Tuesday Issue - October 2, 2012 - Air Traffic Control Association

4 ATCA TODAY57th ATCA Annual Conference & ExpositionTUESDAY, October 2, 2012HuertaContinued from page 1Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcastis in effect in theGulf of Mexico, he said, and is beingtested on vehicles at the Logan Airportto improve runway safety.System wide information management(SWIM),which allows airtraffic stakeholdersto share datawithout requiringthat they developcustom applications,is alreadybeing used by somecompanies, Huertasaid. When SWIMis fully implemented,airlines won’thave to contact multiple airports toget weather and surface managementinformation, he said.Challenges include introducingthe benefits of NextGen to thegeneral public, Huerta said. And, asalways, budget considerations areparamount.The $15.2 billion FAA budget requestfor 2013 includes more than$1 billion for NextGen—an increase“The decisions we allmake over the nextseveral years aregoing to affect the airtransportation systemin this country fordecades.”—Michael Huertaof 11 percent, he said. However,other programs are facing 2 to 3percent reductions in spending. Andif sequestration occurs in January,Huerta said the FAA would face“significant cuts,” although he didn’tspell out what those cuts would be.Noting the significance of this erain aviation history, Huerta concludedhis remarkswith a reminderto the audience:“The decisions weall make over thenext several yearsare going to affectthe air transportationsystem inthis country fordecades.”At ICAO, Macfarlanesaid “themain message is that we are changing.We used to operate like a colonialbureaucracy out of the 1960s,but we have recently dragged ourtail kicking and screaming into the1980s,” he joked. “We can only hopeto someday approach 2000.”In a more serious vein, Macfarlanedetailed the system-wide improvementsat ICAO, which includeidentifying strategic plans and pri-CANSO Chairman Paul Riemens said: “I am very happy with the appointmentof Jeff Poole as Director General for CANSO. Jeff’s experience was built upthrough many years of working for the industry and will bring CANSO to itsnext level.”orities, along with regional targetsfor improvement. “There are seriouschanges to the look and feel of ourglobal air navigation plan and globalaviation safety plan, which are primarydrivers for everything we do,”he said.At CANSO, Riemens said all systemsare go for the World ATM Congressin Madrid in January, whichhe referred to as “like a marriage betweenATCA and CANSO. This willlead the transformation of air trafficmanagement.”Riemens also said InternationalAir Transport Association (IATA)Director of Government and IndustryAffairs Jeff Poole has beennamed the new Director General ofCANSO. He will assume the CANSOhelm on Jan. 1, following InterimDirector General Samantha Sharif.Visit us at booth #318to learn more about ourIntelligent People andInnovative Solutions.www.cssiinc.com