TABLE OF CONTENTS(Click on Section)

PURPOSE

BACKGROUND

CHAIRMAN'S OPENING STATEMENT

WITNESSES

            The purpose of this hearing is to review progress and challenges facing the Federal Aviation Administration and the Joint Program Development Office (JPDO) in modernizing the National Airspace System (NAS) to meet projected increases in traffic volumes, enhance the system’s margin of safety, and increase the efficiency of the air traffic control (ATC) system, the principal component of the NAS.   

NAS Modernization: Historical Overview

The mission of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world.  To fulfill its mission, FAA must rely on an extensive use of technology, including many software-intensive systems.  FAA constantly relies on the adequacy and reliability of the nation’s ATC system, which includes a vast network of radars, automated data processing, navigation equipment, and ATC facilities (airport towers, terminal radar approach control facilities (TRACONs), and en route centers)[1].  Through this system, FAA provides services such as controlling takeoffs and landings, as well as managing the flow of commercial, military and general aviation traffic between airports.

FAA operates the largest and safest air traffic control system in the world.  In fact, the FAA’s air traffic system handles almost half the world’s air traffic activity and the U.S. is a leader in developing and implementing new technologies to create a safer, more efficient airspace system.[2]  The fatal accident rate for commercial aircraft for the last three years is .021 per 100,000 flights, or one fatal accident for every 5 million flights. 

Although FAA has successfully fulfilled its mandate to operate a safe air traffic control system, its operating and capital expenses have grown.  In contrast with the airline industry, which has been focusing on cost cutting and efficiency over the last several years, the General Accountability Office (GAO) found that during the period fiscal years 1996 through 2004, FAA’s Air Traffic Services operating expenses experienced real growth of $1.8 billion, or 43 percent.  Most of this growth was due to increases in the costs of personnel compensation and benefits.  Air Traffic Services operating expenses are expected to continue to grow through fiscal year 2010.  FAA projects that expenses will significantly outpace available funding during this period, resulting in a cumulative operating budget deficit of nearly $4 billion. 

While over the last 25 years FAA has developed some new technological capabilities, the U.S. air traffic management system is not much different from that used in the 1960s; the system it is still fundamentally based on radar tracking and ground-based infrastructure.  Further, FAA has faced serious challenges meeting cost and schedule targets for several of its major, highly complex air traffic technology acquisitions. 

The NAS modernization effort, launched during the Reagan Administration in 1981, was intended to be completed by 1996 at a cost of $2.5 billion.  As a result of more than two decades of cost growth, schedule delays and performance problems, FAA has spent $43.5 billion to date for its NAS modernization effort, and plans to spend an additional $9.6 billion through fiscal year 2009, primarily to upgrade and replace ATC systems and facilities.  Major reasons that have been cited for cost overruns and schedule slips include:

·        Inadequate program funding – In April 2005, DOT Undersecretary for Policy Jeff Shane stated in testimony before the Aviation Subcommittee that 50 percent of cost overruns can be attributed to a lack of stability, predictability and availability of finances for capital investment.  

·        Growth in system requirements often results from poorly defined requirements prior to development and/or Unplanned work that often results from misjudging the ability of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS)^[3] or non-developmental items (NDI)^[4] to meet the FAA’s needs.

·        Stakeholders were not sufficiently involved in design and development – Insufficient involvement of relevant stakeholders, such as air traffic controllers and maintenance technicians, throughout the development and approval process for system acquisition can lead to costly changes in requirements and unplanned work late in the development process.

·        The complexity of software development was underestimated.  

Despite the challenges FAA has had with major ATC modernization acquisitions, the GAO found that FAA Administrator Marion Blakey and FAA Air Traffic Organization (ATO) Chief Operating Officer Russ Chew have made progress in meeting cost, schedule and performance targets.  See pp. 9-13.

The need for ATC modernization is overwhelming.  FAA’s recent forecast conference could not have made it any clearer – air transportation demand is coming that will be greater than today’s system can handle.  By 2015, domestic passenger traffic will nearly double to 1 billion passengers annually.  If the demand for air transportation continues to outpace the Federal government’s ability to increase capacity, consumers stand to lose $30 billion annually by 2025 due to people and products not reaching their destinations within the time periods we expect today. 

The Future: Next Generation Air Traffic Control System

            Vision 100, The Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act of 2003, directed the FAA to develop a comprehensive plan for a Next Generation Air Traffic Control System (NGATS) that will accommodate dramatic growth in airline passenger travel, as well as the introduction of unmanned aerial systems, very light jets,[5] manned commercial space launches, hypersonic transport aircraft, and vertical takeoff and landing vehicles.

            NGATS will move much of the air traffic control infrastructure from Earth to sky by replacing antiquated, costly ground infrastructure with orbiting satellites, on-board automation and data-link communications.  NGATS will use advanced computers, precision plotting through GPSs and computer-based decision assistance programs. 

The Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO), created within the FAA, is leading an inter-agency effort to leverage expertise and resources within the Departments of Transportation, Defense, Commerce, and Homeland Security, as well as at NASA and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.  It has begun to develop a unified approach to completely transform the NAS by 2025.

Building the NGATS by 2025 will not occur in a “big bang”, but rather in an evolutionary manner due to the fact that the current ATC system must continue operating around the clock and wholesale replacement would be impossibly expensive.  Moreover, JPDO officials indicated that a phased, incremental approach to development and implementation is preferable for both managing risk and controlling vendors on technologically complex ATC acquisitions.

            In light of the forecasted growth in air travel over the next decade, the DOT Inspector General (IG) and some stakeholders maintain that the JPDO needs to focus on modernization programs that can be completed much sooner than the 2025 timeframe. 

            The primary hurdles to building the NGATS sooner than 2025 is lack of coordination between the government and industry, a lack of intergovernmental coordination – particularly between the JPDO and FAA, and insufficient funding support for NGATS-specific programs.  The key NGATS technologies, discussed on pp. 6-7, are available.[6]  

JPDO’s Budget and Management Structure

The JPDO’s budget is $36 million in FY 2006, up from $10 million in FY 2005 (about $18 million comes from the FAA and $18 million from NASA).  JPDO brings together a staff of about 75 civil servants with contract support from MITRE Corp., under the direction of acting director Robert Pearce.  A senior policy committee, chaired by DOT Secretary Norm Mineta, oversees JPDO activities. 

Most of the long-term, NGATS-related research is conducted by NASA.  NASA has requested $724 million for FY 2007 on aeronautical research and development (R&D), of which approximately $100 million is directed toward NGATS-related research (e.g., automated aircraft metering and sequencing, and dynamic airspace reconfiguration).  Of the $130 million requested by the FAA for FY 2007 research, engineering and development (R,E&D), almost 70 percent, or $88 million, focuses on improving safety – not new air traffic management initiatives. 

FAA’s capital account – or the Facilities & Equipment (F&E) account – is the principal vehicle for modernizing the NAS.  For FY 2007, FAA is requesting $2.5 billion for the F&E account, which is $50 million less than last year’s appropriation, and $600 million less than the level authorized by VISION 100 for FY 2007.  Significantly, most F&E funds are targeted at sustaining the existing ATC system, not at NGATS-specific programs.  Moreover, the DOT IG is projecting a F&E funding shortfall of between $500 million - $1.2 billion between FY 2008 and FY 2012 – before any F&E funds are spent on NGATS capital investments.

To bridge a gap between government and the private sector, FAA established the NGATS Institute in June 2005.  The NGATS Institute is part of the National Center for Advanced Technologies, a nonprofit corporation affiliated with the Washington-based Aerospace Industries Association.  Its job is to help design and implement the air traffic control system of the future.  Overseeing the NGATS Institute is a 15-member Management Council made up of representatives from aviation interest groups, labor, manufacturing and academia – many with differing views on how the new system ought to be funded and implemented.[7]

JPDO and the NGATS Institute come together in eight integrated product teams (IPTs) that are addressing the architecture, polities and technological needs for airport infrastructure, safety, security, air traffic management, weather forecasting and environmental protection.

The law requires the JPDO to coordinate and oversee research that could play a role in NGATS.  Key to the JPDO’s mission - and making it an effective multi-agency vehicle – is alignment of agency resources.  This is a complex task, and the law provides no authority for the JPDO to redirect agency resources.

            The relationship between the JPDO and FAA’s ATO is particularly important.  The JPDO’s planning must build upon the ATO’s existing modernization program, and the ATO’s near-term planning horizon must be aligned with the JPDO’s longer-term mission to transform the NAS.  Moreover, the implementation of the air traffic component of the NGATS plan will be financed primarily by the FAA’s capital budget, and the JPDO will clearly need to draw upon the FAA’s expertise to support its mission. 

JPDO’s former director served concurrently as the ATO’s vice president for operations planning, which some believed facilitated coordination between the two organizations.  However, FAA now plans to establish separate positions for the JPDO director and ATO vice president for operations planning.  GAO reported that a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that would define partner agency relationships was being developed as of August 2005, but has not yet been completed.  No matter how the relationship between JPDO and FAA is formally structured in the future, JPDO will need the authority to leverage key human and financial resources within the FAA.

While many industry stakeholders are supportive and appreciative of the JPDO’s efforts to date, particularly with respect to outlining a vision for NGATS, there is a consensus emerging that changes in the JPDO’s management structure need to be made in order to transition successfully from the planning stage to the program implementation stage.  Suggested changes include, but are not limited to:

·        fast-tracking the planning and implementation of key NGATS programs in light of the forecasted growth in domestic passenger traffic over the next decade;

·        establishing a JPDO program office within the FAA with authority to redirect agency resources to NGATS programs;

·        designating the FAA deputy administrator or ATO chief operating officer as director of JPDO to bridge the gap between the ATO’s near-term ATC modernization efforts and the JPDO’s longer-term mission to transform the NAS;

·        reducing the number of IPTs in a manner that would encourage more cross-functional, multi-disciplinary work;

·        establishing contracted relationships with industry as opposed to the current voluntary relationships (along the lines of the European Commission’s SESAR initiative, discussed on p. 8);

·        augmenting NGATS planning with a well-designed set of development and implementation projects like the recent automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) demonstrations in Alaska and the Ohio River Valley; and

·        committed funding for NGATS.

Last July, the DOT IG undertook an audit at the request of the House Aviation Subcommittee on the JPDO’s progress in coordinating research conducted by other federal agencies, identifying key NGATS technologies, and developing cost estimates. 

The NGATS Vision

            Early this summer, the JPDO will release more detailed blueprints of the operations and systems architecture for NGATS.  JPDO will seek comment from the six federal agencies involved, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and a variety of stakeholders.  Once the blueprints are vetted by these groups later this year or in 2007, they will guide the direction of near-term NGATS research and development initiatives and early implementation efforts. 

            While final decisions have not yet been made, NGATS will likely incorporate the following basic technology areas:

Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) – ADS-B is an air-to-air, air-to-ground communications, navigation, and surveillance technology that relies on signals from the Global Position System (GPS), 24 satellites orbiting the Earth, to broadcast the positions of properly equipped aircraft and surface vehicles.  NAS-wide deployment of ADS-B is a central component of NGATS. 

Aircraft equipped with ADS-B will broadcast their GPS position, air speed, altitude, and planned course changes to other aircraft and ground-based receivers.  The information of each aircraft will be displayed to pilots and controllers, providing a complete picture of area traffic. 

In prior budgets, ADS-B was funded under the Safe Flight 21 initiative, which demonstrated the potential of ADS-B and cockpit displays in Alaska and the Ohio River Valley. 

For FY 2007, FAA is requesting $80 million for the first phase of ADS-B, which will cost a total of $600 million (half to be paid by the federal government and half by users of the NAS) between 2007 and 2010.  In May, FAA announced that it plans to install 400 ADS-B ground stations in “targeted areas” (including the Gulf of Mexico) and retire more than 125 ATC radars by 2014.

ADS-B is a key element in other FAA programs, including the ASDE-X program (see p. 10), to help prevent accidents on runways.  In addition to safety, capacity and efficiency benefits, ADS-B also could be used as a security tool.  Since ADS-B can present aircraft position updates much faster than ground radar, which operates at five- to six-second update intervals, air traffic controllers could detect more quickly an aircraft’s departure from, say, its approach path to a runway at Reagan National Airport.

The major hurdles to NAS-wide deployment of ADS-B implementation are aircraft equipage costs, and the development of technical and performance standards.  Aircraft and avionics manufacturers estimate that it could cost between $200,000 and $500,000 to retrofit commercial aircraft with the necessary avionics.  Avionics manufacturers estimate that it could take 2-3 years to work out technical and performance standards, and another 5-7 years to complete the manufacturing and certification processes for the required avionics.

The Air Transport Association (ATA) and key general aviation groups support a transition to an ADS-B surveillance system, but recognize that a number of challenges must be addressed, including international interoperability, equipage costs, and other technical issues.  The Airline Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) does not oppose ADS-B, but wants to see avionics delivered for less than $8,000 per general aviation aircraft.

System Wide Information Management Program (SWIM) – SWIM is a new network information architecture that will allow airspace users to access a wide range of information on the status of the NAS and weather conditions securely and seamlessly.  SWIM will allow disparate ATC systems designed prior to the NGATS to exchange information using highly specialized software upgrades.  For example, the operator of a Common ARTS console will be able to see information sent from a STARS console, and vice versa, using SWIM.  FAA is requesting $24 million for this program in FY 2007.

The Cost of NGATS

A major challenge faced by the JPDO is that its attempts to implement the NGATS coincide with declining trust fund balances, budget cuts and shrinking capital investments dollars.  Key NGATS programs, including ADS-B and SWIM, are included in the FAA’s FY 2007-2011 NAS Capital Investment Plan.   

DOT, FAA and JPDO have not provided a detailed cost estimate and implementation schedule for NGATS due primarily to the fact that the NGATS operating requirements and architecture have not been finalized.  However, the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization (ATO) released a preliminary cost estimate in April that found that NGATS programs would cost a total of $18 billion (this is in addition to the $50 billion that would be needed just to sustain the existing ATC system between now and 2025) between 2008 and 2025.  See also pp. 9-12 for a more detailed discussion on the ATO and the status of legacy ATC systems.  According to JPDO, a more detailed, 5-year NGATS cost estimate will be included in the Bush Administration’s FY 2008 budget. 

            Most of the FAA’s current $2.5 billion Facilities and Equipment (F&E) funding goes for sustaining the existing ATC system, not for new initiatives like NGATS.  As a result, there is a significant F&E funding gap with respect to the cost of sustaining the existing ATC system and investing in NGATS over the next five years: $500 million in FY 2008; $800 million in FY 2009; $1 billion in FY 2010; $1.2 billion in FY 2011; and $900 million in FY 2012. 

            Similarly, the Research Engineering Development Advisory Committee (REDAC), a group established by Congress to advise FAA on how to spend its research and development dollars, predicts FAA will face a budget shortfall of about $1 billion annually through 2025 with respect to the cost of developing NGATS while keeping the existing ATC system running (this includes funding for F&E, R&D, and operations).

SESAR: The European Air Traffic Modernization Initiative

            The Single European Sky Air Traffic Research Project, commonly known as SESAR, is essentially the European equivalent of the JPDO.  The SESAR Consortium, consisting of representatives from a wide-range of industry groups, is the organization tasked by the European Commission (EC) and Eurocontrol with planning the future European air traffic management (ATM) system. 

            The Consortium, which began work in March, is currently developing a technological road map for the future European air traffic management (ATM) system.  This road map is part of the project definition phase - the first of SESAR’s 15-year, three-phase ATM modernization program.  The two-year project definition phase will conclude in March 2008.  The EC and Eurocontrol have provided $78 million for research and study on the project definition phase, which is being conducted by Consortium members.  The EC is considering a proposal to increase ATM research to $357 million annually between FY 2007-2013.

Unlike the JPDO, the Consortium is a bottom-up organization, meaning that the aviation industry is essentially developing the ATM road map for final approval by Eurocontrol and the EC.  In the U.S., the federal government is developing the NGATS road map, with input from the aviation industry via the NGATS Institute.

The second phase of SESAR is the development phase (2008-2013), which will focus on systems design and producing the key systems components.  The third and final phase is the deployment phase, lasting from 2014 to 2020.

U.S. members of the SESAR Consortium include Boeing, Honeywell, and Rockwell Collins.

The Present: Overview and Status of Legacy ATC Modernization Programs

One of the major challenges confronted by FAA in the near-term is how to replace its aging air traffic control facilities and obsolete legacy systems given stagnant Facilities and Equipment account funding and declining aviation trust fund revenues. 

According to the FAA’s own analysis, two-thirds of its $30 billion worth of assets are beyond their useful life.  Air traffic control towers average 30 years in age.  TRACON facilities average 34 years.  Primary En Route Radar Systems average 27 years.  En Route Control Centers average 40 years and are rated by General Services Administration (GSA) as being in poor condition.

            Congress appropriated $2.54 billion in F&E funding for fiscal years 2005 and 2006 to increase the capacity, efficiency, security and safety of the NAS.  FAA’s FY 2007 budget includes $2.5 billion for F&E funding – a reduction of almost $50 million –from the amounts appropriated by Congress in FY 2005 and FY 2006, and $600 million less than the level authorized by VISION 100 for FY 2007.  Of the total annual F&E budget, approximately 57 percent is used to develop and acquire ATC modernization projects – the remaining funds support personnel and related expenses, mission support and FAA facilities.

Air Traffic Organization

After almost a decade of Congressional initiatives designed to improve performance and reduce costs, especially in the areas of acquisition and service delivery, the FAA reorganized itself in February 2004 to form a new performance-based, value-driven organization within the agency to provide air traffic control services—the ATO.[8] 

The ATO combined the FAA’s Research and Acquisitions, Air Traffic Services and Free Flight offices into one organization.  It is aligned around the services delivered to the customers.  Headed up by a Chief Operating Officer (COO), Russ Chew, the ATO has ten service units (safety, communications, operations planning, finance, acquisition and business services, en route and oceanic services, terminal services, flight services, system operations services and technical operations services). 

            The ATO inherited the decades-long legacy of cost, schedule, and/or performance problems with major ATC system acquisitions.  GAO found that only three of 16 major system acquisitions are currently operating within their original cost, schedule and performance targets.  These major system acquisitions had total cost growth ranging from $1.1 million to about $1.5 billion over their original cost targets.

            Similarly, the DOT IG found that 11 of the 16 major ATC modernization acquisition programs will experience a total cost growth of about $5.6 billion, and 9 of the 16 programs will have schedule slips from 2 to 12 years. 

            Despite the challenges FAA has had with ATC acquisitions, GAO found that the ATO has made progress in meeting cost, schedule and performance targets, particularly since the formation of the ATO.  The DOT IG also stated that the bulk of the cost growth represented by the $5.6 billion occurred before the establishment of the ATO.

            The ATO also has cut or deferred action on three high-risk legacy ATC modernization programs, Next Generation Communication (NEXCOM), designed to transition analog air‑to‑ground transmissions to digital; Controller Pilot Datalink Communications (CPDLC), which would allow digital email-type capability between controllers and pilots; and Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS), a satellite-based precision-landing system.  Additionally, the ATO has broken down its troubled Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) acquisition down into more manageable phases (see p. 12).

The ATO has also had success controlling costs and schedule on two major acquisitions that will provide new capabilities: the Advanced Technologies and Oceanic Procedures (ATOP) system that provides new satellite-based surveillance capability over the ocean; the ongoing En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) program, a rewrite of software for high-altitude air traffic management that will serve as a platform for the next generation system.  

             Major legacy programs include:

• Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE-X) – Initiated in September 2001, this program will provide advanced surveillance equipment to prevent runway incursions at 34 major airports.  ASDE-X alerts air traffic controllers whenever planes appear to be headed for a runway collision.  Controllers can then contact the pilots and direct them away from the potential accident.  The program’s current cost is $510.2 million, an increase of $85 million from its original cost estimate.  The last site implementation target is 2011, four years later than originally planned.  The contractor is Sensis Corp.

• Airport Surveillance Radar Model – 11 (ASR-11) – Initiated in November 1997, this program replaces aging analog radar (ASR-7s) with digital radar (ASR-11s) at small terminal facilities.  To provide separation services to aircraft, air traffic controllers must have an accurate display of all aircraft under their control.  Controller displays use radar and transponder information to show the location of aircraft within 60 miles of the airport.  Terminal facilities use several models of the Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR).  The program’s current cost is $916 million, an increase of $743 million from its original cost estimate.  The last site implementation target is 2013, eight years later than originally planned.  The contractor is Raytheon.

• Advanced Technologies and Oceanic Procedures (ATOP) – Initiated in June 2001, this satellite-based navigation program modernizes FAA facilities that are responsible for managing large segments of airspace over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  ATOP provides controllers with a more precise display of aircraft position, which allows reduced separation of aircraft flying over the oceans.  ATOP has allowed for the use of new routes from South America to New York, saving between 2000-4000 pounds of fuel per flight.  The FAA estimates total user benefits of $2.6 billion from ATOP.  The program is on budget and on schedule – the Oakland Center (90 controllers/600 flights per day) and New York Center (100 controllers/500 flights per day) became fully operational in 2005.  The Anchorage Center (45 controllers/200 flights per day) began initial live operations in March.  The program cost is $548.2 million.  The contractor is Lockheed Martin.

• En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) – Initiated in June 2003, this program replaces the Host computer hardware and software, including the Host back-up system and associated support infrastructure, at 20 en route centers.  In essence, ERAM replaces the brain and central nervous system for facilities that manage high-altitude traffic.  With an estimated cost of $2.1 billion, ERAM is one of the largest and most complex acquisitions in FAA’s ATC modernization initiative.  The program is currently on budget and on schedule.  FAA estimates that ERAM will yield $3.3 billion in cost savings.  Because FAA expects the Host computer hardware and software to be obsolete within the next 5 years, the Agency has placed a high priority on fielding ERAM at all 20 en route centers nationwide by 2011.  The contractors are Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

• FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) – Initiated in July 1999, this program replaces older telecommunications systems with one provider responsible for operating and maintaining FAA’s telecommunications infrastructure.  FTI is central to FAA’s efforts to transition from multiple telecommunication networks to a single network, thereby reducing operating costs.  The program’s current cost is $310.2 million, an increase of $104.5 million from its original cost estimate.  Most of this increase can be attributed to the fact that the FAA dramatically increased the number of sites scheduled to receive FTI from 1,374 to 4,463.  Despite some initial implementation delays, the program remains on schedule for completion in 2008.  The contractor is Harris Corporation.

• Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) – This program replaces controller and maintenance workstations with color displays, processors, and computer software at terminal air traffic control facilities.  STARS has a long history of cost increases and schedule slips.  FAA re-baselined the STARS program in 2004 and 2005, limiting deployment to 59 sites instead of 170.  A decision affecting the remaining 100-plus terminal automation sites has been postponed for over a year.  To date, the FAA has spent $1.3 billion on the STARS program.  The contractor is Raytheon.

• Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) – Initiated in 1998, this program provides the augmentation needed to make the GPS satellite signal fully usable for en route, terminal and non-precision approaches.  The program’s original cost was $892 million; however, if FAA chooses to pursue Category 1 capability next year, the DOT IG estimates that the program cost could rise to $3.3 billion.  The program was originally scheduled to be deployed by 2001.  The program is now on track for completion in 2013, depending on the final capability levels, which the FAA has yet to determine.  The key risks to WAAS implementation are the development of flight procedures and user equipage.  The contractor is Raytheon.

Existing and Potential ATO Cost Savings and Productivity Initiatives

            FAA and the ATO are currently implementing a wide-range of cost control and savings initiatives.  These initiatives include: contracting out flight service operations ($2.2 billion in savings over the next decade); better sick leave management ($59 million in savings); reduction in night shift operations at selected towers ($34 million in savings); and telecommunications upgrade (no savings until after 2010).  GAO determined that these initiatives could save about $450 million through fiscal year 2010.[9]

            Given the tight budgetary environment, the ATO is under tremendous pressure to reduce costs even further.  Citing an independent financial assessment of FAA conducted in 1997 by Coopers & Lybrand, and a 1997 report by the bipartisan National Civil Aviation Review Commission (NCARC), chaired by DOT Secretary Norm Mineta, GAO recommended that the ATO consider a broad range of initiatives that offer potentially significant cost reductions and productivity improvements, including:

·        Consolidating major air traffic control facilities – ATO maintains 21 air traffic control centers, employing about 6,700 controllers, to serve high-altitude air traffic nationwide.  The Coopers & Lybrand report concluded that the number of these centers could be reduced without a negative impact on air safety. 

·        Consolidate regional offices – FAA maintains nine regional offices.  The Coopers & Lybrand report and the NCARC report said FAA could achieve savings from consolidating regional offices.  According to the NCARC report, consolidating nine FAA regional offices into three could save $400 million over a 5-year period. 

·        Decommission legacy infrastructure – ATO maintains thousands of navigational aids to help guide aircraft to their destinations.  According to the NCARC and Coopers & Lybrand reports, decommissioning these navigational aids could result in significant annual savings - $150 million per year, according to the NCARC report.  The reports both concluded that FAA should expedite the decommissioning and transition to satellite-based navigation.  The Coopers & Lybrand report noted that FAA has historically been reluctant to retire these systems, noting that general aviation users continue to rely on some of these systems until their aircraft are upgraded to utilize satellite-based navigation.

·        Expand the contract tower program – Although FAA employees staff control towers at most of the nation’s busiest airports, FAA contracts for outside staff to work at over 200 airports with lower traffic levels.  Both the NCARC and Coopers & Lybrand reports recommended expanding the contract tower program to achieve savings of an additional $20 million to $30 million per year.  The DOT IG found that the existing contract tower program is saving the FAA $175 million annually.

·        Implementation of new ATC technologies – A number of new technologies, including User Request Evaluation Tool (URET) and ADS-B will improve controller productivity, increase system efficiency and capacity, enhance safety, and, in the long-term, possibly reduce the number of controller positions needed.

Other potential cost savings initiatives include leasing, rather than owning, telecommunications infrastructure, and leasing out sites of closed NAVAIDS for uses such as cell towers (to generate ongoing revenue).

CHAIRMAN'S OPENING STATEMENT
Chairman John Mica (R-FL)

WITNESS LIST

PANEL I

Mr. Russell Chew

Chief Operating Officer

Air Traffic Organization

Federal Aviation Administration

Mr. Robert Pearce

Acting Director

Joint Planning and Development Office

Federal Aviation Administration, Air Traffic Organization

Mr. Gerald Dillingham

Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues

U.S. General Accountability Office

Mr. Todd Zinser

Acting Inspector General

Office of Inspector General

U.S. Department of Transportation

Mr. Amr A. ElSawy

Senior Vice President and General Manager

Center for Advanced Aviation System Development

The MITRE Corporation