News Updates

NGATS Day on Capitol Hill/U.S. Senate

On Wednesday, June 28, 2006, more than 200 Senate officials and staff, government and industry leaders, and media representatives, gathered in the Dirksen Senate Building to share and gain further insight into the Congressionally-mandated NGATS initiative. The event was hosted by Senate Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Conrad Burns (R-MT). Speakers included Senator Burns, Secretary of Transportation Norm Mineta, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey and many others representing the agencies working together on NGATS.


Click here for photos and a summary of each speaker's remarks >

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US House Aviation Subcommittee Talks NGATS

House Aviation Subcommittee Chair John L. Mica (R-FL) speaks out on air traffic Modernization at June 21 hearing. Credit: U.S. House of Representatives

Testifying before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation on June 21, Joint Planning and Development Office Acting Director Robert Pearce that the Next Generation Air System isn’t just about air traffic management. “It is one that encompasses the whole air travel experience – from the moment the passenger arrives at the curb of his or her departure airport to his or her exit from their destination airport,” he said.

In a joint statement with Russell L. Chew, Chief Operating Office of the Air Traffic Organization of the Federal Aviation Administration, Mr. Pearce said that the system of the future will be flexible, resilient, scalable, adaptive, and highly automated. Change will occur not only in the sky, but on the ground as airports, heliports, and other future landing and departure facilities are built or grow. And much of this change will be built upon new information networks so “the right information gets to the right person at the right time, while keeping the nation safe and the flow of traffic running smoothly.”

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FAA Administrator: NGATS is an "Aviation Revolution"

Saving airlines over a billion dollars in costs over ten years, while gearing up for a threefold increase in the number of airline passengers over the next twenty, sounds difficult. Add to that list efforts to “attack congestion and delays” and the task starts to sound impossible. Yet that’s exactly what the FAA is doing. And just like the Romans building everlasting roads, the FAA is making the most of today’s technology to revolutionize the way you fly, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey told the National Chamber Foundation last month at “The Aviation Crisis: Delayed Not Cancelled.” The event examined the challenges facing the aviation industry. Administrator Blakey said that although "we're in the safest period in aviation history," there is the urgent need to create additional capacity in an industry that never sleeps. Without shutting down airports, the FAA is implementing strategies that would curb congestion and increase navigational capabilities.

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Fast Facts:
Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B)

The use of Global Position Satellites (GPS) isn’t just for your car anymore. With Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), that same technology can bring the power of satellite signals back into the air, transforming the way you travel. By integrating GPS signals into aircraft, ADS-B allows aircraft to “see” their exact location in their cockpit displays, the locations of other aircraft, and the local weather. In this way, ADS-B increases safety as pilots and air traffic controllers are better able to avoid other aircraft and navigate through bad weather. Currently, air traffic controllers, and not the pilots themselves, rely on radar to track the location of aircraft and instruct the pilots. However, with radar, sometimes precipitation and birds in the air cause interference, appearing as extra clutter on screen.

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