US FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said that "any number of options have been explored" to determine how to finance equipage of commercial aircraft with NextGen ATC technology such as ADS-B, including consideration of the government's providing airlines with money for early equipage that would be "subject to repayment."
President Barack Obama yesterday proposed redirecting some funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which had been aimed at assisting financial services companies that are returning to fiscal heath faster than anticipated, to stimulate jobs creation in part by investing in transportation infrastructure. Airlines have argued that aircraft equipment should be considered part of NextGen's infrastructure cost (ATWOnline, Oct. 26), and American Airlines Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey last week suggested that jobs could be created by allocating federal funds to equip aircraft with ADS-B.
Babbitt emphasized that no decision has been made regarding using TARP money for NextGen. But he said that if funds were provided for aircraft equipage, "we would enjoy NextGen benefits 3-4 years ahead of our timeline. . .The benefits would be pretty dramatic."
Speaking to reporters yesterday on the sidelines of the US-India Aviation Partnership Summit in Washington, Babbitt said airlines can expect "billions of dollars in fuel savings annually" once NextGen is implemented. Even though they will benefit in the long run by equipping aircraft, "we have carriers in this country that are financially strapped. . .and [equipping aircraft for NextGen] is a burden that may be financially out of their reach," he said.
Source: Air Transport World
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