Industry and government participants gave an upbeat assessment of the Federal Aviation Administration’s often maligned NextGen program during the 60^th annual Air Traffic Control Association conference. They said the estimated $40 billion modernization of the ATC system is making progress, even as Congress considers restructuring the FAA in new reauthorization legislation.

In a keynote speech at the conference in National Harbor, Md., on November 2, Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Anthony Foxx said the DOT estimates that NextGen has already produced nearly $2 billion in benefits through improvements such as recategorizing wake turbulence separations and implementing satellite-based arrival and departure procedures. The department estimates those improvements will accrue another $11 billion in benefits over the next 15 years—and 10 times that if NextGen programs are fully funded and implemented.

“With future improvements we could see more than $130 billion in additional savings over the same 15-year period,” Foxx declared. “These will come from avoided delays and cancellations, reduced flight times, fuel savings and other benefits.”

At a separate briefing that Harris Corporation organized for reporters, industry executives said NextGen component programs are moving forward. Having completed a $4.6 billion acquisition of Exelis earlier this year, Harris now leads or participates in all major NextGen programs.

The core network for automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) tracking and separation of aircraft, a system built by Exelis, “is fully implemented,” and ADS-B coverage of the U.S. is now equivalent to radar coverage, said Ed Sayadian, Harris president of mission networks. ADS-B also offers expanded coverage in Alaska and, with three new sites being installed along the eastern and northern coast of Mexico, will provide upper-airspace coverage over the entire Gulf of Mexico.

The capability of data communications between controllers and pilots, first tested at airports in Newark and Memphis, has been initially activated at Salt Lake City International and Houston’s Hobby and George Bush Intercontinental airports. The planned “DataComm” roll-out to 56 ATC towers by 2016 is on track, Sayadian said. Implementation at high-altitude enroute centers is planned in 2019.

With data communications, controllers can send pre-departure and revised pre-departure clearances directly to pilots by text message. That has helped control block times, said Mel Davis, NextGen representative for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. “One of the things NextGen talks about doing is reducing the variables of block times, the taxi-out and taxi-in times,” he said. “You’ve seen a measurable reduction in block times, and that’s the essence of what we set out to do with NextGen.”

The FAA’s system wide information management program to harmonize ground-based IT systems—better known as SWIM—now has 16 operational “nodes” and 300 “producers and consumers of data,” including airlines and airports, Sayadian said. The National Airspace System Voice Switch program to replace legacy voice switches at ATC facilities with an Internet Protocol-based network is in development. Factory acceptance tests of the new switch are planned next summer, with initial capability in 2019.

In his speech, Foxx touched on NextGen’s ongoing challenges, not the least of which is airlines’ willingness to invest in the necessary technology. The FAA remains firm in requiring that all aircraft be equipped for ADS-B Out capability to continuously signal their position by 2020. “The full benefits of ADS-B require all aircraft flying in the designated airspace to be properly equipped,” Foxx said. “We are committed to working with our stakeholders to ensure equipage by the January 1, 2020 deadline. This is a critical deadline for the industry to meet.

“I know that one of the most common barriers to equipage is cost,” he added. “The good news there is that a number of manufacturers are bringing equipment to market, and this competition is starting to drive down prices. In fact, some units are now priced as low as $1,500. We hope this means we will see people installing equipment sooner.”

In late September, the Congress passed legislation to reauthorize the FAA for six months, through next March. But action on a longer-term FAA reauthorization bill will likely have to wait until Congress agrees on a surface transportation bill, Foxx said. “I don’t think we can even get to an aviation bill on Capitol Hill until the surface issues are dealt with,” he related. “As long as we’re short-terming the surface system, I think it’s going to be very difficult to get to a long-term aviation bill. I love aviation, I love airports, but if you can’t get to one, that’s a problem.”