FAA Gives Green Light to NextGen Satellite System

Rotor.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a step that promises to greatly improve the efficiency of air transportation for millions of Americans, FAA Acting Administrator Robert A. Sturgell today gave the green light to nationwide deployment of a system that allows aircraft to be tracked by satellite rather than radar. Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) will reduce the risk of midair collisions and weather-related accidents, provide more efficient routes in adverse weather, and improve situational awareness for pilots. More >>

NBAA Works to Correct Media Misperceptions About Business Aviation

NBAA Update

In light of recent publicity about some companies’ use of business aviation aircraft to attend congressional hearings, NBAA has fielded inquiries from news organizations about what business aviation is and how it is used in the U.S. To clear up any misperceptions, NBAA has provided the questions most often asked of the Association, with responses that lay out the facts to explain how business aviation helps companies of all sizes remain nimble, competitive and successful, especially in a difficult economic climate. In one of a number of interviews held last week, NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen told the Associated Press that companies use business aviation in part so that their employees can be productive and have access to phones and e-mail during flights. Bolen pointed out that business aviation also allows company officials to discuss proprietary information without worrying about being overheard. To review a document NBAA sent to reporters, visit:
http://web.nbaa.org/public/news/media-response.php

PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA NAMES TRANSPORTATION TRANSITION TEAM

Transportation Team Lead

 

Seth Harris is a member of the Obama-Biden Transition Project’s Agency Review Working Group responsible for overseeing review of the transportation agencies.

Department of Transportation Review Team Leads

Mortimer Downey is a self-employed transportation consultant doing business as Mort Downey Consulting, LLC and serves as the Chairman of PB Consult, Inc. Downey served for eight years as the Deputy Secretary of Transportation under President Clinton, and was an Assistant Secretary of Transportation during the Carter Administration. He has also been the Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Transportation Budget Analyst for the House of Representatives Budget Committee and held various planning positions at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Jane Garvey is the Head of the U.S. Public/Private Partnerships at JPMorgan. In this role Garvey advises states on financing strategies to accelerate project delivery for governments. Garvey was the 14th Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), nominated by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate in August 1997. Prior to becoming FAA Administrator, Garvey was Acting Administrator and previously Deputy Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Garvey serves on several corporate boards and non-profit organizations and commissions related to the transportation community.

Michael Huerta is Group President of ACS Transportation Solutions, a company that provides technology solutions for collecting revenue, enhancing safety and promoting security for the transportation industry. From 1993 to 1998, Huerta served in senior positions at the Department of Transportation (DOT), as Chief of Staff to Secretary Rodney E. Slater and as Associate Deputy Secretary of Transportation under Secretary Federico Peña. Previously, Huerta served as the Executive Director of the Port of San Francisco and Commissioner of the City of New York Department of Ports, International Trade and Commerce.

NTSB Review Team Lead

Carol Carmody currently works as a consultant in international aviation and aviation safety. In 2000 she was appointed by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate to a five-year term on the National Transportation Safety Board. Before serving on the Safety Board, she was the U.S. Representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN body to which she was appointed by President Clinton in 1994. Other government service includes six years as professional aviation staff on the Senate Commerce Committee, 11 years at the Federal Aviation Administration, and three years at the Central Intelligence Agency.

In Memoriam: William F. O’Brien

The aviation maintenance industry lost a key friend on Sunday, November 9, when retired FAA national resource specialist Bill O’Brien passed away. O’Brien was a familiar and much appreciated presence at inspection authorization renewal seminars, gently but firmly and often humorously admonishing mechanics not to cut regulatory corners and afterwards always taking time to answer detailed questions that often turned into confessions and promises to do better. At IA seminars and in airline and general aviation maintenance shops, O’Brien would be animated when discussing the program he helped create at Eastern New Mexico University to help A&P mechanics obtain their associate’s degree or when introducing another deserving recipient of the Charles E. Taylor Master Mechanic Award or handing out FAA maintenance technician training awards. Since 1990 and until recently, O’Brien wrote a column for Aircraft Maintenance Technology magazine, helping thousands of mechanics understand and apply the regulations that govern their careers. “He has been an incredible mentor to so many over his long and distinguished career at the FAA,” said Jeremy Cox, vice president, JetBrokers.