Drivers For Change
America’s air transportation system is responsible for over 5% of the nation’s GDP and has created 11 million jobs. Operationally, it is the safest system in the world and handles over 750 million passengers each year. However, the critical infrastructure supporting the system is facing significant limitations.
The system relies on radar and point-to-point beacons to control and manage the flow of air traffic. These are all World-War-II-era technologies that make it difficult for the system to expand or to adjust to changes in system operations. If the aviation infrastructure is going to be able to meet the needs expected in the 21st century, it needs to be sufficiently scalable to support additional demand, and flexible enough to accommodate changes in the aviation industry as well as the introduction of new aircraft. Further, NextGen, through improved operations, new aircraft designs, and more efficient routes, will be able to recognize significant benefits in terms of reduced environmental impact. That, in a nutshell, is the objective of NextGen.
The JPDO’s role in this change environment is to develop the multi-agency planning and implementation structure to make NextGen a reality. This includes outlining the key tasks and enablers needed to develop and implement satellite-based control of aircraft, net-centric digital communications, advanced weather applications, new concepts in airspace management, and more efficient and effective security management.
These changes and new technologies will be the basis for a transformation of this critical component of America’s transportation infrastructure.
Read more about this topic: Joint Planning And Development Office
Famous quotes containing the word change:
“Where we come from in America no longer signifies—it’s where we go, and what we do when we get there, that tells us who we are.
The irony of the role of women in my business, and in so many other places, too, was that while we began by demanding that we be allowed to mimic the ways of men, we wound up knowing we would have to change those ways. Not only because those ways were not like ours, but because they simply did not work.”
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