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5 NextGen Now | Spring 2015 These are just a few of the many examples that demonstrate the benefits NextGen has yielded for air travelers in the U.S. At the same time, we cannot forget that funding interruptions have created hurdles for these modernization projects. The lack of a consistent funding stream makes planning for multi-year projects extremely difficult. As a result, there have been significant delays and inefficiencies in the modernization process. For example, ERAM was scheduled to replace the old system at 20 FAA Air Route Traffic Control Centers nationwide by August 2014. This transition was pushed back to March 2015 due to the April 2013 sequester-related furloughs, a delay that cost more than $42 million. Likewise, those same furloughs, along with the two- week shutdown of the federal government in October 2013, significantly slowed progress of the OAPM project at nine test sites across the country. Final implementation of the Houston test site was supposed to begin in December 2013. Implementation, and any associated benefit, was delayed until May 2014 due to the April 2013 furloughs. Despite these delays and setbacks, NextGen is happening now. The FAA, NATCA, and stakeholders throughout the industry are collaborating and reaching significant milestones. In order for this progress to stay on track, we must address the need for stable funding for continued modernization. More than 70,000 flights and over two million passengers are handled daily by air traffic controllers in the busiest and most complex airspace in the world. There are roughly 5,000 planes in the sky at any given moment. Domestic airlines served an estimated 756.3 million passengers in 2014. The National Airspace System (NAS) is an integral part of our national infrastructure and an essential driver of our economy. Every day millions of individuals and businesses in the U.S. rely on the services a complex web of aviation routes provide. Aviation drives nearly 12 million jobs and contributes $1.5 trillion to the nation's gross domestic product. The U.S. invented aviation, and we have the world's safest system. We need to continue to lead by example. We must continue to modernize and make the system more efficient while keeping safety as our top priority. Our NAS is too valuable to continue down this path of unstable funding. In this third edition of NextGen Now we explore more perspectives on this topic from our colleagues in the industry, as well as for updates on Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B), the NAS Voice Switch (NVS), RECAT, TAMR, Remote Towers, Automated Terminal Proximity Alert (ATPA), Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), ERAM, and DataComm.

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