The time has come for “all hands on deck.” FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt and Air Traffic Organization chief Hank Krakowski testified on March 18 before the House Appropriations Subcommittee. They were defending the agency’s FY 2011 budget request. They were asking for $1.14B for NextGen in FY 2011. That’s 32 percent more than received in FY 2010. That’s in a climate of record deficits due to two wars, financial bail-outs, cash for clunkers, and heath care, all piled on top of the pre-existing entitlements. While Randy Babbitt and Hank Krakowski seemed to say the right things, they weren’t able to calm the waters completely. Subcommittee Chair John Oliver, according to NextGov, seemed to have doubts. He said “It’s hard to see what the cumulative result of [NextGen] is yet because it is so complex and comprehensive….”  No question, it is big and complex. Even when you work on it from the inside, it’s hard to get your arms around it. Think about how difficult it must be for the folks on the Hill, much less the folks on the street, who by the way vote for the folks on the Hill. As a result, the folks on the Hill often pay more attention to the folks on the street than the folks who testify. It’s the way our system was designed.

If anything is in need of transformation in NextGen, it’s our message. It’s got to be simpler and compelling. Our return on investment has to be clear and credible. Benefits in the near term need to be committed to and delivered. RTCA TF5 was a gift in the sense that it forged community consensus to rally behind NextGen. It defined the way forward in the near term. We have to preserve that unity and begin moving out more rapidly. As a community, we together must communicate a simple, compelling message and make it easier for people on the Hill.

Some individuals point to the Reauthorization of the FAA by Congress as an indication of support for NextGen. It’s really not even half a loaf. It’s just the wrapper. The entire loaf has to come out of the appropriations. The only thing we may have going for us is the memory of how bad it got in the spring and summer of 1999 and 2000 or those more recent isolated incidents involving passengers trapped on aircraft. If people on the Hill don’t fund NextGen, those days likely will return as soon as the economy improves. Then, the folks on the street will look for someone to blame. That may be the only thing we have going for us on the Hill, if we don’t simplify the NextGen story for our legislators.

The FAA released the latest NextGen Implementation Plan (NGIP) on March 10. The NGIP is encouraging. It begins to cite real estimates of savings and benefits resulting from NextGen investments. While the examples are great, they’re a bit fragmented. The FAA with the community’s help needs to have a more comprehensive benefits story. How long will it take for the FY 2011 investment of $1.14B to pay for itself? Start there, and then elaborate with supporting evidence.

As a community, we need to work together to get this moving. We need to build solid momentum. There’s no time to waste. If we aren’t successful, where will that leave air travelers and people who depend on our nation’s air transportation system?