FAA Takes Over NextGen, Prioritizes Early Results

By John Sheridan

May 15, 2008
Avionics, Government

In a surprise move, the FAA announced late last week that it appointed ATO vice president of operations planning Vicki Cox to become senior vice president for NextGen and operations planning. While surprising, the step was not unwelcome, FAA and industry sources told AIN.

For some time, there has been concern that NextGen and the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) had become bogged down in committee meetings and future concepts, without offering tangible solutions to the pressing needs of today. Unofficially, the new initiative is being called “NowGen.

In announcing the change, acting FAA Administrator Bobby Sturgell said, “Given the aviation community’s increasing need for faster modernization of our air traffic control system, the time is now to transition to faster implementation of NextGen. He added, “The FAA is putting an emphasis on near- and mid-term implementation, while the JPDO continues its focus on long-term R&D and cross-agency cooperation.

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