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Speech

ATCSCC Groundbreaking

Mike [Sammartino], thanks for that. And a special welcome to all the local leaders who’ve turned out this afternoon. Thanks for coming.

To really appreciate what this day means for aviation is to understand what goes on behind the curtains at the air traffic command center.

It’s the FAA’s nerve center. NASA has mission control, we have this.

From a building all the way in Herndon, we track every plane — even Air Force One — as they criss-cross the country. The command center gives us the big picture. It’s where we untangle the bottlenecks before they ripple through the rest of the airspace.

And what makes this all possible is by working together. Partnership. Every morning, bright and early, and continuing every two hours throughout the day, there’s a teleconference about the status of the national airspace.

As you can imagine, we talk about the weather quite a bit. The airspace is orchestrated much more smoothly as a result. And we collaborate with all our customers, the airlines and general aviation.

This is all part of collaborative decision making, in which the government and users make good decisions — together— instead of decisions made against each other in a vacuum.

That’s going to continue going forward, no matter what, no matter where.

So, we’ve decided to pull up stakes and come to Warrenton to become part of a large campus of FAA facilities. It only makes sense, considering we already have everything we need here. A strong infrastructure, security, and technical support.

While the command center will go about the business of the national airspace, the Potomac TRACON can focus on the local scene — handling flights out of BWI, Dulles and Reagan.

The new home will mean better technology, and a better work environment for our employees.

As the command center makes the transition here, let me assure you that it will be a smooth and seamless changeover. We’ll still have full command of the skies 24/7, just like we always do.

Back in the day, long before I joined the FAA, this place was the brainchild of a long-time Air Traffic executive by the name of Dave Hurley. I’m told that Dave was a big guy with big ideas. More than a decade ago, he reasoned that traffic flow needed to be a coordinated effort. He was right. You know, the measure of a man is his legacy. This facility is just that. Ideas like this one don’t come around very often. When they do, you’ve got to capitalize on them. This is a case where we did just that. The flying public may never have heard of Dave Hurley, but they’re reaping the benefit of one of his great ideas. That’s what’s called a legacy — a great idea that affects all of aviation across an entire nation.

Thanks very much for coming.