Opening Statement By Chairman Mark Udall

I want to thank Chairman Gordon for holding this very timely hearing.  It is important that this Committee continue to pay close attention to the progress and challenges of the interagency Next Generation Air Transportation System [NextGen] initiative—the national effort to transform the nation’s aging air traffic control system so that it can accommodate the large increases in travel demand forecast to occur over the next two decades. As I have often stated, America’s aviation system is vital to the continued health of our economy and our competitiveness in the wider world beyond our shores, as well as being important to our quality of life.  We need to ensure that we do all that is necessary to maintain its health.

Last year I chaired a Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee hearing on the Joint Planning and Development Office’s progress in planning and coordinating the research necessary to implement NextGen.  I opened last year’s hearing by saying that I was troubled by indications that all may not be going as well as hoped with the NextGen effort and that we had not yet seen a clear plan from FAA and the JPDO for implementing agreed-upon NextGen technologies and procedures into the National Airspace System expeditiously.  As it turns out, we found out during that hearing that long-promised planning documents and a critical interagency Memorandum of Understanding were not yet completed.  I am keenly interested in seeing what progress has been made since that hearing.

Today, the need for NextGen is greater than ever.  Passengers are faced with incessant delays, many caused by an aging air traffic control system’s inability to cope with the capacity-reducing effects of bad weather.  Over the short term, soaring fuel prices have put some airlines on the brink of economic collapse.  Over the longer term, with reduced capital on hand to pay for higher fuel costs, other airlines have postponed purchases of quieter and more fuel efficient aircraft.  And just last month, a shutdown of a critical computer system stranded hundreds of aircraft and delayed thousands of passengers.  As I said after the incident, the outage demonstrated just how vulnerable our air traffic control system is - and how critical it is to our economic well-being, competitiveness and our quality of life.

Now I want to note that this Committee and this House of Representatives have not been standing still.  Last September the House passed an FAA reauthorization bill - which included provisions I authored to improve our air traffic control system – by a healthy margin.  Unfortunately, that legislation has not yet cleared the Senate.  H.R. 2881 addresses critical needs related to NextGen.   The R&D provisions in the House-passed bill will help ensure that the Nation’s air transportation system is able to handle the expected significant growth in future air travel demand over the next twenty years safely, efficiently, and in an environmentally friendly manner.

It is imperative that the Congress help ensure that FAA has the tools it needs to keep the Nation’s air transportation system safe, efficient, and environmentally friendly.  With a projected cost to taxpayers as much as $22 billion and to airspace users as much as $20 billion, it is important that we get NextGen right and that those asked to make sizeable investments get a viable return.  FAA needs to move smartly and in a focused manner, making sure that announced near term accelerations of regional demonstrations do not detract from the long term benefits promised nationwide. 

I recognize that developing and implementing NextGen are enormous challenges.  However, we need to look both at where progress is being made and where improvement is needed.  I look forward to reviewing the testimony of today’s distinguished panel of witnesses and to getting their constructive suggestions on how we can help make the transition to NextGen a reality.