The Latest on NextGen and ATC
While gathering with airline executives on February 9, based on a White House transcript of the meeting, President Trump expressed that he had no confidence in the FAA’s NextGen system saying, “I hear we’re spending billions and billions of dollars. It’s a system that’s totally out of whack. It’s way over budget, it’s way beyond schedule, and when it’s completed, it’s not going to be a good system.” The FAA immediately responded with a press release that stated that it had “spent $7.5 billion in congressionally appropriated funds on the air traffic modernization program known as NextGen over the past seven years. That investment has resulted in $2.7 billion in benefits to passengers and the airlines to date, and is expected to yield more than $160 billion in benefits through 2030.”
Also during the meeting, the airline executives let their preferences be known regarding the management of Air Traffic Control (ATC), stating that they wanted the government out of managing the ATC system so that it could be “adequately managed, adequately financed” – being funded by user fees, a concept long pushed by the airlines.
National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) President and CEO Ed Bolen immediately issued a statement, regarding comments made in conjunction with the meeting between President Trump and the airline executives saying, “We’re delighted that, in today’s meeting, the president made clear that aviation modernization is important – that’s a goal with which we agree, and the business aviation community will continue to be at the forefront of aviation-modernization efforts. We very much welcome the opportunity to work with the new president and the Congress to advance this goal in a way that serves all Americans, not just those in the country’s largest cities with commercial airline hubs.
“That said, we are concerned that in today’s meeting, it appears that some airline interests wanted to shift the conversation away from taking a bipartisan approach to modernization, to focus instead on their decades-long objective of privatizing ATC, funding it with new user fees, and placing it under the governing control of a self-interested, airline-centric board of directors,” Bolen continued.
Bolen also noted that there are two sides to the important ATC debate and the president had only heard the airlines’ position, but in fact, surveys of everyday Americans show a majority oppose privatizing the ATC system. “The concerns of these citizens are well-founded – after all, the nation’s aviation system is a public asset, intended to serve the entire public, including the people and businesses in the small towns and rural areas that rely on general aviation,” he said.
The U.S. Department of Defense has also voiced concern over the ATC system becoming privatized, as the military has a “shared infrastructure” with the system and that would definitely need to be addressed.
FAA Releases SAFO Regarding Awareness of Class B Airspace Boundaries
The FAA recently released Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO) 17001 to alert pilots that operate near the boundaries of Class B airspace to the risk coming into close proximity to other aircraft operating outside of, but near the Class B boundaries. Aircraft operating outside of the Class B airspace may not be under the control of Air Traffic Control (ATC) providing Class B airspace services and therefore may increase the risk of a Near Mid Air Collision (NMAC).
The SAFO emphasizes the importance of a pilot’s role in maintaining proper aircraft separation when operating near Class B airspace boundaries and caution of inadvertently exiting the airspace, or of the approach path of many instrument arrival and approach procedures may come close to the floor of
Class B airspace. Also, during times of high traffic volume, aircraft above the Class B airspace floor may receive ATC instructions that when executed, would cause the airplane to exit the confines of the airspace. Pilots may be unaware of an excursion because they may not be advised of such an event during times of high controller workload.
Pilots are encouraged to thoroughly review the boundary specifications when preparing to operate in or near Class B airspace.
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