The delay in implementing the US NextGen advanced air traffic management system is more about mindset than technology according to airline and manufacturer CEOs.
Speaking atthe US Chamber of Commerce 11th Annual Aviation Summit in Washington, JetBlue Airways president and CEO Dave Barger said, “To me the glass is more than half-full, technology is definitely out in front to say the least … I think we’re working the right issues right now.”
Rockwell Collins chairman, president and CEO Clayton Jones said, “Technology in my view is the least of our problems … most all of the systems are well in place … everybody’s for it … why hasn’t it happened yet?”
Being able to move airplanes around efficiently in “this archaic system,” he said, “will be a self-limiting function if we don’t solve this problem.”
The problem now, Jones said, is getting $40 billion in this economic climate, “and I just don’t see it happening.”
Delta Air Lines(DL)CEO Richard Anderson said, “We talk about NextGen, we need to make the investment in NextGen, but it’s got to be real.” He noted DL’s block time in 1956 between Atlanta and Washington National using DC-6s was the same as it is today with a Boeing 757-200.
“We need to get it done,” he said. “And we need to get it done in a prompt way.”
Article Source : ATW Daily News
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