Responses to Questions for the Record
February 11, 2009, Hearing on the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009 Gao ID: GAO-09-467R March 10, 2009This letter responds to a Congressional request that we address questions submitted for the record related to the February 11, 2009, hearing entitled FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009. Our attached responses to these questions are based on updates to our previous work and our knowledge of the areas addressed by the questions.
GAO-09-467R, Responses to Questions for the Record: February 11, 2009, Hearing on the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009
This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-09-467R
entitled 'Responses to Questions for the Record: February 11, 2009,
Hearing on the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009' which was released on
March 11, 2009.
This text file was formatted by the U.S. Government Accountability
Office (GAO) to be accessible to users with visual impairments, as part
of a longer term project to improve GAO products' accessibility. Every
attempt has been made to maintain the structural and data integrity of
the original printed product. Accessibility features, such as text
descriptions of tables, consecutively numbered footnotes placed at the
end of the file, and the text of agency comment letters, are provided
but may not exactly duplicate the presentation or format of the printed
version. The portable document format (PDF) file is an exact electronic
replica of the printed version. We welcome your feedback. Please E-mail
your comments regarding the contents or accessibility features of this
document to Webmaster@gao.gov.
This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright
protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed
in its entirety without further permission from GAO. Because this work
may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the
copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this
material separately.
GAO-09-467R:
United States Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
March 10, 2009:
The Honorable Jerry Costello:
Chairman:
Subcommittee on Aviation:
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure:
House of Representatives:
Subject: Responses to Questions for the Record: February 11, 2009,
Hearing on the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009:
Dear Mr. Chairman:
This letter responds to your request that we address questions
submitted for the record related to the February 11, 2009, hearing
entitled FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009. Our attached responses to
these questions are based on updates to our previous work (see
enclosure 2) and our knowledge of the areas addressed by the questions.
As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce its contents
earlier, we plan no further distribution of this report until 10 days
after its issuance date. At that time, we will send copies of this
report to the Acting Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration. We
will make copies available to others on request. The report will also
be available on GAO's Web site at [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov].
If you have any questions or would like to discuss the responses,
please contact me at (202) 512-2834 or dillinghamg@gao.gov.
Sincerely yours,
Signed by:
Gerald L. Dillingham, Ph.D.
Director:
Physical Infrastructure Issues:
Enclosures:
[End of section]
February 11, 2009:
Subcommittee on Aviation:
Hearing on:
FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009:
Questions for the Record:
To: Dr. Gerald Dillingham:
Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
Dr. Dillingham, in your written testimony you state that the FAA will
need to work with the stakeholders to explore a range of potential
options available to provide incentives to purchase equipment and to
suppliers to develop that equipment. You further state that these
options could include some combination of mandated deadlines,
operational credits, or equipment investment credits that financially
support equipment implementation for a limited initial set of aircraft
operators. Please define what you mean by "operational credits" or
"equipment investment credits" and explain how they might be used.
Response: The next generation air transportation system (NextGen)
includes the policies, procedures, and equipment that will allow
satellite-based navigation in the national airspace system. However,
this system's ability to meet forecasted traffic volumes also depends
on aircraft being equipped to take advantage of NextGen capabilities.
Purchase incentives could encourage carriers to equip their aircraft as
soon as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) makes the procedures
for operating in a NextGen environment available. Traditionally, FAA
mandates the equipage of aircraft and provides several years for
operators to comply. For a variety of reasons, some operators do not
equip until the deadline for equipping is near. FAA has proposed an
option to incentivize early equipage. It is referred to as "best-
equipped, best-served." Under this option, FAA would offer those
aircraft operators who choose to equip their aircraft as soon as
possible with various operational benefits, such as preferred airspace,
routings, or runway access.
Another option, conceptualized by a Boeing air traffic management
expert, is a type of "reverse auction" in which federal investment tax
credits would be combined with operational benefits. Under this option,
the carriers would bid for a level of investment credits in exchange
for equipping a particular number of aircraft within a specified early
time frame. The value of the investment credit would decrease as the
auction proceeded. Those aircraft that were equipped would then operate
under the best-equipped, best-served option. The Boeing expert has
acknowledged that the total resources needed to pay for such tax
credits would be quite large if the credits were extended to all
carriers. However, he acknowledged that if the tax credit were extended
only to a "critical mass" of carriers--for example, the first third of
the carriers--the costs would be about $750 million annually. He
further stated that if the auction drove down the price by a third, the
costs could be about $500 million a year. But these costs would be over
and above what FAA's Air Traffic Organization (ATO) would already be
spending on its own equipment, facilities, and training. In any case,
the proposal could only be implemented if Congress were to find some
additional large source of funding for the tax credits.
2. Dr. Dillingham, in your written testimony you state that the FAA has
entered into agreements with private sector firms to conduct NextGen
technology demonstration projects. Please provide the Subcommittee with
a list of these projects.
Response: FAA's NextGen demonstration projects for fiscal year 2009 are
listed in the following table. Some projects are in the early planning
stages and the partners have not been selected yet; other projects
continue from previous years.
Table:
Project: Surface Traffic Management;
Description: Provide situational awareness information to and data
exchange among airport stakeholders using technology such as Airport
Surface Detection Equipment-Model X (ASDE-X) to support new decision
support tools;
Location: Memphis, John F. Kennedy, and Orlando airports;
Partners: Airport authorities, FedEx, and Northwest Airlines.
Project: Surface Conformance Monitoring;
Description: Begin to link the movement of aircraft on the surface
between air traffic control and future cockpit moving map displays;
Location: TBD;
Partners: TBD.
Project: Arrival Management; (Continuous Descent Arrivals, Tailored
Arrivals);
Description: Use integrated automation tools and data communication to
provide a cleared trajectory path, which is transferred to the aircraft
and flown by the flight management system;
Location: Miami, Charlotte, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Charleston (SC), and
San Francisco airports;
Partners: NASA Ames, Boeing, Sensis, American Airlines, Delta Airlines,
U.S. Air Force Mobility Command, Georgia Institute of Technology, MITRE
Corporation, and foreign carriers.
Project: Three-dimensional Path Arrival Management (3D-PAM);
Description: Will provide, at high-density airports, a means to achieve
accurate, predictable, and fuel-efficient routes, which are designed to
decrease controller and pilot workload, as well as decrease adverse
environmental impacts (emissions and noise) while potentially enhancing
airport throughput;
Location: Denver;
Partners: NASA Ames, Boeing.
Project: Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS);
Description: Initially define and test Area Navigation/Required
Navigation Performance (RNAV/RNP) approach routes into and out of
Teterborough, and separate Teterborough traffic from Newark's traffic.
Operational demonstrations will be conducted using satellite navigation
(SATNAV) technology in a complex environment to assist in identifying
and implementing RNAV/RNP operations for performance-based navigation;
Location: Newark and Teterborough airports;
Partners: NY Port Authority and Continental Airlines.
Project: Oceanic Trajectory Based Operations; (AIRE and ASPIRE);
Description: Demonstrate potential benefits for oceanic trajectory
optimization in terms of fuel savings and emissions reductions;
Location: Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (beginning in fiscal year 2010)
operational areas;
Partners: Boeing; CSSI, Inc.; MITRE Corporation; American Airlines;
foreign carriers and European partners.
Project: International Flight Data Object (IFDO);
Description: Conduct research, development, and laboratory proof of
concept of IFDO exchange using collaborative flight planning capability
for oceanic and en route air traffic services;
Location: Daytona Beach airport;
Partners: Lockheed Martin, Computer Sciences Corporation, Boeing,
Harris, Adacel, and Nav Portugal.
Project: Four-Dimensional Flight Management System;
Description: One of a series of joint demonstration projects aimed at
promoting global air traffic control leadership and collaboration with
research and development activities in other countries;
Location: TBD;
Partners: TBD.
Project: Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS);
Description: Examine potential for widespread integration of UASs into
the future NextGen environment;
Location: Kennedy Space Center;
Partners: AAI Corporation, General Atomics, and GE.
Project: Network Enabled Operations Program;
Description: Develop and leverage network information technology to
provide an agile, highly connective network for net-centric shared
situational awareness;
Location: TBD;
Partners: TBD.
Project: Staffed NextGen Towers;
Description: Provide surface and tower services without the requirement
for direct visual observation by air traffic control personnel from an
airport tower cab;
Location: TBD;
Partners: TBD.
Project: Weather Integrated into Traffic Management Advisor and En
Description: Route Automation Modernization;
Research, evaluate, and demonstrate NextGen concepts, procedures,
technologies, and capabilities. Initial demonstration to show the
incorporation of convective weather data into the Traffic Management
Advisor tool to better maintain airport arrival rates;
Location: Daytona Beach airport;
Partners: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Lockheed Martin;
Computer Sciences Corporation; ENSCO, Inc.
Source: GAO analysis of FAA documents.
[End of table]
3. Dr. Dillingham, GAO recently took the FAA's air traffic control
modernization program off its "high risk" list. With regard to this
distinction, please provide me with answers to the following questions:
a. Does GAO draw a distinction between the FAA's ATC modernization
program and the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen)
effort? If so, please explain the distinction?
Response: Yes, GAO draws a distinction between air traffic control
(ATC) modernization and NextGen. The ATC modernization program, which
was placed on GAO's High-Risk List in 1995, focused primarily on the
acquisition of ATC systems. Key projects within that modernization
program experienced cost overruns, schedule delays, and performance
shortfalls that affected FAA's ability to deliver systems as promised.
GAO removed FAA's ATC modernization program from the High-Risk List in
January 2009[Footnote 1] because of the agency's progress in addressing
most of the root causes of its past problems and its commitment to
sustaining progress in the future.
NextGen is a total transformation of the air transportation system.
NextGen represents a paradigm shift from air traffic control to air
traffic management. It is a shift from ground-based radar control of
aircraft to a satellite-based, aircraft-centric national airspace
system. NextGen includes the acquisition of some new systems, but it
also involves the integration of "legacy systems" with those new
systems, along with the development of policies and procedures that
will enable a safe expansion of system capacity and efficiency to meet
projected traffic demands by 2025. For example, the implementation of
Automatic Dependence Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology is
designed to enable greater use of existing performance-based navigation
techniques, which in turn would lead to a greater number of more
efficient, more environmentally-friendly aircraft operations.
NextGen also differs from ATC modernization in its organizational
structure. The implementation of NextGen extends beyond FAA's ATO,
which was almost solely responsible for ATC modernization, to other
lines of business such as Airports, Safety, and Environment.
Additionally, NextGen includes cooperative relations among FAA; the
Departments of Transportation, Defense, Homeland Security, and
Commerce; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); and
the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. It also
includes nonfederal aviation stakeholders, such as aircraft and
avionics manufacturers, air carriers, airports, and aircraft operators.
b. Does GAO deem NextGen to be a "high risk" effort? If not, why not?
Response: While NextGen is a high-risk effort because of its dollar
cost and complexity, it is not currently on GAO's High-Risk List.
NextGen has only recently begun to move from the planning stage to
implementation. As we noted in our 2009 High-Risk update, we plan to
closely monitor FAA's efforts to implement NextGen as the program
continues to mature. At the request of this Subcommittee, we will be
monitoring NextGen's implementation and regularly updating the
Subcommittee. Therefore, NextGen will be receiving the scrutiny that
any high-risk program would receive and will be evaluated against
criteria set out in our guidance document Determining Performance and
Accountability Challenges and High Risks.[Footnote 2]
4. GAO has previously reported that FAA briefed the industry on
preliminary near-term costs for NextGen in April 2006 and this
preliminary estimate provided approximately $1 billion more through
2012 than FAA's most recent 5 year capital investment plan (CIP) for
FAA facilities and equipment. If Congress were to provide the level of
funding outlined in the FAA's preliminary estimate, approximately $1
billion more through 2012 than the most recent CIP, would it help to
accelerate the development and deployment of NextGen?
Response: Yes, if Congress provided FAA with additional funding, that
funding could be applied to a variety of projects and initiatives that
would help to accelerate the development and deployment of NextGen. We
discuss the specific research, development, and deployment that could
be undertaken should Congress provide additional funding in my response
to a question below.
5. Would additional Facilities and Equipment funding help to bridge the
so-called NASA gap? In other words, could it be used for the type of
intermediate development and demonstration projects that NASA would no
longer fund?
Response: In the past, NASA conducted a significant portion of
aeronautics research and development but the funding for those efforts
declined when NASA's aeronautical research portfolio was restructured
to focus more on fundamental research. Meanwhile, budget requests for
FAA's NextGen-related research and development have increased in recent
years to address the gap that resulted from both the previous
administration's cuts to NASA's aeronautics research funding and the
expanded requirements of NextGen. Nonetheless, our work has identified
areas that would benefit from additional research and development, such
as the environmental impact of aviation, human factors, and other areas
that are discussed further in my response to the question below.
Additional research and development in such areas is critical for the
timely implementation of NextGen and could benefit from additional
funding, should Congress decide to provide it.
6. Would you cite additional research, development and deployment that
could be done with funding over and above FAA's capital investment plan
funding levels?
Response: While we have not evaluated the full merits of providing
additional funding, additional research, development, and deployment
could be undertaken or accelerated in several areas with funding over
and above the level provided in FAA's 2009 through 2013 CIP. Through
our work, we found two closely related areas that are critical and time-
sensitive for the implementation of NextGen and could be candidates for
increased funding--avionics development and aircraft equipage.
Additional support in these areas could accelerate the transition to
satellite-based navigation, which requires the commercial fleet to be
equipped with advanced avionics. This transition would allow FAA to
pursue the elimination of costly ground-based navigation aids; the
transition to data link; and the standardization of future aircraft
capabilities such as flight management systems, traffic collision
avoidance systems, and modular avionics.
The development and deployment of NextGen will require a series of
incremental changes that must be demonstrated and tested to help ensure
that they do not degrade the safety of current systems. Developing the
evidence for regulatory bodies and for the public that these
incremental changes are safe will be time-consuming, costly, and
difficult. For example, additional development funding could help with
the testing of a system in which pilots and air traffic controllers
share in decisions about the aircraft's flight path. Such a system
would increase the level of safety assurance for en route and terminal
automation and support the acquisition of air-to-ground data
communications to support trajectory negotiation.
Our research has shown that human factors is another area that could
benefit from additional funding. As we have previously reported, one of
the principal changes under NextGen will be a transformation from air
traffic control to air traffic management. This will mean new roles for
all participants in the system, including air traffic controllers and
pilots. Additional funding could accelerate human factors research and
training initiatives that are central to the success of NextGen, such
as initiatives defining the relative responsibilities of aircraft
personnel and ground controllers, and modernizing controller training
through the use of advanced simulation and intelligent tutoring tools.
According to FAA officials we interviewed, research and development for
advanced concepts and applications could also be strengthened and
accelerated in the area of airborne applications. This research could
include spacing and merging approaches, including optimizing the
spacing of aircraft that are in flight, allowing for closely spaced
parallel approaches and reduced separation standards, and addressing
wake turbulence. Additional funding could allow for limited field
trials to refine operational and system requirements, and work could be
done to integrate unmanned aerial systems into the national airspace
system. Establishing supporting processes for rulemaking and software
certification could also accelerate the removal of potential
bottlenecks to implementing NextGen.
[End of section]
Enclosure II:
Related GAO Products:
Next Generation Air Transportation System: Status of Systems
Acquisition and the Transition to the Next Generation Air
Transportation System. GAO-08-1078. Washington, D.C.: September 11,
2008.
Next Generation Air Transportation System: Status of Key Issues
Associated with the Transition to NextGen. GAO-08-1154T. Washington,
D.C.: September 11, 2008.
Responses to Questions for the Record; Hearing on the Future of Air
Traffic Control Modernization. GAO-07-928R. Washington, D.C.: May 30,
2007.
Responses to Questions for the Record; Hearing on JPDO and the Next
Generation Air Transportation System: Status and Issues. GAO-07-918R.
Washington, D.C.: May 29, 2007.
Next Generation Air Transportation System: Progress and Challenges
Associated with the Transformation of the National Airspace System. GAO-
07-25. Washington, D.C.: November 13, 2006.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] GAO, High-Risk Series: An Update, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-271] (Washington, D.C.: January
2009).
[2] GAO, Determining Performance and Accountability Challenges and High
Risks, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-01-159SP]
(Washington, D.C.: November 2000).
[End of section]
GAO's Mission:
The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation and
investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting
its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance
and accountability of the federal government for the American people.
GAO examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and
policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance
to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding
decisions. GAO's commitment to good government is reflected in its core
values of accountability, integrity, and reliability.
Obtaining Copies of GAO Reports and Testimony:
The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no
cost is through GAO's Web site [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov]. Each
weekday, GAO posts newly released reports, testimony, and
correspondence on its Web site. To have GAO e-mail you a list of newly
posted products every afternoon, go to [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov]
and select "E-mail Updates."
Order by Phone:
The price of each GAO publication reflects GAO‘s actual cost of
production and distribution and depends on the number of pages in the
publication and whether the publication is printed in color or black and
white. Pricing and ordering information is posted on GAO‘s Web site,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/ordering.htm].
Place orders by calling (202) 512-6000, toll free (866) 801-7077, or
TDD (202) 512-2537.
Orders may be paid for using American Express, Discover Card,
MasterCard, Visa, check, or money order. Call for additional
information.
To Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Federal Programs:
Contact:
Web site: [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm]:
E-mail: fraudnet@gao.gov:
Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470:
Congressional Relations:
Ralph Dawn, Managing Director, dawnr@gao.gov:
(202) 512-4400:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street NW, Room 7125:
Washington, D.C. 20548:
Public Affairs:
Chuck Young, Managing Director, youngc1@gao.gov:
(202) 512-4800:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street NW, Room 7149:
Washington, D.C. 20548:
