STATEMENT OF
THE HONORABLE JANE F. GARVEY
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATOR
BEFORE THE JOINT HEARING OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUDGET
AND THE SENATE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
ON FAA MODERNIZATION: CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS
FEBRUARY 3, 2000

Chairmen Domenici, Shelby, and Members of the Committee and Subcommittee: 

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you this morning to discuss the Federal Aviation Administration’s progress in modernizing the National Airspace System (NAS). I am pleased to report that in the past two years, the FAA's restructured approach for modernization has produced promising results – specifically in the creation of a manageable short and long-term strategy to modernization and in the form of positive responses from our partners in the aviation community.

The FAA is a 24 hour/seven days a week service delivery organization. The FAA controls approximately 200,000 takeoffs and landings per day and moves over
600 million passengers per year. This latter number is expected to reach 1 billion within a decade. Our customers depend on the safe and efficient operation of the NAS. Maintaining this system in a safe and efficient manner, while providing for the anticipated growth in the use of NAS, is the FAA’s top priority.

Our nation’s decade-long economic expansion has produced a sustained increase in demand for air traffic control (ATC) services. Traffic has grown about 4 percent a year and some locations have seen 20 percent increases during a year as new flights are added into highly competitive airline links. As this economic growth and increase in demand for our services continues, increasing pressures will be placed on aviation resources.

The world looks to the FAA for guidance and support not only for air traffic control, but for all aviation activities, including security and certification. The standards we set will guide international aviation for years to come.

Managing Differently

Our management approach can be summed up in a phrase that I am sure many of you have heard by now: evolution, not revolution. Instead of taking a "big bang" approach to modernization, we are moving incrementally, building upon each step that we have taken, reducing the potential for cost overruns and schedule delays. In addition, the FAA has established a strong partnership with the aviation industry and labor unions. As a result, the FAA has focused resources on areas important to industry and has taken steps to coordinate with the appropriate labor groups.

This management approach to NAS modernization is the right one to take, given the tight budget constraints in which all federal agencies must operate. As a federal entity, the FAA must also meet its annual performance goals. Our annual performance is also tied to how effectively the FAA manages the resources Congress provides. Our NAS modernization efforts, built upon incremental steps, is best suited for the task of managing the dollars your committees provide to the FAA.

As I mentioned, the FAA has structured our approach to modernization with a particular emphasis on air traffic control modernization, the cornerstone of the NAS. We have defined three elements to air traffic control modernization: first, sustaining our current system and renewing the infrastructure; second, adding safety features, (safety, of course, being the FAA’s primary mission); and third, improving the system to increase capacity and efficiency.

Our Achievements

When it comes to NAS sustainment, I’m sure each member of both committees is well aware of our largest and most recent sustainment project. – Y2K compliance. The FAA had to assess and certify 628 different systems and programs – a daunting task to say the least. Whether you were traveling at 35,000 feet as Senator Gorton and I were at year-end, or following worldwide festivities on television, you never heard anything alarming or threatening about our transition. It was the dedication, time, sufficient funding, and effort of hundreds of FAA employees that made our Y2K transition such a success.

In order to sustain our current systems and renew our aviation infrastructure, we have incorporated both major and minor changes to the air traffic control system. Thus far, we have installed and integrated more than 750 major systems and pieces of equipment into the NAS. These efforts to sustain our system produce immediate paybacks. For instance, last year the FAA replaced the HOST and oceanic computer system equipment used to control air traffic at the 20 en route and 3 oceanic centers. We are also replacing the associated radar display systems at the 20 en route centers, with 12 systems fully operational last year.

Many of our NAS sustainment projects are nearly complete, while others are beginning to bear fruit. For example, this coming May we will dedicate the last of the Display System Replacements (DSR), replacing 30-year old display equipment in the
en route centers, and completely modernizing controller workstations. DSR provides controllers with new hardware and software display systems, and provides a platform for future enhancements. We are in the process of replacing one system per month, center by center, at all 20 centers.

In December, I had the pleasure of traveling to El Paso, Texas, to see the first use of our new air traffic control automation system in the terminal environment with STARS, the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System. STARS is the equivalent of DSR in the terminal environment, the most intricate environment in the NAS. Although the FAA has faced a number of difficulties with the development of STARS, controllers, technicians, and management are working side by side to resolve open issues and problems. With the first version of STARS now running in both El Paso and in Syracuse, New York, our efforts are beginning to pay off in this critical area.

One of the best examples of how the FAA is managing differently is the work of the Human Factors Working Group, a group that grew out of our development efforts in STARS. The working group, comprised of representatives from the FAA, our labor union leadership, and industry, developed a process to identify, monitor, and resolve human factors issues throughout the entire acquisition process so that these issues do not arise unexpectedly and too late in a program. Since air traffic controllers play such a crucial role in the FAA's safety mission, the Human Factors Working Group makes sure that they have an early and continuing voice in the acquisition of systems that affect the job that they are so committed to doing.

We are also currently testing the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). WAAS works with the satellite-based Global Position System (GPS). The GPS signal that is available for civil use is accurate but requires augmentation for aviation use. The GPS signal by itself does not fully satisfy civil aviation navigation requirements. WAAS would correct the signal to provide the safety, integrity, and accuracy to satisfy civil aviation navigation requirements.

The FAA and Raytheon’s latest testing of WAAS indicates that the accuracy of the system exceeds our requirements. However the performance to date of the safety monitor function that provides system integrity has not yet met requirements. WAAS integrity is an essential element in the program. In order to ensure the system meets essential safety requirements, the FAA is currently assessing how much work will be required.

Our second element of NAS modernization, adding safety features, is an effort that speaks directly to the FAA’s primary mission of ensuring aviation safety. Our additional safety features include advanced weather information systems. These enhancements will provide us with more precise, more accurate, and timelier weather information. In our modernization blueprint, we have included many weather initiatives, such as the Integrated Terminal Weather System and the Weather and Radar Processor. These provide increased accuracy in terminal area and en route weather information, as well as Terminal Doppler Weather Radar for major airports where windshear and microbursts are safety issues.

What We Are Focused On

The third element of modernization, improving the capacity and efficiency of the system, means fewer delays, lower costs, and better service. The crux of this third element is Free Flight Phase One. Free Flight Phase One is the first step to an innovative approach to air traffic control, moving from "control" to air traffic "management." Free Flight Phase One is designed to move the NAS from a centralized command-and-control system between pilots and air traffic controllers to a distributed system that allows pilots, wherever practical, to choose their own route and file a flight plan that follows the most efficient and economical route. The overall benefit of these programs is to enable our air traffic control system to accommodate the future increase in flights and provide more optimum routings for aircraft in the nation’s airspace.

Free Flight Phase One represents an historic point in the FAA’s history. Under this program, we have reached a consensus with industry that is virtually unprecedented: an agreement from all sectors of the aviation community. Our agreement with the industry is simple: we deploy the systems and the remainder of the community measures the results and tells us how they are working. After receiving this feedback, we will decide upon our next steps. Maintaining this consensus is an enormous challenge for the FAA, particularly in an industry where competition is the guiding principle.

Moreover, Free Flight Phase One is a perfect example of the benefits of the FAA’s "evolution, not revolution" approach to NAS modernization. Under this building block approach, we not only reduce the risks of cost overruns and schedule delays; we take into account the changing nature of emerging technology. The FAA’s NAS modernization plan is a forward-looking approach that is scheduled to take place over the next 15 years. With our new incremental, evolutionary approach, we will be able to accommodate changes in technology and incorporate them into the NAS in a managed fashion.

Air Traffic Control Reform

Finally, I would like to discuss air traffic control reform. At this crucial time, when Congress is in conference on important FAA reauthorization legislation, I would like to emphasize the Administration’s commitment to meaningful and necessary air traffic control reform, a much needed long term solution. Fundamental reform of air traffic control has been an Administration priority for six years. The goal is to make our air traffic control system as efficient as it is safe, a goal we share with this Committee. Through the expanded capacity that greater efficiency would provide, we can reduce delays, better serve under-served communities, and accommodate the enormous growth projected for this vibrant industry.

Although the Administration has proposed different organizational structures at different times, our three principles for ATC reform -- business-like management, cost-based pricing, and budget reform -- have remained the same. They have been endorsed by three blue-ribbon commissions; most recently the 1997 Congressionally mandated National Civil Aviation Review Commission (NCARC). Both the House and the Senate recognize the importance of reform to the future of air traffic control, and both have some elements of reform in FAA reauthorization legislation that is now in conference. The Administration wants to be part of the dialogue on the important issue of reform. We believe our three principles provide the basis for sound, responsible, achievable reform.

First, the FAA needs to be able to operate the air traffic control system more like a business. The Administration is fully supportive of the NCARC recommendation that FAA management must become performance based. Congress has already given us key elements of management reform in the form of streamlined personnel and procurement authority. A key reform still needed is the establishment of a chief operating officer (COO) whose salary and tenure are linked to concrete performance measures. We recognize and appreciate that both the House and Senate bills would create a COO.

Second, the FAA's ATC revenue stream must become cost-based. The Administration believes that Congress should replace the current financing mechanism, an excise tax on airline passengers, with a system in which the actual commercial users of air traffic control services pay for them based on the cost of those services. (Like NCARC, the Administration agrees that general aviation should continue to pay a fuel tax.) As stated in the NCARC report, "A cost-based system of charges will change the way the government, as the provider of ATC services, and the aviation industry, as the user of ATC services, develop their respective policy and management decisions. Using such a system, in and of itself, will bring about a very significant management improvement." In other words, cost-based pricing is necessary to drive management reform.

Third, in exchange for pricing reform, Congress should ensure that the resulting cost-based revenue from air traffic control users is spent exclusively on air traffic control. Such a guarantee will make it easier for the FAA and its customers to meet operational and capital spending needs for ATC.

Air travel is a critical engine of economic growth, whether it is the leisure travelers who fuel tourism or the many business travelers who depend on reliable, convenient air service. If we do not reform ATC to enable it to accommodate the anticipated growth of air travel, we will be making a fundamental decision to limit our nation’s economic growth during the 21^st century.

Summary

As for our next steps in modernization, we are currently exploring several possibilities. Here, we strive to strike the right balance between looking towards the future and not biting off more than we can -- or should -- chew. As we modernize the NAS, we continue to anticipate future needs, assessing how viable various options are.

FAA’s future actions must be to look at improving our management tools. Our initiatives in cost accounting, personnel and acquisition reform, and our strong partnership with industry will enable us to effectively manage our current resources and future demands placed on the NAS.

The challenge facing the FAA is to finance the capital investments that will allow the agency to make key safety improvements, keep up with growing air travel demand, and improve efficiency of aircraft operations. This requires a level of funding that will allow new initiatives as well as provide stable funding for existing projects. The FAA currently makes choices among several valuable projects, all of which can provide significant benefits to aviation.

Making choices is not unique to the FAA, but the aviation industry senses that valuable new initiatives are vital to improving aviation efficiency. We are working to address these in the FY 2001 budget, while sustaining the levels of capital investment sufficient to make solid progress towards modernizing the NAS.

Modernization and maintenance of the NAS is a significant challenge for the FAA. Congress has supported the FAA in its efforts toward modernization and reform, and I look forward to continuing that working relationship with you, Mr. Chairmen, and the Members of both committees.

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you this morning. That concludes my prepared remarks and I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.