a ceiling and visibility as low as 734 feet and one mile. This
lower landing minima has allowed Alaska Airlines to "save" 27 flights
between January and November, 2005 - flights which would have otherwise
had to divert to Ontario, California---an added distance of at least 70
miles. Given the current state of fuel prices, savings such as this can
mean a great deal to an airline's bottom line, to say nothing of
passengers' schedules and convenience.

Establishing an initial Network-Enabled Operations (NEO) capability is a
high priority for the JPDO and its member agencies, given its
fundamental importance to the success of the NextGen System. Current
efforts focus on identifying the network architecture and enacting
standards for information and safety data sharing. The Department of
Defense (DoD) has already invested considerable resources in information
technology and telecommunication research focused on NEO and information
access and sharing. FAA, as well as the Departments of Homeland Security
(DHS) and Commerce, are committed to developing network-centric
information architectures that draw on the lessons learned by DoD. The
opportunity now exists to synchronize these efforts, especially in the
areas of data interoperability and compatible network-to-network
interface mechanisms, and two on-going DoD initiatives -- the
synchronization of DoD and DHS classified networks and DoD's development
of its Net-Centric Enterprise Services -- will serve as templates for
this effort.

The benefits of this technology are clear. In 2005, the JPDO, FAA and an
industry team showed how network-enabled concepts developed for military
customers can be applied to Air Traffic Management. The Joint
Network-Enabled Operations Security Demonstration connected seven
existing Air Traffic Management and security systems distributed over 12
different locations. It showed how sharing information in real time
across air traffic, air defense, and law enforcement domains could
improve coordination and help agencies respond to a security incident
more efficiently -- thereby lessening the need for evacuations and
scrambling fighter jets. The exciting part of the NEO demonstration is
that it enabled communication between agencies' current networks,
eliminating the need to throw out all the individual legacy systems and
create a brand new mega-system, which would be prohibitively expensive.
As a part of the "spiral development process" for NEO, an approach to
systems development that makes continuous improvements and changes
throughout the development process, the JPDO is planning a second joint
agency NEO demonstration. In Fiscal Year 2007, the FAA will participate
in the second NEO demonstration under the System Wide Information
Management (SWIM) program. The President's budget proposal for Fiscal
Year 2007 requests \$24 million for SWIM. FAA's investment in the second
NEO demonstration will allow us to apply lessons learned to the
acquisition phase of SWIM. SWIM will provide a secure NAS-wide
information web to facilitate a transition toward network-based air
traffic operations and allow the FAA to lead and participate system-wide
in network-enabled operations with system users, global air navigation
service providers and other government agencies.

In its Fiscal Year 2007 budget request, the Administration proposed
targeted investments, in addition to SWIM, to promote early
implementation of core elements of the NexGen system. Additional
initiatives that will serve as building blocks of the new system will be
added to the mix as the Enterprise Architecture is fully developed and
system requirements are established.

One of our most promising initiatives with potential for broad
operational applications is Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast
(ADS-B), a technology that could replace ground-based radar systems and
revolutionize air navigation and surveillance by providing radar-like
separation procedures in remote areas that cannot currently be served by
radar; by providing near real-time, in-the-cockpit, aeronautical
information such as weather and notices to airmen; by enabling capacity
gains by reducing existing separation standards in all domains and
airspace classifications; by supporting increased capacity through
user-executed airborne spacing, sequencing and separation operations;
and by providing improved information for traffic flow management and
fleet management -- all while reducing our infrastructure costs. ADS-B
uses GPS satellites and ground-based transmitters to allow aircraft to
broadcast their positions with greater frequency and accuracy than our
legacy radar systems. Moreover, with ADS-B, future pilots will see
exactly what the air traffic controller sees. For FY 2007, the
President's budget includes \$80 million for the FAA for the ADS-B
program to begin moving toward nationwide deployment.

The ADS-B system was the key enabling technology for the Capstone
demonstration program in Alaska. Capstone is a technology-focused safety
program that seeks near-term safety and efficiency gains in aviation by
accelerating implementation and use of modern technology, in both
avionics and ground system infrastructure, with the goal of reducing the
exceedingly high accident rate in Alaska for small aircraft operations,
which was nearly five times greater than the national average. Through
2005, the program achieved significant safety and efficiency results.
The use of ADS-B information by the Bethel Airport Traffic Control Tower
continues to provide benefits to all Bethel operators by enhancing the
ability to better balance arrival flows and demand when weather
conditions at the airport deteriorate below visual flight rules
conditions. Aircraft equipped with ADS-B have had a consistently lower
accident rate than non-equipped aircraft. From 2000 through 2005, the
rate of accidents for ADS-B-equipped aircraft dropped significantly\--by
49 percent. That is real progress, and we will build on this success as
we expand the use of ADS-B elsewhere in the country.

One of the first uses of ADS-B technology outside of Alaska will be in
the Gulf of Mexico. We have recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement
(MOA) with the Helicopter Association International (HAI), helicopter
operators and oil and gas platform owners in the Gulf of Mexico to
improve service in the Gulf. Using ADS-B technology, helicopter
operators will transmit critical position information to the Houston
Center, enabling unprecedented Air Traffic Control services in the Gulf.
This technology will also develop new air routes with improved
separation standards for high altitude airspace.

These new technologies and procedures are vital both to improving our
air traffic system today and to building the NEXTGEN system of 2025. To
ensure we deliver these benefits as quickly as possible, FAA is
incorporating NEXTGEN goals and targets into the agency's strategic
planning process in a much more comprehensive way. The draft FAA Flight
Plan for 2007-2011, released for public comment just last week, includes
several major initiatives that support the transformation to the NextGen
system. And we've added the NEXTGEN symbol in the Flight Plan to easily
identify each initiative that supports the modernization of the National
Airspace System.

As a result, the Flight Plan will now capture explicitly what we must do
in the near term through the Integrated Product Teams to achieve the
NextGen vision. In other words, it helps us to identify the pipeline and
funding to implement new technologies and incorporate the operational
concepts that will serve as the foundation for the NextGen system. This
will provide both an internal process for ensuring commitments are met
and an external process for communicating the FAA's progress to our
stakeholders.

We recognize that there are many challenges in converting the JPDO's
vision of the NextGen system into reality. Because the JPDO is not an
implementing or executing agency, the FAA and the other JPDO partner
agencies must work closely with the JPDO to develop an implementation
schedule for the operational changes required as new technologies are
deployed to realize the NEXTGEN vision. We intend to use the construct
of our existing Operational Evolution Plan (OEP) to help us. However, we
will expand the scope of the OEP from a ten-year rolling plan focused
exclusively on capacity to a plan that will take us from the
configuration of today's National Airspace System (NAS) to tomorrow's
NextGen system. In the new Operational Evolution Partnership (OEP), JPDO
transformational operating concepts will be identified, rigorously
evaluated, prototyped, and tested so they can be ready for transition
into the NAS. Required operational implementation schedules will be
tracked, as well as dates by which initiatives must be funded in order
to meet those schedules.

The NAS and NexGen Enterprise Architectures will provide the backbone of
this new OEP by specifying roadmaps for system and certification
requirements, operational procedures, program phasing, and prototype
demonstrations. This Operational Evolution Partnership will be the
mechanism by which we inform our owners, customers, and aviation
community of our plans and progress towards the JPDO vision, while
assuring that the JPDO and the FAA are jointly on-track to deliver the
NextGen system.

Cost will be a vital factor: we cannot create a NexGen system that is
not affordable. We are working with the NGATS Institute to hold several
workshops with our stakeholders so that the critical assumptions and
uncertainties underlying any cost benefit analysis can receive scrutiny
and validation for future use. The first of these workshops, focusing on
the commercial aviation sector, was very helpful and has set the stage
for a collaborative development of our assumptions on such issues as
operations and equipage. We expect similar such engagement as we meet
with representatives from other segments of the industry, such as the
General Aviation Community. Of course, even after we develop the basic
assumptions, we will continue to work closely with the industry as we
develop the cost models.

Our vision of the NextGen system is not limited to increased airspace
capacity. Rather, it is one which encompasses the whole air travel
experience -- from the moment the passenger arrives at the curb of his
departure airport to his or her exit from their destination airport. The
NextGen system includes security, safety, and efficiency of passenger,
cargo and aircraft operations. Technology will change the way America
flies, and aircraft will be able to use information technology in a more
robust way, with enhanced cockpit, navigation and landing capabilities,
and far more comprehensive and accurate knowledge of real-time weather
and traffic conditions.

The NextGen system will be more flexible, resilient, scalable, adaptive,
and highly automated. The NEXTGEN operational vision is not just related
to the air traffic management system alone, but also includes the
preservation and growth of airports, heliports, and other future landing
and departure facilities to incorporate fully the emerging system's
benefits. This system will be built on a far more robust information
network than anything we have seen to date, ensuring that the right
information gets to the right person at the right time, while keeping
the nation safe and the flow of traffic running smoothly. Finally, we
will put more information directly into the cockpit of intelligent
aircraft through sensors and satellites linked together through network
communications.

One of the major products for the JPDO, and indeed, one of the critical
elements in defining the NEXTGEN initiative itself, is the development
of the Concept of Operations and the Enterprise Architecture. These
documents define each NEXTGEN function, what the requirements will be,
and how it will evolve. They are absolutely essential to the future
development of the NextGen system.

The Concept of Operations is a document that provides the basic
operational description of how the NextGen system will actually
function. This kind of explanation, offered in one document, will be
critical to developing the specific requirements and capabilities that
for our national air transportation system in 2025. In a sense, the
Concept of Operations is like an architect's preliminary drawings - it
outlines what the system will look like, how it will function, and what
its capabilities will be.

However, to adequately lay the groundwork and basic plans for the
NextGen system requires another step in the process, developed
concurrently with the Concept of Operations, and that's the Enterprise
Architecture. The Enterprise Architecture represents the actual plan for
how the NextGen system will be developed, much like a set of blueprints.
This includes the systems that will be needed, the timing for their
deployment, and how they will work together.

Both of these documents, the Concept of Operations and the Enterprise
Architecture, are essential to defining the NextGen system and will
guide the future investment and capabilities, both in terms of research
and systems development. The JPDO has made considerable progress on both
products, and I am pleased to say that the first phase of the Concept of
Operations was released this week on the JPDO website. It is now
available for review and comment by our stakeholders, and we are anxious
to receive their feedback. Other phases of the Concept of Operations
will be released in the next few months, along with the Enterprise
Architecture. We expect the completed versions of each set of documents
to be complete by early next year.

The importance of developing this system of the future is also quite
clear to policymakers in Europe, where a comparable effort is well
underway. This presents both a challenge and an opportunity to the
United States. Creating a modernized, global system that provides
interoperability could serve as a tremendous boost to the aerospace
industry, fueling new efficiencies while creating jobs and delivering
substantial consumer benefits. Alternatively, we could also see a
patchwork of duplicative systems and technologies develop, which would
place additional cost burdens on an industry already struggling to make
ends meet.

We are working to avoid that future by seeking out partnerships with our
international counterparts. This year we have established steering
groups with China, Japan, Canada and Mexico to facilitate cooperative
activities on the design of the NextGen system. These groups are moving
forward to pursue joint initiatives, such as ADS-B, SWIM, and Enterprise
Architecture which are aligned with the required performance-based
systems.

In addition, I just returned from the Farnborough Air Show, where I
concluded an agreement with Jacques Barrot, the Vice President of the
European Commission, which formalizes cooperation between the NEXTGEN
initiative and its European counterpart, the Single European Sky Air
Traffic Management Research (SESAR) program. The FAA and the EC intend
to identify opportunities and establish timelines to implement, where
appropriate, common, interoperable, performance-based air traffic
management systems and technologies. This coordination will address
policy issues and facilitate global agreement within international
standards organizations such as ICAO, RTCA and Eurocontrol, and
contribute greatly to the success of this critical initiative.

Our overarching goal in the NEXTGEN initiative is to develop a system
that will be flexible enough to accommodate a wide range of users \--
very light jets and large commercial aircraft, manned and unmanned
aircraft, small airports and large, business and vacation travelers
alike, while handling a significantly increased number of operations
with a commensurate improvement in safety, security and efficiency.
Research will continue to help us find the right balance between a
centralized satellite and ground system and a totally distributed
system, where aircraft "self-manage" their flight with full knowledge of
their environment.

The current technological and operational improvements are positive
steps down the road to building the NextGen system. If we are to see the
benefits fully realized, however, it is absolutely imperative that we
reform the financing system for the FAA. Over the next few years we will
work to achieve better cost management; determine the best solution for
our aging and deteriorating facilities; and, conduct research on
convective weather to reduce flight delays associated with summer
storms. We strive to improve efficiency, while searching for innovative
ways to provide safer services even more efficiently. However, we need
to establish the financing of our current and future operations based on
actual costs and investment requirements that will realize tangible
benefits and increasing efficiency. As we decide how to wisely invest in
our future, we will continue to work closely with our customers, our
employees, and of course, Members of Congress.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my testimony. I would be happy to answer
any questions the Committee may have.