Sturgill Reports on FAA Performance at Chairman's Lunch
Deputy FAA administrator Bobby Sturgill declared that the FAA is becoming a "results-oriented, performance-based organization" at Tuesday's NBAA Chairman's Lunch, sponsored by Fortune magazine. Adoption of a five-year strategic plan is one of the tools the administration is using to accomplish this goal.
Sturgill acknowledged that many observers might view this plan skeptically, especially in light of the FAA's history of being strong on lip service and weak on execution. "I believe you'll find this plan is different," Sturgill said. On the FAA Web site, all the goals are laid out in plain English and a progress report is issued every month. The second edition of the "Flight Plan" is open for comment; Sturgill invited all NBAA members to provide input. "Take a look. What we've done is to poll our stakeholders and essentially ask for a to-do list," he said.
"We're also costing out the entire plan and we've made sure that each goal is something we can pay for," Sturgill said. There are four major goal areas within the plan, with "hard targets" and "metrics": safety, capacity, international leadership and organizational excellence.
The FAA is meeting or exceeding its safety goals, with 340 fatal accidents occurring during the past year. There's been acute improvement in Alaska, no doubt in large part due to Capstone. The business and corporate aviation accident rate "looks very good," but the final numbers still are being tallied. General aviation, though, continues to lag behind other sectors, accounting for "a disproportionately high number of serious [runway] incursions."
"We know that business jets are among the safest operators out there, but you fly in and out of airports where the GA traffic is the busiest," Sturgill cautioned NBAA members. "I'm encouraging you to be vigilant," he added.
Capacity improvement continues to fall short of goals, with new runways undergoing construction at only Houston and Orlando. "We know that runways have the greatest impact on increasing capacity over the long haul," Sturgill said. He also said that the FAA has levied the largest possible fine on the City of Chicago for closing Meigs Field without prior notification, and the administration's legal counsel is investigating whether AIP funds for O'Hare were diverted to pay for closing Meigs.
New safety agreements have been signed with Brazil, Singapore and Iceland, bolstering the FAA's international outreach. "Issues of international access are important to us as well," Sturgill commented. He noted that U.S. fractional operations have been proven to be as safe as corporate operations, so the FAA will continue to press on the international front to have them treated as private aviation operations—not commercial flights.
The striving for organizational excellence revolves around treating the FAA's operations like a business. "We're bringing in critical acquisitions on time and on budget," he said. He also lauded Russell Chew, former American Airlines captain, for his efforts as chief operating officer in charge of revamping air traffic control.
Sturgill closed by saying he foresees the second century of flight having all the "energy and creativeness of the first," specifically mentioning the development of very light jets, the A380 and 7E7, fractional ownership, commercial space flight, EVS, RNP and RNAV, WAAS, ADS-B and a "growing economy." Sturgill sees aviation as an industry "recreating itself, facing issues of security and safety, plus a growing demand in all sectors. Things are heading in the right direction and this group is one of the reasons why," he said.
