These are basic truths: aviation is safer than ever, capacity must expand to meet demand, and we must be good environmental stewards. The FAA’s plan to redesign America’s aviation system supports each of these in a way that will keep things running smoothly to 2025 and beyond. We must continue the productive relationships we have forged with our international partners. And we must continue to provide all Americans the best possible value for their investment. The tax dollars we spend must benefit everyone.

Our skies are safe. They are so safe that we now monitor incidents and accidents that didn’t happen. Working in partnership with the aviation industry, we have achieved an incredibly low rate of commercial fatal accidents.

In the last 10 years, the commercial fatal accident rate has dropped 57 percent. No other mode of transportation has a safety record that meets our high standard, domestically or abroad. We have also achieved significant reductions in general aviation accidents across the country.

Even so, the bottom line is that the status quo — regardless of the fact that we’re in an era of unprecedented safety — will not meet the needs of the future. As passengers continue to fly in ever-increasing numbers, and as more planes continue to fill the skies, we have to be ready and able to handle that growth safely and efficiently.

Our aviation system must continue to change to meet the growing needs of our country, engaging the brightest minds in the industry, encouraging our employees to reach for excellence in all they do, and taking advantage of new technologies. Our biggest challenge today and in the future is meeting capacity needs.

With new developments, such as Very Light Jets and Unmanned Aircraft Systems, and the increasing growth of low-cost carriers, the challenge to increase capacity will only intensify in the years ahead.

We need to act now to meet this challenge. Simply put, we need to overhaul our aviation system. NextGen does that, and the plan is well under way. NextGen transforms our 40-year-old technology into state-of-the-art operations.

The transformation is already happening on multiple fronts. This Flight Plan is our guide to NextGen over the next five years. For example, we’ve implemented new performance-based navigation procedures to increase departures at Dallas/Fort Worth by up to 20 additional operations per hour.

Automatic Dependent Surveillance — Broadcast (ADS-B) transforms radar and voice-based air traffic control into digital and satellite-based surveillance enabling air traffic separation services and aircraft-toaircraft situational awareness. The number of accidents in Alaska by aircraft using ADS-B has decreased sharply. We are expanding the program for use in the Gulf of Mexico based on this success. We are also testing a prototype Continuous Descent Arrival (CDA) at Atlanta Hartsfield Airport, which projects immediate savings in fuel while also decreasing noise.

In short, with NextGen we’re boosting capacity, increasing safety, and diminishing our impact on the environment while doing so. Aviation accounts for less than three percent of greenhouse gases. In conjunction with plans for alternative, cleaner burning fuels, new procedures and technology are lowering the harmful emissions that are already the lowest of any mode of transportation.

We recognize that we are not alone in our efforts. In the spirit of partnership and cooperation, we work both at home with our own aviation industry and customers, and internationally with other countries and international organizations to ensure seamless aviation systems around the world.

Canada, China, Europe, India, Japan, Mexico and others are moving forward with their own modernization programs, including satellite-based navigation technology, and we will be in step with them.

In all that we do, we are using America’s resources responsibly. We’re responding to the call by the taxpayer and Congress to operate with cost efficiencies in mind. We continue to consolidate facilities and administrative staffs where appropriate.

Our cost control measures continue to reap savings, and all of our major capital projects are on time and on budget. The FAA also continues to outperform many other Federal agencies in awarding procurements to small businesses. In FY 2007, the FAA awarded approximately $1 billion — 30 percent of its direct procurement dollars — to small businesses.

We continue to push for a cost-based financing system for the FAA with dedicated funding for NextGen capital projects. Our financing system should be balanced, fair, and provide predictability, reliability, and stakeholder involvement. In February, we sent legislation to Congress that accomplishes these goals and fully funds NextGen.

With this proposal, the factors that drive our costs — such as how many flights users make and how far they fly — would also drive our revenues. With a cost-based structure, users would also understand the impact of their actions and see a direct relationship between investments we make and the costs they pay. Our legislation proposed to link revenues and spending through cost-based fuel taxes and user fees to both encourage the most efficient use of the airspace and to invest more robustly in the transformation to NextGen.

We know that NextGen is a system that will take many years to fully implement, but we will have key accomplishments in the next five years as well. The following chart shows some of our key near-term deliverables within the NextGen framework, as well as brief explanations of the key programs and established targets. ...

INTRODUCTION
Aviation’s Second Century Begins with an Eye Toward the Future.

Download FAA 2008-2012 Flight Plan: Charting the Path for the Next Generation

PDF format, 2.7MB, 60Pages.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Increased Safety . . . . . . . . . 17
Greater Capacity . . . . . . . . . 27
International Leadership . . . 39
Organizational Excellence . . 47
Acronyms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Visit Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Official Website

We make America fly!

The FAA provides the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world.We set our sights on safe and efficient transportation, spreading the net of safety to the four corners of the globe.This is our strategy to make it happen.

OUR VISION
Improve the safety and efficiency of aviation, while being responsive to our customers and accountable to the public

OUR VALUES

• Safety Is Our Passion. We’re the world leaders in Aviation Safety.
• Quality Is Our Trademark. We serve our country, our customers and each other.
• Integrity Is Our Character. We do the right thing, even when no one is looking.
• People Are Our Strength. We treat people as we want to be treated.

"Moving America Safely. It’s what we do."

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