Time Now for NextGen

In his first speech as FAA administrator, Randy Babbitt laid out his game plan for implementation of the FAA’s satellite-based Next Generation (NextGen) air traffic control system. “The secret to launching NextGen is advice…The only way we're going to get rotation on this is by making sure the parties are at the table, making sure that their voices are heard. That's the way I intend to keep it. Decisions made in a vacuum will bring the system to its knees. We've seen that before, and I have no desire to see us learn that lesson again, said Babbitt at a recent RTCA event. “The FAA should not try to address policies or governing principles in a vacuum if we intend to maximize effectiveness. Right now, we are on the edge of the biggest step in the how we navigate — how we keep planes apart, how we space them — that the aviation world has ever known. NextGen is going to change how we do business. But we only get one shot at this,” he believes.