Speech

China/U.S. Aviation Symposium

Good morning and thank you for this opportunity to address the China/U.S. Symposium on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration.

This Symposium offers a unique opportunity for us to meet and build on the important aviation relationship that exists between China and the United States. This year’s meeting has special significance. You see, 2009 represents what I consider the centennial of our aviation relationship.

A hundred years ago, on the evening of September 21, 1909, a young man climbed into his new flying machine in Oakland, California, carrying nothing but his courage and a determination to show the world he could fly. The man’s name was Feng Ru, the famous Chinese airplane designer and aviator. That evening, he flew his biplane for the first time and started a legacy that has grown ever stronger over the past 100 years.

While Feng Ru’s story ended much too soon, it didn’t end in California. Knowing he was making aviation history, he felt the need to return to his homeland — China. He did just that in 1911. Here in China, he continued his innovative work in aviation. He lost his life during an exhibition flight in 1912, doing what he loved, but not before he left his indelible mark on aviation.

Things have changed a great deal over the past century. Feng Ru and other aviation pioneers had very different expectations in terms of safety. They knew the risks they were taking.

Today, expectations have changed and we are constantly challenging ourselves to find new ways to improve the safety of our aviation system. That’s why these meetings are so important. Aviation is a global endeavor. If we are going to someday achieve a truly seamless global aviation system and the highest level of safety possible, we are going to need to work together.

I believe that the United States and China, which represent the two largest aviation systems in the world, have an obligation to the global community to lead the way in aviation cooperation.

I should add that our cooperation is not just about the size of our respective aviation systems, it’s about our similarities. In the United States, we operate an aviation system with a heavy concentration of air traffic along our east coast. For us, weather is a constant concern, especially with regard to summer thunderstorms and winter winds and snow. Sound familiar?

We even compare in terms of the geographic size of our countries, and, therefore, in terms of our territorial airspace. The land mass for both China and United States measures about 9.6 million square kilometers.

Let me also add our economies to this comparison. There’s no question that both of our economic engines could use a little tuning up. I raise it in this context because I recently had the honor to meet Minister Li (Shenglin) when he met with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood in Washington last week. During that meeting, much of the discussion focused on our respective economic stimulus efforts — both of which include major airport improvement and expansion projects.

All of these factors have provided the impetus for us to increase our level of cooperation, especially in the area of air traffic management. Our ATM cooperation has increased significantly since 2004, when we created the Joint Air Traffic Steering Group — or JATSG. We have already learned a great deal from each other through this working group, which included cooperation on several initiatives that contributed to the success of last year’s Summer Olympics. We are currently preparing for our sixth meeting of the JATSG in the

United States later this month.

From this solid foundation, it was only natural for us to take the next step and partner on NextGen. It’s important to ensure that our work under the JATSG is getting the right building blocks in place to support our air transportation systems of the future.

Whether we’re talking about NextGen or CNATS (Chinese NextGen Air Traffic System), we all recognize that aviation systems of the future must be compatible and interoperable — they must be able to talk to each other. This is why our upcoming meeting of our NextGen Air Traffic Management Steering Group will be held in conjunction with our JATSG meeting in April. You’ll hear more about our plans for the future during tomorrow’s NextGen panel.

We also continue to make great strides through our work in the area of flight safety through our Flight Standards Joint Steering Committee. The bilateral cooperation to improve operational safety spans almost 15 years. In September 2008, the CAAC and FAA held their 12^th meeting in Suzhou to develop the 2009 work plan. Our next meeting will be held in Denver in September 2009.

Our work under the Flight Standards Joint Steering Committee has helped take our working relationships to new highs and aviation accident rates to new lows. The FAA Flight Standards organization has now established an office in Beijing through which it can continue to build on this positive relationship.

Our cooperation includes work to implement safety enhancements under the Commercial Aviation Safety Team, known as CAST. This government-industry partnership seeks to identify root causes of accidents and incidents and develop real solutions to prevent future accidents.

To date, the North Asia Regional Aviation Safety Team, which includes China, has adopted 40 safety enhancements recommended through the CAST program. These include Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems, training improvements, standard checklists and many others.

I would also like to mention our work in the area of airports. Our airport cooperation has focused on airport safety certification and inspection, runway safety, airport development and planning, Engineered Materials Arresting Systems (EMAS), Runway Status Lights, and our new pavement design models and software. I would also note that a senior delegation from CAAC will be visiting the United States later this month to share information on Airport Emergency Management. They will visit airports in Chicago, Milwaukee, Atlanta, and Dallas.

In addition, I would like to mention our efforts to mitigate the impact of aviation on our global environment. In order to sustain growth in our industry, we must find new ways to address greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution.

At present, we’re working together through the International Civil Aviation Organization — or ICAO — to identify ways to address these environmental challenges. China and the United States are two of the 15 members of ICAO’s Group on International Aviation and Climate Change, known as the GIACC. This is the right way to go in terms of addressing what is one of our most significant global challenges.

The areas I’ve just mentioned — air traffic, flight standards, airports and the environment — are all high priorities for the FAA. I’m pleased to say that senior FAA experts from each of these areas have joined me here in Beijing for this Symposium. They will be speaking on their relevant panels during the next two days and available to meet with you and discuss questions you may have regarding these topics.

Before I leave the topic of cooperation, I would like to mention one other initiative that has helped foster our working relationships with China. It’s the Aviation Cooperation Program, or ACP, which Ms. Zak addressed earlier this morning.

The ACP has increased the effectiveness of our cooperation with China by making it three dimensional. What I mean when I say three dimensional is that our cooperation is no longer limited to exchanges between the FAA and CAAC — it now includes our U.S. aviation industry partners as well. This not only expands our pool of resources and technical expertise, but it helps us focus our cooperative efforts and avoid project duplication.

The ACP currently includes 33 U.S. industry partners. I know that many of them are in the audience today, and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your commitment to work with us on these important ACP initiatives.

As a co-chair of the ACP, the FAA has been very pleased to support several important aviation projects, including the Executive Management Development Training programs. Over the past three years, the FAA has worked with U.S. industry to host more than 100 students from CAAC and the airlines to share management practices.

It’s important to remember that when it comes to aviation cooperation, it’s not just about technologies and procedures, it’s about people. Through the EMDT programs, we believe that we’ve taken an important step toward improving our working relationships with the next generation of aviation leaders.

The ACP has also promoted cooperation in the areas of transport aircraft certification, air traffic flow management, regional and general aviation growth, airports and the environment.

So, what lies ahead as we embark upon our second century of aviation cooperation? One thing is certain — we’ve built a solid foundation upon which we can work together to promote continued improvements in aviation safety and efficiency.

It’s now up to us to continue the proud tradition that Feng Ru started 100 years ago — sharing what we know about this great industry we call aviation. While none of us will ever have the opportunity to be aviation pioneers in the same way Feng Ru was in the early 1900’s, we have every opportunity to be pioneers in technology and cooperation.

Let’s find new ways to take aviation safety and efficiency to the next level. Most important, let’s do it together.

Thank you.