A Next Generation Air Transportation System implementation task force has issued a final report calling on the FAA to enable operators take more advantage of equipment that has been widely deployed or is available for installation in existing aircraft, but doing so will be a challenge, GAO told a House aviation panel recently.
The FAA is now considering how to modify its existing plans and programs in response to task force recommendations, according to GAO-10-188T.
However, it said that allocating resources for advanced navigational procedures and airspace redesign requires FAA to balance benefits to operators against resource limits and other challenges to the timely implementation of NextGen.
While FAA has begun to explore the use of the private sector to help develop procedures, issues related to public use of these procedures and oversight of developers remain, said GAO.
It said FAA faces cultural and organizational challenges in implementing NextGen capabilities since the agency now has to integrate and coordinate activities across multiple lines of business, as well as reprioritize some of its plans and programs, to implement near-term and midterm capabilities.
Streamlining FAA’s certification, operational approval, and procedure design processes, as a prior task force recommended, will also be essential for timely implementation, GAO said, adding that sustaining a high level of involvement and collaboration with stakeholders—including operators, air traffic controllers, and others—will also be necessary to ensure progress.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association – which pays to participate in the task force – told the committee that it strongly backed the task force recommendations.
While the controllers union and the FAA recently signed a new labor agreement, the NATCA director of safety and technology Dale Wright, complained that management has been inconsistent in reaching out to collaborate.
