Federal Aviation Administration challenges in managing the air traffic control modernization effort known as NextGen means the $40 billion project could fall short of expectations and run billions over budget, according to a recently-released Transportation Department inspector general report.

NextGen is a series of projects that collectively should replace today's radar air traffic control system with a satellite-based system capable of automation and of handling up to three times more air traffic than is currently possible.

But an internal FAA analysis shows that some automated air and ground capabilities originally planned for 2025 may not be implemented until 2035, or later, adding to the possibility that "NextGen may not deliver the expected long-term benefits," the report states.

Current FAA management of NextGen "ultimately puts billions of taxpayer dollars at risk," the report adds.

Actually, the FAA has yet to establish firm requirements or cost estimates and schedules for new NextGen acquisitions or adjustments to current projects, the report states. According to the agency's NextGen roadmap, the FAA should have made 51 of 340 key decisions during fiscal 2009 when in fact it only made 11.

Among the many important design issues that greatly affect the project's ultimate capabilities, timing and costs that remain unresolved are the degree to which airline pilots will assume air traffic control responsibility, given their new planned situational awareness tools. Also undecided is how much automation should be allowed to take over air traffic management duties and the extent to which FAA facilities should be consolidated.

Key safety concerns also remain unaddressed, the report states. Air traffic controllers will have to, for a time, manage airplanes both with and without NextGen equipment onboard, but the FAA needs to address procedures to support that environment, the report states. Taking advantage of NextGen capabilities might even require airplanes with the requisite avionics to gain their own airspace, the report adds.

The agency has also made limited progress in coordinating research and development efforts with other agencies--although, the report does acknowledge that the FAA doesn't have budget authority over other agencies. However, the FAA and the NextGen Joint Planning and Development Office have been at work for four years "with little to show for the effort" on a budget document that would track multiple agency efforts relevant to NextGen, the report states.

"FAA is missing several opportunities to coordinate with partner agencies and strengthen its ability to reduce NextGen cost and schedule risks," the report states.

In the agency's official response to the audit, Ramesh Punwani, the FAA chief financial officer, said that the agency "remains confident it will achieve the vision set out in the NextGen plan, and is prepared to face the challenges that will come with making NextGen a reality."

For more:
- read the Transportation Department audit AV-2010-068 (.pdf)
- go to the FAA's NextGen webpage

Related Articles:
Satellite-guided air traffic control by 2020
FAA's NextGen faces host of challenges