Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

As President Joe Biden rolled out his $2 trillion American Jobs Plan infrastructure proposal that includes $25 billion for airports, aviation community leaders are also appealing for increased investments in the broader aviation infrastructure that they say is aging and in urgent need of upgrade.

 


Speaking during Wednesday’s U.S. Chamber of Commerce Aviation Summit, FAA Deputy Administrator Bradley Mims called runways “the launchpads that fill world commerce and economies.” But, he&nbsp;added, “Runways won’t take you anywhere without a huge and largely unseen investment in infrastructure that supports the entire aviation systems and this nation.”

 


Mimms cited the air traffic control facilities, ground-based navigation aids, radar, airport lighting, and instrument landing systems as among the many examples. While air traffic control and technical specialists have kept the system operating and reliable, he said many of the systems have become outdated.

 


“The time to act is now because the aviation infrastructure is showing its age,” Mims said, and noted the FAA has a backlog of nearly $5 billion in upgrade and modernization programs for its facilities and systems, and “a great many of those need it now.” Overall, Mims further stated, the FAA has about $3 billion in unfunded infrastructure requirements through 2030.&nbsp;

 


“When we talk about infrastructure and sustainment investment in the country as a whole, it is very important that we do not forget about the airspace system and its backbone, the facilities and the equipment that make the system available 24/7/365, and more importantly, when we need it most,” he said. “Aviation infrastructure must be right up there with our highways, railways, and waterways in terms of importance.”

 


Thales North America CEO Alan Pellegrini echoed those statements during the chamber summit while announcing the establishment of a Ground-Based Aviation Infrastructure Coalition. Founded by Thales and a half-dozen aviation infrastructure equipment providers, the coalition is “fighting for the rapid modernization of this important infrastructure to strengthen the resilience of the aviation system,” Pellegrini said.

 


For the past 20 years, the FAA has remained heavily focused on implementing NextGen to allow more efficient flight operations in the national airspace, he said.

 


“To fund NextGen, aviation infrastructure investments were substantially reduced from historic levels,” Pelligrini&nbsp;noted. He cited estimates that capital investments in new infrastructure have declined 30 percent, while operations and maintenance costs have risen 12 percent. “Today, nearly 50 percent of the instrument landing systems operating are 1970s-era technology,” he said, noting that 50 years “is a long time for any system, especially those that enable aircraft to safely land in all weather conditions.”

 


More concerning to him, he added, is that officials during an FAA briefing last fall indicated that some systems might need to operate 80 years before they get an upgrade. “These systems were not designed for such long life spans," he said. "If we expect to maintain an aviation system that is affordable and reliable, we must prioritize and, importantly, fund aviation infrastructure investments to allow the U.S. to continue to have the safest aviation system in the world.”

 


Pelligrini pointed to global air navigation service providers that systematically modernize equipment before they reach the end of their service life and suggested that the U.S. civil aviation system continues to fall behind.&nbsp;“This issue can no longer be put off,” he said. “We must modernize with the target that the average age of our ground-based infrastructure is reduced to less than its design lifetime by 2030.&nbsp;This is a reasonable goal.”

 


Pellegrini listed benefits beyond improving the aviation system’s resilience, including adding jobs, lowering maintenance costs, and cutting carbon emissions.&nbsp;“We advocate that any federal infrastructure package include provisions to address this critical segment of aviation,” he said.

 


Other coalition members include Antenna Products, dB Systems, Moog, New Bedford Panoramex, Parsons Corp., and Leonardo’s Selex ES unit.

 


Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas offered his support for the coalition and its mission. “As aviation technology in the U.S. continues to age, it is vital we remain committed to modernizing this important technology,” he said.

News, issues, personnel, equipment and developments about air traffic management.

Aviation Leaders Call for ATC Infrastructure Boost

During the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Aviation Summit, leaders expressed concern that investment has diminished for aging non-NextGen systems.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

New developments at airports including regulations and noise issues; legal disputes; openings, acquisitions and mergers.

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

KDCA and KEWR receive SMR-4 installations, while IDIQ AT&T covers coms

FAA Installs Surface Radars at Key Airports and Awards $74.3M to AT&T

Hanneke Weitering

Issues regarding financing of aircraft; aviation insurance; tax issues for aircraft operators; new companies and people in the aviation financing and insurance industries.

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

Milestone covers the software that talks to air traffic control

Merlin Clears a Certification Hurdle for AI in the Cockpit

Charlotte Bailey

News and issues relating to civil and military unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) of all kinds and sizes, including those used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), combat (unmanned combat air vehicles, or UCAVs), law enforcement, research and other applications. Of particular focus is the FAA's planned integration of UAS into the U.S. national airspace system.

Honeywell-led consortium to consider advanced air mobility integration

Verti-Go Initiative to Lead European Airspace Update

NASA controllers used existing tools to manage simulated autonomous traffic

Wisk Tests 1:3 Supervisor Ratio for Autonomous Flight

Amy Wilder

News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

More In ATC

FAA Installs Surface Radars at Key Airports and Awards $74.3M to AT&T

KDCA and KEWR receive SMR-4 installations, while IDIQ AT&T covers coms

Merlin Clears a Certification Hurdle for AI in the Cockpit

Milestone covers the software that talks to air traffic control

Verti-Go Initiative to Lead European Airspace Update

Honeywell-led consortium to consider advanced air mobility integration

Wisk Tests 1:3 Supervisor Ratio for Autonomous Flight

NASA controllers used existing tools to manage simulated autonomous traffic

Modern Skies Coalition Urges $20B More for ATC Upgrades

Funds would build on $12.5 billion approved last year

FAA Taps L3Harris To Modernize Surveillance Network

Contract covers more than 700 ground stations nationwide

FAA’s Wilbur To Improve Flight Delay Data Efficiencies

FAA completed an audit to strengthen NAS operations related to flight delays and cancellations

FAA Commissions First of New Indra Radars

The initial radar is installed in Putnam, Oklahoma

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN