Deputy FAA Administrator Michael Huerta kicked off the RTCA Fall Symposium on Wednesday stressing the agency and industry efforts to move forward with implementation of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen).
In front of more than 300 industry stakeholders in Washington, Huerta emphasized the importance of continuing the momentum spurred by the RTCA Mid-Term Implementation Task Force (Task Force 5), which issued recommendations earlier this year.
“For those of us who’ve been around this block before, there’s nothing worse than taking the good work of something like Task Force 5 and then letting it die on the vine. With NextGen and its cross-agency implications, we felt that we wanted advice from a broader community,” he said.
The work of the Task Force will be continued under the NextGen Advisory Committee, which will include representatives from FAA, finance, general aviation, avionics manufacturers, the Department of Defense and others.
“By bringing in senior officers of major stakeholders, we hope to generate a dialog that will result in common goals that both industry and government can pursue with buy-in at the highest levels of government and industry,” he added. “It will make sure we don’t lose sight of Task Force 5 or any of the milestones that need to be kept front and center.”
The Committee will focus primarily on implementation issues, including national priorities, joint investment, location and timing of implementation, with an emphasis on near- and mid- term deliverables through 2018.