The FAA Administrator took the occasion this morning at the Aircraft Electronics Association annual meeting in Orlando to describe some of the advantages of NextGen, the highly touted and much anticipated future of America’s aviation system. “5.6 percent of the nation’s GDP is represented by the aviation industry,” Babbitt told the group, “and aviation impacts nearly everyone.” Babbitt cited key NextGen advantages: improved routing and continuous descents that will save $2 billion worth of kerosene annually, improved radar accuracy that will allow for safer yet more fuel efficient spacing and separation, and electronic flight bags that will allow pilots to know their position relative to potential collision threats with pinpoint accuracy. “We can make runway incursions go away,” Babbitt said. “You will have information available to you that you have never seen before.” He said Southwest Airlines has gotten a jump on NextGen with a recent $175 million dollar investment to build its own approaches at four airports that will save three minutes per arrival. Fuel savings, according to Babbitt, mean Southwest anticipates recouping its investment in two years.
Babbitt also discussed safety management. But he said safety in the air and on the ground still depends on something all of us already know: “We want people to do the right thing at the right time. Not just when they’re on a check ride, but when no one else is looking.”
