Rockwell Collins CEO Clay Jones may not be a pessimist when it comes to the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). But the leader of one of the world’s major avionics manufacturers is not brimming with optimism either. “Who in this room has any reasonable degree of confidence we’re going to actually get the funds necessary to implement NextGen by 2020?” Jones asked attendees of the RTCA Symposium, many of whom have invested considerable time and energy in the NextGen vision.
NextGen’s risks are no secret. The Government Accountability Office and the Department of Transportation Inspector General have issued regular and repetitive warnings about the FAA’s oversight of the program and contract management, the lack of cost and schedule baselines for key programs, the need for an integrated master schedule. Rockwell Collins provides the displays, radios and navigation systems that pilots will actually use in the future airspace—in effect, where the rubber meets the road—and its CEO isn’t sold on the dream.
