Aviation industry presses for 'NextGen' at annual summit

Lackluster federal policies and "relatively little" stimulus funding have left the airline industry feeling "forgotten" in Washington, Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said today at the industry's annual Aviation Summit.

He noted that industry leaders are not asking for a bailout because their companies are not in a dire situation. Instead, their top priority is to secure funding in the upcoming FAA reauthorization bill to help modernize the nation's aged air-traffic control system "in a hurry," he said. The new system, dubbed "NextGen," would use a satellite system for navigation rather than the current ground-based system. The industry says NextGen would improve labor efficiency and help reduce lost revenue caused by delays, as well as greenhouse gases.

Upgrades have moved sluggishly for a variety of reasons, including disagreements among FAA, airlines and air-traffic controllers. Federal officials hope to persuade airlines to make early investments in key technologies, but the carriers are reluctant because infrastructure that would allow those new instruments to function might not be built for another decade.

"We all agree on the need for improvements, but not on regulations and funding," said FedEx Chairman Frederick Smith. As for other legislation, Smith criticized efforts aimed at tightening regulation of international air traffic. He predicted an "all-out air trade war" if Congress backpedals on an "open-skies" agreement that allows U.S. carriers to fly to any city in the European Union and gives the European carriers reciprocal rights. In addition, the industry is skittish about cap-and-trade legislation. Carbon emissions limits threaten the airline industry, Donohue said, because energy companies will simply pass along the higher cost of producing fuel to the carriers.