Expert Opinion
AIN Blog: FAA Administrator Makes the Case for NextGen
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt has been in the hustings recently pumping NextGen and long-term FAA reauthorization.
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt has been keeping the pressure on Congress to come up with a long-term FAA reauthorization bill and stumping for NextGen equipage.
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt has been keeping the pressure on Congress to come up with a long-term FAA reauthorization bill and stumping for NextGen equipage.

FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt has been in the hustings recently pumping NextGen and long-term FAA reauthorization. In several instances, he has broached the two topics in the same speeches.

Speaking at Metropolitan Oakland (Calif.) International Airport (OAK) just days before Congress passed the 22nd short-term extension of FAA funding and programs, Babbitt said the partial shutdown of his agency in late July stopped improvements to airport towers, runways and taxiways across the country. “When Congress failed to give us the authority to spend money this summer, it brought our modernization efforts to a halt,” he said. “Here in Oakland, the contractor is telling us that stopping construction of the tower cost about $6,000 each day in rental expenses for scaffolding, trailers and other worksite equipment.”