The Air Transport Association of America has called on the FAA to accelerate its timetable for implementing new and more efficient air traffic procedures.

As a first step toward executing a National Airline Policy, the ATA called on the Obama Administration and the FAA to focus its resources on expediting the most cost-beneficial elements of NextGen, including performance-based procedures. Other priorities include the following:

* An accelerated one-year implementation schedule for the FAA Navigation Procedures Project (NAV Lean)

* Streamlining the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review processes to expedite the development and implementation of Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) and other environmentally beneficial and fuel-saving NextGen procedures

* Development of metrics to gauge the outcome and performance of the government’s implementation of NextGen capabilities and procedures

ATA recently reported that publicly held U.S. passenger airlines posted a $290 million net loss for the first half of 2011. Operating revenues for the same period were $8.4 billion higher compared to 2010, but expenses climbed $9.7 billion. “This industry cannot continue to lose billions of dollars, thousands of jobs and fly people from one place to another for less than it costs to get them there,” says ATA president and CEO Nicholas E. Calio.

Source: Air Transport Association of America