“NextGen has been made a priority on several fronts,” said JPDO's Deputy Director Bob Pearce at JPDO’s third “All Hands” meeting, attended by more than 150 representatives and stakeholders from Government and industry. The President increased investment in NextGen in his budget released last month, said Mr. Pearce, allocating close to $700 million in FY09 FAA capital investment and research, including over $200 million for NASA research directed towards NextGen. In January a plan to accelerate NextGen was requested by the Department of Transportation Secretary Peters at the Senior Policy Committee meeting, said Mr. Pearce. The plan on “how to bring NextGen benefits in the near-term” will be presented to the Secretary in May.

Mr. Pearce also noted the criticality of receiving Government, industry, and stakeholder input for the Integrated Work Plan (IWP) Version 0.2, describing the IWP as the basis for budget and program planning for moving forward. The JPDO addressed approximately 2,000 comments to produce Version 0.2, and expects to adjudicate a similar volume of comments in generating the baseline version by fall of this year.

In addition, Mr. Pearce updated attendees on current JPDO activities including the February NextGen Conference on Integrating Weather, Airports and Air Navigation Services, the internal analysis test case on high density operations performed by the JPDO’s Systems Modeling and Analysis Division, and development of an avionics equipage road map, which will be released coinciding with the September publishing of the IWP baseline.

Proposed PATA Demonstration
The JPDO invited the Personal Air Transportation Alliance (PATA), which is a forum for early adapters of advanced technology aircraft and advanced technology systems, to speak about opportunities for collaboration between the JPDO and partner departments and agencies and industry.

Jack Olcott, the president of General Aero Company, described a possible demonstration of NextGen technologies that would evaluate the increased safety, capacity, efficiency and environmental sustainability which result from implementing the advanced technologies within the National Airspace System. The demonstration, Mr. Olcott said, would compare benefits derived from an incremental application of NextGen technologies to baseline data derived from existing operations of PATA members.

Bruce Holmes, chief strategist of NextGen Systems at DayJet, identified principles important for supporting their innovations as “RNP everywhere, ADS-B In and Out everywhere, precision minima for all runways, multi-lateration / TIS-B to the surface, and common Internet protocols for aviation communication.” The Internet-based communication capability, Dr. Holmes said, would provide precision in operations, fuel and time savings, and increased airspace capacity.

Commending the JPDO, Dr. Holmes said "industry across the country has been stimulated by the JPDO’s vision to frame the National Airspace System as an innovation commons, as described in the operating concepts embodied in the JPDO Concepts of Operations.”

NextGen’s Global Harmonization
Recent work on globally harmonizing NextGen plans includes the FAA's signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Air Traffic Management Bureau (ATMB) of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, said Carey Fagan, JPDO Global Harmonization Working Group Government Co-Chair, and Director of Operations Planning International, Air Traffic Organization. The MOU signing also officially established a NextGen Air Traffic Management Steering Group. The group’s first major efforts will be to conduct a workshop in April, which 50 to 60 ATMB mid-level managers plan to attend.

In addition, JPDO is also working closely with Japan through the Future Air Transportation Systems Group. The group is actively working on a comparative assessment between the different systems under development including NextGen, Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR), and the Comprehensive Assessment and Restructure of the Air Traffic Services (CARATS), the Japanese equivalent to NextGen. Work with Japan also includes developing a joint paper to present at the International Civil Aviation Organization Global Forum on NextGen/SESAR in September.

Ms. Fagan also noted the FAA’s Acting Administrator Bobby Sturgell's February signing of a joint statement with counterparts in Australia at the Singapore air show to cooperate on ASPIRE, or the Asia and South Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions. She said both of the ASPIRE and AIRE (Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions) partnerships are formed with international counterparts to demonstrate service enhancements and advancements in technologies that can reduce greenhouse gases and emissions in a collaborative manner. Ms. Fagan said NextGen/SESAR AIRE trials will begin as early as May for improvements in air traffic systems operations and benefits to the environment.

NextGen NASA Aeronautics Research
NASA’s Director of the Airspace Systems Program Office, Karlin Toner, said that the Airspace Systems Program Office is processing 10 award negotiations on 10 subtopics, for which 18 proposals were received in response to the “Research Opportunities in Aeronautics” NASA Research Announcements (NRAs), a vehicle which the program uses to competitively select research. In FY06 to FY07, the program awarded 35 awards worth $19.5 million to 12 universities and six companies for various subtopics including airspace super density operations, traffic flow management and separation assurance. Dr. Toner said that the NRA subtopics are linked to specific milestones in the program’s road map and to the Operational Improvements in the IWP framework. Dr. Toner noted the recently awarded “Integration of Advanced Vehicles and Concepts into NextGen” study, citing that it represents collaboration across NASA research programs that are important “to achieve the benefits of NextGen.”

Based on the first NASA-FAA Research Transition Team (RTT) workshop on time-based metering in the near-term focusing on 3D-path arrival management held in February, RTT co-leads will report lessons learned to a Coordinating Committee representing NASA, FAA, and JPDO soon. The Airspace Systems Program is also scheduled to hold a Technical Interchange Meeting, on March 18 – 20, to facilitate a discussion of key long-term research issues for NextGen, focusing a half day on the “Research Challenges and Integrated Solutions for NextGen” and for getting a better sense of how NASA research will influence the NextGen Concept of Operations.

Vision 100 Awards
JPDO’s Director Charlie Leader recognized Dr. Lisa Porter, Director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, for her former role as the Associate Administrator of the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at NASA, where she “set the standard for partnership collaboration between JPDO and partner departments and agencies.” Mr. Leader said, “NASA and FAA has had a longstanding and successful relationship in the development of concepts, capabilities, and technologies from the early stages to maturation and implementation into the National Airspace System,” adding that “Dr. Porter was key in aligning NASA research activities with objectives and Operational Improvements for the NextGen initiative.”

A second Vision 100 Award went to Audra Bowman, for working in multiple capacities within the JPDO as a Management Analyst in the Business Management Division, and a Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative for a multi-million dollar contract. The infrastructure that supports JPDO is in many ways very minimal, said Mr. Leader, adding that while the JPDO doesn't have a Human Relations, Finance or Facilities Department, Ms. Bowman plays a central role in providing these functions. JPDO’s purpose for establishing the Vision 100 Awards, said Mr. Leader, is to recognize those in the JPDO community who stand out for their collaboration, leadership and creativity in support of the NextGen initiative.

The next "All Hands" meeting is scheduled on Wednesday, June 18, 2008, to be held in the James Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters.

Please use the following links to download presentations for the meeting:

• NextGen JPDO All Hands Meeting – Pearce, Bob

• NextGen Now: Accelerating Early Adoption – Ross, Ken

• Update on Global Harmonization Activities and NextGen/SESAR Efforts – Fagan, Carey

• How Does NASA’s Research Investment in Aeronautics Contribute to NextGen? – Toner, Karlin

<<Back