State Of The FAA, 2005...
Blakey Issues Annual "Report Card"
On Tuesday, the FAA released its latest version of its Flight Plan, setting strategy and priorities for the agency through 2010, and Administrator Marion Blakey made her annual "State of the FAA" speech to the staff, carried by satellite to field offices around the nation. She listed the FAA's achievements for 2005 -- coping with Hurricane Katrina, launching DRVSM (Domestic Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums), zero airline fatalities, and the privatization of Flight Service Stations. The failures were in lowering the GA accident rate and reducing reports of operational errors for Air Traffic Control. To improve the accident rate, she said, the FAA will continue to work with the GA Joint Steering Committee -- a government/industry group that studies accidents and makes recommendations to improve safety. To address the operational errors, Blakey said, "We are working to develop a metric that measures risk, not just number of errors. We're also working to develop an automated reporting system for the terminal area." An automated system would help develop a baseline and a more accurate and reliable source of information on how the system is performing, Blakey said. What she didn't say was that it would also relieve controllers of the responsibility for reporting errors. In the New York TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control), for example, reports of errors spiked earlier this year after the FAA imposed a new schedule aimed at slashing overtime at the facility.


...With Many Challenges Ahead...
Blakey said the FAA must deal with three immediate challenges -- building a next-generation air transportation system that incorporates new technology, operating more like a business and changing how the FAA is financed. "They are all interrelated," Blakey said. "Each depends on the other." She also cited the ongoing contract negotiations with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA). "We cannot and will not sign a contract that we cannot afford," she said. "The outcome of these negotiations will fundamentally affect the future of this agency. We want a deal that's fair and equitable. ... And we're hopeful that we'll reach a voluntary agreement." The future financing of the agency may be the biggest challenge, Blakey said. "The taxes that fuel the trust fund will expire in 2007. ... What we need is a constant, stable revenue stream that's related to the actual cost of the services we provide."


...AOPA And NATCA Respond
NATCA didn't even wait for Blakey to give the speech before going on the attack. In a news release sent out the day before, NATCA predicted Blakey would paint a "rosy picture" of the state of the nation's aviation system -- a picture that NATCA sees very differently. NATCA cited inadequate staffing, outdated and broken-down equipment, and management denials that safety issues exist. On Tuesday, AOPA chimed in that the new Flight Plan is still improperly focused on user fees. "There is a fundamental disagreement between the FAA and AOPA about whether the aviation trust fund is running out of money," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "As I testified before Congress, even the White House Office of Management and Budget is forecasting continued growth in the fund, and the fiscal year 2005 numbers bear this out." The Flight Plan also ignored the effects of temporary flight restrictions and ADIZ proliferation on GA, AOPA said. But it did have some good things for GA in it: "Customers want us to move faster to develop WAAS approaches for [smaller] airports or allow contractors to develop them. And we are," said the FAA. And something that will have long-term implications for aircraft owners: The FAA promised it would make a decision about nationwide implementation of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) by July. ADS-B can replace aging and expensive radar and secondary beacon systems. AOPA is participating in FAA planning activities to ensure that any ADS-B implementation is acceptable and affordable for GA users. The FAA also acknowledged an improving long-term trend in GA safety. "Through the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Foundation, we've made online safety courses available on specific topics, including runway safety, night flying, and mountain flying," the FAA Flight Plan said.


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