Underlying programmatic challenges, such as the lack of an executable plan, unresolved technical issues, and ineffective collaboration with industry, have prevented the FAA from meeting remaining provisions of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, the Department of Transportation’s assistant inspector general told a Senate aviation panel recently.
According to committee chair John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., the FAA has been slow to implement many of the needed changes to make NextGen fully operational.
The assistant IG told the panel that while the FAA has implemented or is on target to implement more than half of the 24 NextGen-related provisions in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, the agency has yet to meet provisions intended to accelerate the development of critical NextGen technologies.
He also said a lack of updated controller policies and procedures make it uncertain when users can expect performance-based navigation benefits, and that the agency continues to face technical, cost, and schedule risks with its efforts to modernize or replace air traffic control automation systems that are fundamental to achieving NextGen benefits.
