AFA Policy Forum

The Honorable Norman Mineta
Secretary of Transportation
AFA National Symposium
Washington, D.C.
September 17, 2003

Secretary Mineta: I would like to thank all of you for taking time from your own very busy schedules to be here for the AFA convention.

On behalf of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, I am honored to join all of you and the members and guests of the Air Force Association for this annual convention. I welcome our international guests―the global air chiefs who represent air forces from more than 90 nations. I hope all of you are enjoying your visit and stay in Washington, DC.

Aviation history began 100 years ago when two Ohio brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, unlocked the secret to powered flight. Their success on that blustery December morning, a single pilot flying 120 feet in 12 seconds, has been followed by extraordinary achievements over the first century of flight. It reminds me of a cartoon I have. It has a desk with a person seated behind it with a placard on the desk saying, “Federal Aviation Administration.” There are two people seated in front of the desk and the person behind the desk is saying, “Now, let me get this straight. You two guys own a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio and you want to do what?” Sometimes, I wonder, if we had an FAA then, would they have been given a permit to try their experiment.

The United States Air Force has a proud aviation history, one that has long been intertwined with commercial aviation. Commercial planes fly faster, due in large part to the Air Force prompting civilian companies over the years. The development of bombers helped evolve commercial passenger aircraft. America’s first military jets were the precursor to commercial jets. From its early days in the Signal Corps to its official founding in 1947, and now 56 years later, leading the air campaign that paved the way to victory in Operation Iraqi Freedom, the United States Air Force continues to cross into the blue. Its men and women proudly serve the American people here at home and wherever needed abroad. From the world wars to Korea to Vietnam, Operation Enduring Freedom and the ongoing war on terrorism, the Air Force has always been and continues to be at the ready, guarding our nation’s skies and protecting the home front. I am proud to note that one of our own in the Department of Transportation, who is my senior technology advisor, Dan Matthews, the former Chief Information Officer of the United States Air Force got his start in technology in the Air Force and you trained him well. He is doing a tremendous job leading the Department’s information technology effort. Thanks, Dan.

Today, millions of people fly safely around the globe every day and from one plane and one pilot on that sandy stretch in North Carolina 100 years ago to 628 million flying on some nine million flights on US airlines last year alone. Air travel in this country is an incredibly safe form of transportation. I always say that the most dangerous part of flying is driving to and from the airport.

How did we turn in such a remarkable performance? Aviation is safe, in part, because of the federal government’s participation. The Federal Aviation Administration and its predecessor agencies have carried out critical oversight and regulatory responsibility since 1926. Aviation is safe because of painstaking accident investigation to learn from mistakes to make sure they don’t happen again. It is safer still because of training and a better understanding of human factors to make sure the pilots, mechanics and air traffic controllers―everyone involved with safety―know what they are doing and indeed work as a team. That team effort extends to the Department of Defense, which provides about 15 percent of the nation’s air traffic services. Working together we are standardizing our procedures and integrating a transparent delivery of service to the consumer.

Air travel is safe because of the continuing development of air traffic control technology and procedures for the safe operation of aircraft and the safe operation in and around bad weather in the world’s biggest and busiest aviation system. Air travel is one of the safest transportation because of the dedication of everyone involved in aviation to maintain and build on this remarkable record.

So what about the next 100 years? How will the US Department of Transportation and the aviation community chart the next century of flight? This is a critical time for the US aviation industry, as companies cope with the cost of increased security requirements, a struggling economy and the threat of terrorism. But despite these economic pressures, there are signs that passengers are returning to the skies, encouraged by low fares, the expanded use of comfortable and efficient regional jets and the convenience of more point-to-point service. But ultimately their return reflects increasing confidence in the safety and security of our air transportation service. While market demand is below where it was two years ago, I am confident that it will return to and even surpass previous levels.

And when it does, we must be ready with sufficient capacity throughout our air traffic system to handle that traffic. That is why President Bush’s proposal to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration’s aviation programs, called “The Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act or Vision 100,” is critical to helping us work safer, simpler and smarter. Vision 100 provides nearly $60 billion for much needed aviation system initiatives, security projects and airport construction in the next four years. In this year of the centennial anniversary of the first flight, the Bush Administration has put forward a blueprint that will help us prepare to meet the future of aviation. Passage of this very key legislation offers millions of American travelers the assurance that the nation’s aviation system will remain the safest, most efficient and the most competitive in the world. Therefore, I call on the Congress to fulfill its obligation to the traveling public and meet the September 30 deadline and pass this vital legislation.

While reauthorization will determine what our aviation programs will look like over the next few years, our ultimate goal must be to transform our existing system to one that will handle whatever the aviation industry of the future might hold. Under the leadership of the FAA administrator, Marion Blakey, the FAA is finalizing its strategic plan, a flight plan for the future. Administrator Blakey, and her new chief operating officer, Russell Chew, are shaping the FAA into a more business-like organization that operates according to strict performance measures. Safety is and remains our primary goal. Next is to increase capacity in order to meet the needs of passengers and a revitalized industry. And finally, our goal is to restore the international leadership of American aviation.

Our plan is to develop inter-operable and harmonized procedures and systems worldwide to promote greater safety for all citizens, both here at home and abroad. We are working with our international partners to improve safety and regulatory oversight. We will continue to reach out. We are working with the European Union as it develops its own regulatory system and we are working with expanding market places in Asia and Latin America to help them develop compatible air traffic procedures.

We have also launched an effort with NASA, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Commerce and the Department of Defense to develop a shared vision of the air transportation system of the future as far out as the year 2025. Together, we are developing a national plan to help determine what that system of the future should look like. We hope to have a framework as early as this fall.

When the anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ miracle rolls around in December, we, too, want to look upward and outward. We are actively engaging stakeholder groups in this effort and will establish a more formal role for them once the framework is developed. Global cooperation also will be very essential in this effort. I am confident that this blueprint, this long-term plan for aviation transformation, will successfully chart our course for the next century of flight.

I want to thank you for this opportunity to share some thoughts with you about the future of aviation, a dynamic future tied to the success of the past, tied to the great success of the United States Air Force. Dr. Roche, General Jumper and to the men and women of the United States Air Force, my congratulations to all of you for 56 years of outstanding service to the American people. Happy Birthday. God bless each and every one of you and may God continue to bless the United States of America.