Speech

EAA Meet the Boss

Tom [Poberezny], thanks for that great introduction. This makes five years in a row for me at Oshkosh, and EAA always seems to outdo itself each time. I don’t know how, it just does.

As in previous years, I’ve brought some guests with me. They’re members of my management team, and I’d like them to stand for a second and introduce themselves. Some of them you know already from days gone by; some you’re probably meeting for the first time.

Since this is the last time I’ll be standing behind this podium — at least as Administrator — I’ve been bombarded by one question since I touched down: “What are you going to do next?”

To be honest, I’m still thinking about it. While my term is up in less than two months, what’s really been weighing heavily on my mind — and I know it’s the same with Tom — is where the future of aviation is going.

We all know about the debate that’s been unfolding in Washington over the way we finance our air traffic system. And we’ve all put our cards on the table. Now it’s time for the aviation community to come together with Congress to get a bill done before our taxes expire on September 30.

Failure has never been a word I hear at Oshkosh, and we need the same can-do attitude to take hold back in the nation’s capital.

Here in Oshkosh, we all saw that attitude on display last night in full force with this year’s winners of the General Aviation Awards. Perhaps you got a chance to meet them at Theater in the Woods. In any case, let me introduce them real quick.

Ladies and gentlemen, the National CFI of the Year, Mike Gaffney of Lake St. Louis, Missouri. Mike.

The top safety counselor of 2007, Cheryl De Filippo from Deltona, Florida.

The top maintenance technician of ’07, Paul New of Jackson, Tennessee.

And all the way from Riverside, California, the top avionics technician of the year, Jerry Luttrull.

Congratulations to this terrific foursome.

You know, with all this talk of the best of the best, it reminds me. A couple of nights ago I was out in Dayton for the Aviation Hall of Fame dinner.

You should’ve seen the star wattage in that place. It was blinding, I tell you. Steve Fossett and Sally Ride were being inducted. So were Fred Smith of FedEx and Walter Boyne of the Air and Space Museum.

As great as their achievements were, they couldn’t match the grit and guts of an amazing lady who’s flown more hours than anyone in this room. Anyone. Her name is Evelyn Johnson. You probably know her better as Mama Bird.

She’s 97, and boy, she’s a living legacy. When you’ve logged almost 60,000 flight hours — most of them as an instructor — you’ve touched a lot of aviators.

So let me ask a quick question: how many of you out there are close to 60,000 hours? Let’s see a show of hands.

I hear some chuckles, but I’m not seeing any palms.

OK — 40,000? Somebody? Anybody?

Fine. Let’s try this — 25,000.

All right, for the next Mama Bird, seems to me like we got a whole lot of flying ahead of us to do. That’s good. So I tell you what — let me shed some light on how we’re going to keep the airspace open and enjoyable for the next Mama — or Papa — Bird out there.

First up: safety. Which is more important than anything else. The good news here is we’re all living witnesses to the safest period in the history of aviation — GA and commercial.

Fatal GA accident rates have been improving steadily for 30 years. We expect this grand turn of events to continue because the GA fleet is rapidly becoming more sophisticated.

Advances in modern avionics, more information in the cockpit for flight crews means you’ve got state-of-the art airplanes with the best that technology has to offer.

Fractionally-owned and operated planes are also boosting safety’s bottom line. That tends to happen when you’ve never had a fatal accident. And it’s because the fractional industry goes above and beyond the call of safety.

In the midst of all this good news is the fact that manufacturers and the FAA have been making absolutely sure that the quality of training keeps pace with all these new aircraft.

This includes sophisticated simulators and hard-hitting training programs.

Want another reason to feel secure about the future? Look no further than Alaska. Accidents have dropped 40 percent in the last decade. Flip the pages on the calendar, and you’ll see that April of ’07 was the safest April ever since we started keeping tabs. It’s been an incredible turnaround.

Of course, we still have significant challenges, not just in Alaska but around the country.

Runway incursions, for one. Let me remind you that it’s the responsibility of all aviators — GA, sport, ultralight, everybody — to be vigilant and aware of the potential for mishaps on the ground.

Safety starts with a healthy pilot, so let me turn to medicals for a second. I’m proud of the way the FAA has reduced the processing time for airman certification. We’ve now got it down to 30 days or less.

This has been a touchy subject in years past, I know. But today, we’ve got a good story to tell.

Between April and June, we electronically processed 85 percent of the pilots who applied. For the other 15 percent who didn’t have a certificate in hand when they left the medical examiner’s office, the average processing time was just 21 days. What used to take several months is now down to three weeks.

It’s all about keeping that love of flying going.

On that same score, I’ve got one quick housekeeping item for all of you out there who want to transition from an ultra light to the light sport aircraft category. As you know, the LSA rule says airworthiness registration must be completed by the end of January 2008.

We will not extend the deadline, so anyone who hasn’t completed the process on time won’t be able to legally fly their airplane as an experimental light sport aircraft.

OK, with that taken care of, back to the subject at hand — safety.

No talk of aviation’s future or of safety would be complete without ADS-B. It lies at the heart of our next generation system of air traffic control.

Let me encourage you to stop on by the ADS-B and NextGen booths at the FAA Safety Center. Not only will you be able to see the why behind these important initiatives, but the how. I encourage you all to check it out.

You know, if ever there was a proving ground for ADS-B, it’s Alaska. I was there earlier this month, and I had the opportunity to chat with some of the pilots who participated in the Capstone program. It’s really inspiring what they had to say. Take a listen.

I’m pleased to announce that we’re ready to take ADS-B nationwide. We’ve got August 30 circled on the calendar. That’s a big day for us. By that date, we’ll award the contract to the company that’s going to help us really launch full force into NextGen. We expect the deal will be worth close to one billion, and we’ve got three of the best teams ever put together competing for this, so more news to come very shortly.

By this time next year, we should be doing our first test on a fully functioning uplink device. Now that’s definitely something to look forward to with the approach of 2010. That’s when you folks start equipping, and you have until 2020 to comply. A proposed rule will be out in September with all the details.

Now I realize that cost is a concern, and we hear you. But spending money on new equipment this time around reminds me of a similar argument when the Mode C transponder rule came out a few years back.

That generated some controversy as well, and people predicted the end of GA as we know it. But in the end, the sky didn’t fall, and it won’t here with ADS-B. In fact, it’s going to deliver tremendous benefits.

One more thing to remember. As more manufacturers get in the game, market forces will drive down prices. To me, the question you should be asking fellow pilots is why wouldn’t we want ADS-B in our cockpits? This is where aviation is headed, so don’t get left behind. NextGen is coming into focus by the day.

You know, if it’s one thing the FAA and EAA can bank on is our willingness to work for the good of aviation. We both recognize the importance of modernizing air traffic control.

The thing is, if we don’t do this the right way, GA’s future might be one that none of us wants, a future where congested hubs start to squeeze you out.

The point is, without a cost-based system that provides dedicated revenues for NextGen projects like ADS-B, there’s the very real possibility that you won’t be able to fly when you want, where you want. I can’t put it any plainer than that.

I know with all the concerns out there about the price of fuel that the last thing you want to deal with is shelling out more to fly. But let’s take a good, hard look at what we’ve proposed here. Then I’ll let you decide for yourself whether it sounds fair.

On one side of the coin you’ve got a commercial flight. It’s going from LaGuardia to Miami.

Factor in the ticket tax, segment tax and the fuel tax, and we’ve got $2,015 coming in to the FAA. A 10-passenger business jet flying the same route today pays about $200 in fuel taxes, but uses the same, exact high altitude airspace.

This shows how those biz jets — the fastest growing segment in aviation, I might add — are paying for less than they should be, while everyday passengers are picking up the tab.

We think costs should be spread more fairly to all users of the system, so that you folks pay for what you get.

Now let’s look at the other side of the coin.

Let’s say you like to go up in your LSA on the weekends. You’re leaving Palwaukee Municipal in Chicago, headed to Kansas City Downtown Airport. Despite all the rhetoric you’ve heard, you won’t get hit with one penny in user fees under our plan. Let me repeat that. Not one penny, unless you fly into one of the 30 most congested airports.

And even then, we’re talking less than four bucks here. Four bucks to fly into O’Hare, LaGuardia or LAX.

Now there are other proposals out there, newly proposed legislation in both the senate and the house. But fundamentally we believe a cost-based system will actually keep you flying instead of keeping you from flying, as some people are claiming.

And a key point to keep in mind: the clock is ticking. The taxes that keep the FAA running will expire on September 30. That’s 66 days from today.

Now this is about the future of our system. While all the deliberations are taking place on Capitol Hill, ask yourself what aviation’s going to look like years from now. I, for one, see a very bright future, one where the airspace is accessible, affordable, and attainable but we need to come together to get it done.

Now I’ve got something else important to talk with you about. An announcement — a major change and an example of things that can happen when we come together.

As you know, because of the security threat, we put a special flight restricted zone of airspace around Washington, D.C. in the period following 9/11. The ADIZ, the air defense identification zone, was put in place without opportunity for public comment. It was a rocky period following the attacks but the FAA acted on the requirements of the security agencies and DoD. It was an imposition that had to be made. None of us here questions the need to protect our nation’s capital and everything it stands for.

To put the ADIZ in place on a permanent basis, we held public hearings and sought public comment. Twenty thousand of you spoke up. I think that’s got to be a record of some kind. And now, after a few years of working with Homeland Security and DoD, we’ve been able to reach an agreement that keeps D.C. safe and secure and just as important, it gives you more freedom to operate in the skies around it.

Effective this August 30^th, we’re reducing the size and simplifying the shape of the ADIZ. It’s the right thing to do, and it’s always the right time to do the right thing.

As you can see on this slide of the ADIZ as it now exists [#1], the ADIZ initially was an odd-shape — our attempt to match existing airspace — which we thought would be easier to follow. It’s not going to look like that any more. It’s now going to be a clean circle about 30 nautical miles in diameter, centered on D.C. Like so. [#2:  New ADIZ]. We had quite a bit of confusion with the previous version.

We’re also modifying a flight-restricted zone, the Freeze, which will be adjusted to accommodate the Dulles downwind and the GA corridor between Fort Meade and Gaithersburg. We did this because of your comments and positive recommendations. In my view, that GA corridor previously was just too small for the volume of traffic moving through it.

Now, we’re freeing up 33 major GA airports and 1,800 square miles of airspace. ATC will be better able to provide security monitoring and a higher level of service to you. This new design also formalizes pattern work at select airports within the ADIZ. And it improves access to the airspace by adding four stand alone air traffic control positions at the Potomac TRACON to provide you better service.

Lots of unfortunate violations occurred when the first version was put in place. When we asked for comments, you told us to simplify the design. You told us that it would need to improve safety. You told us not to reduce security.

Score one for GA. You were right on each count. This new ADIZ doesn’t diminish security. It’s safer. And it’s one more example of the FAA, Homeland Security, DoD and the GA community working together to do the right thing. So kudos to you.

I want to wrap things up by saying thank you. Thank you for inviting me to be here all these years. You know, I’ve watched the planes and the people with a huge amount of admiration. Dayton and Kitty Hawk have rightful claims to being the birthplace of flight, but Oshkosh is where you’ll find the face and heart of general aviation.

Thank you.