The public unveiling of the recommendations of RTCA’s NextGen Mid-Term Implementation Task Force took place on Sept. 15 in Washington, DC at the NowGen NEXT conference sponsored by Avionics Magazine and RTCA.

The NextGen Task Force was formed in February at FAA’s request to recommend a prioritized list of operational capabilities to achieve Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) efficiencies by 2018. Its final report is due Aug. 31.

The conference featured FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt as keynote speaker.

“This has been a unique process…The efforts of this group have resulted in a sharpened focus for the way ahead. No matter how you interpret the report or its recommendations, one message comes through with great clarity:  Everyone agrees that NextGen can’t come soon enough.

“Just about everyone involved has been struggling to define the future of the National Airspace System. For years, we were criticized for not pinning down requirements…I’m hopeful that the work of the task force will put all of this to rest,” stated Babbitt.

“We need to keep in mind the need for a sense of urgency…I think the task force report puts us in the place we need to be…I’ve flown enough to know that NextGen is a success story waiting to happen. We need to advance well beyond the preliminaries. We as a group need to commit together to giving it the juice it needs. Lest there be any doubt, I’m making that commitment for the FAA right here, right now. And I have the support of the Secretary and the President. They want this up and running, and they are fully supportive. The green light can’t get any greener than that,” Babbitt continued.

“The Task Force has forged a consensus across a wide spectrum of users…This is an excellent head start. You’ve given us a short list of recommended operational capabilities. Task Force efforts have provided us with a unique opportunity to align our implementation plan with the desires of the aviation community.

“The report also points to the need for delivering NextGen capabilities where they matter. RNP and RNAV approaches are good. RNP and RNAV approaches in high traffic areas are great. We need to be candid with ourselves. We’ve got a lot of these approaches, but we’ve got a lot of them that aren’t in the right spots.

“For those who worry that the FAA is focusing on near-term expediencies at the expense of longer-term deliverables, let me assure you that is not the case. The focus of the Task Force was maximum benefit from today’s tools. NextGen requires us to forge ahead with delivery of tomorrow’s capabilities and we have every intention of doing that. ADS-B is a case in point. Lessons learned from implementing the recommendations of this task force will help us derive maximum benefit from ADS-B once the supporting infrastructure and standards are in place,” the FAA boss told the conference attendees.