header5
Print
PDF

Latest Articles from the Industry

. Posted in Blogs - Tel-Instrument Industry Trends

 

Ongoing Sequester Will Challenge NextGen, FAA Chief Says

AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE JUNE 10, 2013
 
3huertanacmeeting
FAA Administrator Michael Huerta (center) addresses the NextGen Advisory Committee with new FAA deputy administrator Michael Whitaker (left) and the chairman of the NAC and Alaska Air Group, Bill Ayer. (Photo: Bill Carey)
June 10, 2013, 11:10 AM

Continuing annual budget reductions due to the sequester process in theU.S. will make it difficult for the Federal Aviation Administration to complete the enabling programs of the NextGenATC modernization effort on time,FAAAdministrator Michael Huerta told theNextGen Advisory Committee (NAC) on June 4. In April, theU.S. Congress passed legislation that gave theFAA flexibility to reallocate money and help restart one such program, he said. But the legislation stays in effect only for the balance of Fiscal Year 2013, which ends on September30.

Unless the Congress reverses it, thesequester will amount to a 10-year budget-cutting exercise that affects both civil agencies and the Department of Defense. The measure threatens theFAAs NextGen effort not so much by reducing funding for equipment in the agencys facilities and equipment account, but by depleting the manpower needed to help develop and operate new systems, including air traffic controllers and technicians. Seven NextGen programs exist in various stages of implementation, Huertasaid.

These programs are current contract commitments that will deliver new capabilities for all phases of flight by 2018, he said. The budget profile even under sequester would provide capital funding required to meet most of those commitments. But to make this happen, we also have to have the operations funds to maintain active work force participation in key activities. If were not able to keep that work force engagement, its very difficult to meet all of our current commitments and the associated time linesIts one thing to deploy a system; its quite another thing to make itoperational.

When the sequester took effect on March 1, theFAA sought to cut costs by requiring controllers to take unpaid leave, or furlough days. It also announced that 149 contractATC towers at small airports would close. Passed by Congress in April, the Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013 authorized theFAA to shift $253 million from the Airport Improvement Program, which lawmakers had previously exempted from the sequester, into its operations and facilities and equipment accounts.The agency then canceled the furloughs and contract towerclosings.

Huerta said the legislation also freed $10 million in funds to prevent delays in core NextGen programs. The money helped restart suspended parts of theOptimization of Airspace and Procedures in the Metroplex (OAPM) program. TheOAPM effort aims to improve air traffic flows in congested metroplex regions with multiple large airports. Study teams consisting of theFAA, airline representatives and other stakeholders meet to identify efficiency gains through measures such as adjusting airspace sectors and implementing advanced navigation procedures. TheFAA recalled controllers and managers assigned to metroplex projects to their home facilities until fundingresumed.

TheFAAs new deputy administrator, Michael Whitaker, accompanied Huerta to theNAC meeting in Washington,D.C. Whitaker now serves as the agencys chief NextGen officer, a role Huerta previously held. A former United Airlines andTWA executive, he most recently worked for InterGlobe Enterprises, an airline management and travel services company that operates Indian low-fare carrierIndiGo.

Military News

  • Southwest Airlines’ 10 Busiest Airports Have 3,700 Daily Movements In March

    Simple Flying - Aviation News 19 Feb 2025 | 8:06 pm

    Southwest Airlines’ 10 Busiest Airports Have 3,700 Daily Movements In March Southwest is the USA's second-largest passenger operator. With a fleet of 800+ Boeing 737s, the carrier's statistics show that enplaned passengers totaled 175.5 million in 2024. Traffic rose by 2% compared to its prior high in 2023 (despite the average passenger fare increasing by nearly double that rate). As traffic rose faster than capacity, the load factor increased to over 80%.

  • Air Force tests unarmed nuclear missile in pre-dawn video

    Defense News 19 Feb 2025 | 7:47 pm

    The Air Force conducted a test launch of an unarmed Minuteman III missile early Wednesday to help ensure its land-based nuclear force still operates safely and effectively.Airmen from Air Force Global Strike Command launched the intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 1 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, the department said. The Minuteman missile carried no nuclear payload but was instead equipped with a test re-entry vehicle that was designed to transmit readings.The missile flew about 4,200 miles at speeds of more than 15,000 mph to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site at the Marshal Islands’ Kwajalein Atoll. Personnel at the test site, which is run by Army Space and Missile Defense Command, collected radar, optical and telemetry data as the missile closed in, to measure how well it worked.“Today’s Minuteman III test launch is just one of the ways the Department of the Air[…]

  • Space Force lacks ‘warfighting ethos,’ experts say

    Defense News 19 Feb 2025 | 6:25 pm

    U.S. policies around weapons in space, its over-classification of space capabilities and a lacking “warfighting ethos” are undermining public perception of the Space Force and “subverting” its legitimacy as a separate military service, according to a new study from the Mitchell Institute.The study, released Wednesday, is the byproduct of a two-day workshop the Mitchell Institute’s Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence held in October. The event convened 55 space experts from across the military, industry and academia to consider how the Space Force’s current operational concepts might hold up amid a range of potential crises over the next 25 years — from a deployed Russian nuclear antisatellite weapon to an attempt by China to hijack a futuristic “luxury space hotel.”The workshop highlighted gaps in how the general public, and even some in the Defense Department, perceive the role of the Space Force and a disconnect between rhetoric that labels space as[…]

  • United Airlines & Delta Air Lines' 22 European Routes With Narrowbodies In 2025

    Simple Flying - Aviation News 19 Feb 2025 | 6:05 pm

    Eleven airlines plan narrowbody flights from the US to Europe this year. In order of annual departures, they are Aer Lingus, Icelandair, JetBlue, United Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, PLAY, SAS, Iberia, Azores Airlines, La Compagnie, and Delta Air Lines. This article focuses exclusively on United and Delta's single-aisle transatlantic operations. (American last had such flights in 2019 before its Boeing 757s were withdrawn.)

  • The US must reform an arms sales process that invites dawdling

    Defense News 19 Feb 2025 | 5:34 pm

    Last month, the State Department announced a record high in defense sales. When President Trump left office in 2021, defense sales totaled just over $175 billion. Defense exports saw an 81% increase from 2020 to 2024. If the second Trump administration wants to keep pace, it will have to re-think how it works with the various stakeholders to improve the timeline for delivery of weapons sales to our partners.One important change is to partner with Congress to ensure that decisions on arms transfers are timely, sustainable and efficient.In 2012, the State Department established a process, dubbed the “Tiered Review System,” whereby the State Department would “informally” preview prospective defense article transfers and licenses to the congressional committees of jurisdiction (Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee) before initiating the formal notification that is required under the Arms Export Control Act.This process is not statutory and is memorialized by[…]

  • Puerto Rico Gets New Airline Service In June With 2 Routes On Boeing 737 MAX 8

    Simple Flying - Aviation News 19 Feb 2025 | 4:19 pm

    Arajet, the Dominican Republic-based airline, has scheduled two services from two Dominican cities to San Juan, Puerto Rico, opening up more connections from Punta Cana and Santo Domingo.

  • Spotted: Delta Airbus A350-900 In Special "100 Years" Livery

    Simple Flying - Aviation News 19 Feb 2025 | 2:00 pm

    Spotted: Delta Airbus A350-900 In Special "100 Years" Livery On February 19th, 2025, a Delta Air Lines Airbus A350-900 featuring a special livery was spotted. This aircraft's livery celebrates the fact that Delta is turning 100 years old in 2025, and it features a unique combination of silver and gold features. It is not unsurprising for a legacy airline to use special liveries to celebrate company milestones, especially ones as important as the airline's 100th anniversary. The aircraft in question bears registration MSN720.

  • Delta Crash In Toronto: Canadian Transportation Safety Board Updates On Investigation

    Simple Flying - Aviation News 19 Feb 2025 | 1:10 pm

    The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada has provided an initial update on its investigation of the safety event involving the Endeavor Air Mitsubishi CRJ900, which was operating a flight on behalf of Delta Connection, that happened in Toronto, Canada, on February 17.

  • GM Defense boosts Mideast footprint with Edge military vehicle tie-up

    Defense News 19 Feb 2025 | 12:58 pm

    ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — GM Defense has signed an agreement with Edge Group to build a local manufacturing capability for some of its light tactical vehicles, which could be integrated with Emirati weapons.The General Motors subsidiary will work on the project with NIMR Automotive, an arm of the Emirati defense conglomerate, to assess demand for military platforms in the Middle East and Africa region.“We plan to leverage off NIMR’s local facility for potential future production of the Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) in several variants, including the cargo one, which is garnering significant demand,” Bradley Watters, vice president for international business development at GM Defense, told Defense News.Upon request, the manufacturer would also be prepared to establish its own production facility in the UAE, which would be a first for the U.S. company.Two vehicle variants armed with Emirati systems were on display at the IDEX and NAVDEX defense fairs[…]

  • General Atomics eyes ‘huge’ MQ-9 sale to Saudi Arabia

    Defense News 19 Feb 2025 | 10:12 am

    ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates —General Atomics is preparing to offer a package deal to Saudi Arabia to acquire a number of MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones, company executives said in an interview at the IDEX arms fair in Abu Dhabi.“We are still in the very early stages but are pursuing this hard as there is a huge interest coming from Saudi regarding the MQ-9B — we expect they have significant requirements [for these drones] that could result in many of tens of thousands of jobs in the U.S. if we were to close that sale,” Dave Alexander, president of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, told Defense News.While the executive was coy about specifics — the Kingdom has yet to commit to anything — he noted that the combo offer includes a “large number of aircraft” among other things, and would involve local involvement within the country.The company declined to elaborate on what[…]

Search

Login Register