Free Aviation Guy Newsletter Want to receive the latest on aviation delivered to you? Get all the latest and greatest aviation insights for FREE! Join your fellow Av Geeks who subscribe to Aviation Guy for FREE!!

Will the FAA Reauthorization Really Speed Up NextGen Implementation?

Like many people, I am very excited that the FAA finally has a stable source of funding, as you may have already read.  Probably the biggest reason that I am excited is that NextGen Air Traffic Control may finally get the funding it needs to get fully implemented.  This is something that has been in development for over a decade, if not longer.

One of the problems with the implementation is that there are two sides to NextGen, and without both sides doing their part the whole thing is just a big waste of money.

The FAA has to develop the system at airports, and throughout the entire air traffic system.  They have to install ground stations and train their controllers on how the whole thing works.  They also have to develop the departures, en route tracks, and arrivals that are supposed to save millions of dollars, and a good amount of time.

The other side is the aircraft owners, mostly the airlines, who must upgrade their aircraft to support the new technology.  That means spending billions of dollars on equipment that right now isn’t even fully functional.  That is a lot to ask of companies that are running on fumes as it is.

The cool thing about the new funding bill is that it included provisions to help move the whole process along.  An article written by Alan Levin of Bloomberg.com discusses a couple of very important aspects of the new bill that will definitely aid in the implementation of the NextGen system.

Like so many things, money is a huge aspect of the whole situation.  NextGen is supposed to lead to huge fuel savings by making routes, and air traffic in general, far more efficient.  But, in order to realize those savings there must be an initial investment.  The new funding bill provides a mechanism where the Department of Transportation can guarantee loans to help with the upgrading of all these aircraft.  While a gift is better than a loan, it is definitely a much better prospect than having to find the funding themselves.

Maybe one of the biggest time savers that the bill offers is the ability to receive a “categorical exclusion” from environmental reviews for flight paths if they save fuel, and reduce noise.  Now I love the environment as much as the next guy.  Many of my fondest memories are from time spent in real wilderness areas.  That being said, it is ridiculous how long many of these environmental studies take, and even then the results are somewhat questionable.

Most people realize that pretty much any data collected can be twisted to suit the needs of whoever wants to use them.  While there is some complaining from environmentalists that this exclusion will become too commonplace I really don’t see what they have to complain about.  It only applies if the new route reduces fuel use and noise, or in other words, if the new route does exactly what the environmentalists want them to do.

The full bill is 375 pages so who knows how many provisions are in there that may help the process along, or how many other points there are that may actually hurt the process.  All I know is that our current system is based on ancient technology, and it needs to be updated.  The technology is there and ready to be used; it is just a matter of getting the whole system set up.  I am extremely happy to see that the new bill is doing its part to speed up the process.

March 1, 2012 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

User Fee Debate Overshadows FAA Reauthorization Bill

It is amazing how something so good can happen at the same time as something so dumb.  On Tuesday, President Obama signed into law the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 which provides four years and $63.4-billion in funding for the FAA.  This follows 23 short-term funding bills over the past five years.

All of the experts applauded this action as it provides a certain amount of stability for an organization that has been in limbo for half of a decade.  Most people overlook the fact that the lack of funding for the FAA has also meant a lack of funding for a lot of very important airport development projects.

The irony of the situation is that just the day before, on Monday, President Obama released a budget that included user fees of  $100 per flight as well as increasing the passenger security fee from as low as $2.50 to as high as $7.50 over the next 6 years.  This increase could cause very serious issues for an industry that is still struggling in a variety of ways.

It is amazing to me that you could do something so detrimental the day before doing something so valuable.

The first concern is obviously money.  Aviation companies, both commercial and business, are struggling to make ends meet in any way that they can.  Commercial airlines will not be affected quite as much since they will simply pass the fee on to the passengers which they won’t really notice either since the $100 per flight will spread out to less than a dollar for most flights.

The security fee will be worse, but again, airlines will pass it along to the passengers, and with the high price of tickets most people will simply write it off.  But I know that I for one am tired of paying more and more for plane tickets.

Bigger business aviation companies will also not feel the pinch nearly as much since $100 really isn’t that big of a deal when you are dropping tens of thousands of dollars on fuel for every trip.  The real pain will be felt by the little guys who have less of an impact on fuel purchases, but who are responsible for a much larger portion of the total flights.

These smaller jets routinely purchase only a few hundred dollars worth of fuel because that is all they need.  They also fight tooth and nail to not pay landing fees at FBO’s because even $50 more for each flight makes a huge difference to their bottom line.  Having worked at an FBO I have seen how hard these guys fight for every dollar, because they have to.

Now they are proposing that these users pay an additional $100 for each and every flight, if they fly in controlled airspace.  Talk about a gray area.  Even people who teach aviation have a tough time defining what exactly controlled airspace is.

Does that mean that every little single-engine prop is going to have to come up with an extra $100 for every flight when they are only spending $50 on fuel?  But this becomes a much bigger issue than just money.

If the choice is between paying $100 and simply flying VFR instead of IFR, then what choice are most of these little guys going to make?  A lot of them are flying short legs anyways, so how hard is it to just fly VFR?  The vast majority of passengers won’t even realize that their safety is at risk as opposed to being under the control of air traffic controllers.

They use the excuse that aviation needs to pay for its own security, which in principle I don’t have any problem with.  The problem that I have is that the government continues to impose new rules and regulations and then expecting users to just eat the costs.  In reality, how much safer are we now than we used to be?

My own personal feelings about TSA will have to wait for another day, but the point is that the government once again feels that throwing money at a problem will be a solution despite all of the evidence to the contrary.  Look at most government-funded programs and you will see that money is generally not the real issue.

So, while I am ecstatic that the FAA is now funded for a period that will allow some serious work to take place on NextGen ATC, and a bunch of other badly needed development, I hate to see that the government is asking for even more of a sacrifice from an industry that is already struggling.  Pretty much every sector is struggling, and they all need to make changes and pull their own weight, but the changes to these fees simply is not the answer.

February 16, 2012 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Lawmakers Reach Deal on Labor to Clear FAA Funding for Takeoff – The Hill’s Transportation Report

Lawmakers reach deal on labor to clear FAA funding for takeoff – The Hill’s Transportation Report.

Apparently Congress finally heard something that people were saying.  This to me was a no brainer, and the shocker is that it took so long.  I am glad they were able to get past their differences and make something happen.

Obviously the bill is not passed yet, and they specifically said there are still some other issues to work out, but it should be able to go through now.

At this point only Harry Reid has released the news, but that is at the very least a good sign because he is the vocal leader of the senate.

I think it is great that the bill is expected to last four years.  That should give the FAA some time to really get things done.  With all of the stuff that needs to get done they really needed some time to make it happen.

January 20, 2012 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

FAA Reauthorization Still on Hold Thanks to Politics

Millions of people step onto planes all around the world without a single thought of the regulatory agencies that control the industry.  In the US we are lucky to have the safest airspace in the world, but no one thinks of that while they ignore the pre-flight instructions from the flight attendants.

The vast majority of people will never talk to the air traffic controllers at airports and en route control centers throughout the country, but they are there everyday to keep fliers safe.  People are probably even less likely to ever meet the countless inspectors who ensure that aircraft, pilots, mechanics, and dozens of other professions do their job properly.

According to Michael Huerta, acting administrator of the FAA, civil aviation contributes $1.3 trillion to our economy and generates more than 10 million jobs.  The FAA oversees all of that, but for almost five years they have been working on temporary time.

Since 2007, when the last authorization bill was passed, there have been 22 extensions, and we stand poised on the edge of number 23.  Congress has until January 31 to get a new bill passed, but based on their inability to do pretty much anything I do not have my hopes very high.

Apparently the whole bill is hung up on one portion which specifies voting procedures for unions.  While it is an important point of discussion, it is something that should simply be taken out of the bill for now so that everything else can move forward.

The lack of an authorization bill is not only keeping everyone in the FAA on their heels, but pretty much everyone involved in aviation.  Airports are not starting some projects they other wise would because they are waiting on funding from the FAA.  Funding that the FAA cannot hand out until they are authorized to do so.

Arguably more important than that, is the inability of the FAA to really push forward with the NextGen air traffic control system.  Again, most people don’t think much of it, but the reality is that the new system will create jobs, save on fuel costs, and make air travel for efficient for everyone involved.

This Congress seems to be content with doing nothing simply to spite the members of the other parties, but that is completely unacceptable.  They were elected to do a job, and so far they have completely failed to do it.

January 19, 2012 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.