UPDATE: Aviation Lobbyists Want Air-Traffic Funds From Government

Aviation advocates are aggressively lobbying Congress to supply funding that will help airlines in revamping the U.S. air traffic control system, but they decline to say how much the airline industry would contribute to the aeronautic overhaul.

"It's premature to make any commitments one way or the other as to exactly where the money is going to come from and in what proportion," Air Transport Association President Jim May said.

The head of the trade group comprising the principal U.S. airlines led a discussion on Monday with a small group of reporters about the importance of the Obama administration, Congress and U.S. airlines to begin updating the air traffic control system with satellite-based technologies, known as "NextGen."

NextGen has been slated to cost $20 billion before wrapping up in 2025, but advocates say roughly $10 billion is needed to jump-start implementation of the technologies. May declined to say how the costs would be divided between the public and private sectors.

The shift from the current radar-based traffic control system will need broad support across all invested parties, May said. He added, however, that policy makers will need to first make regulatory and procedural changes via the Federal Aviation Administration that would help convince the airline industry that "there's a practical business case for making such investments" as NextGen.

The aviation backer said he's unsure how long it could take to amend desired aviation regulations and standards in regard to ground and air procedures.

Still, air traffic congestion on the ground is intertwined with congestion in the air, said Greg Principato, president of the North America division of the Airports Council International, representing airports in the U.S. and abroad. "You can't fix one without the other."

President Barack Obama recently said he would nominate Randy Babbitt to head the FAA. Babbitt, 62 years old, served two terms as head of the country's largest commercial-pilot union during the 1990s, before becoming an aviation industry consultant and serving on various government panels.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said last week that the next FAA head will be given the task of jump-starting the development of NextGen, which he called the No. 1 priority of the FAA.

NextGen supporters are hoping to receive the government's financial assistance through any fiscal vehicle possible, such as the creation of an aviation infrastructure bank, a second stimulus package, or existing funds redirected by policy makers.

The Obama administration has previously rejected proposals to have $4 billion in aid included in the president's $787 billion economic stimulus package.

May and others in the aviation industry are also pushing for lawmakers to pass a long-term budget for the FAA, which has received several short-term funding extensions for its budget. The latest is set to expire in September, prompting NextGen supporters to ramp up their lobbying efforts.

The concept behind NextGen, which is similar to that of the global-positioning technology used in some automobiles, relies on transponder-equipped aircraft to communicate the aircraft's position to controllers in real time, and to provide weather and other information to pilots. NextGen is also slated to allow planes to fly more closely together and use more direct routes.

Supporters of the system say it should pay for itself by reducing flight delays and cutting fuel consumption and emissions.

"I don't know why there's really a debate because we can all quantify the costs of delay on our society, on our economy and on our country's competitiveness," said Bill DeCota, aviation director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. DeCota also spoke to reporters in Washington.

Principato, echoing DeCota, pointed to a congressional report that found delays and congestion cost the national economy $41 billion. "In these days, we can't afford to throw away $41 billion per year," he said.

-By Darrell A. Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6684; [e-mail]