A4A Testimony by Tom Hendricks, SVP for Safety, Security and Operations Before the Subcommittee on Aviation of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

Commercial aviation helps drive more than 10M American jobs and 5 cents of every dollar of U.S. GDP
Commercial aviation drives more than $1 trillion per year in economic activity
In 2012, U.S. airlines moved more than 48,000 tons of cargo per day
In 2012, the value of a kilogram of U.S. merchandise exported by air averaged 121 times the value exported by sea
For every 100 airline jobs, some 360 are supported outside of the airline industry
Federal taxes constitute $61 – or 20% – of the price of a typical $300 domestic round-trip ticket
In 2011, U.S. airlines carried 16 percent more passengers and cargo using 10 percent less fuel than in 2000
Domestically, airlines drive 5% of economic activity but account for 2% of man-made GHG emissions
From 2000-2011, airlines reduced GHG emissions by 11% while transporting 16% more passengers and cargo
From 1975-2011, U.S. airlines and their partners reduced significant noise exposure by 99%
Commercial air travel is the safest form of intercity transportation in the United States
In the most recent decade, scheduled air service on U.S. airlines was seven times safer than in the 1970s
From 2000-2012, U.S. airlines improved the on-time arrival rate from 72.6% to 81.9%
From 2000-2012, U.S. airlines reduced the flight cancellation rate sharply from 3.30% to 1.29%
Airfares are a bargain: From 2000-2012, U.S. CPI rose 33% while average domestic fare rose just 13%
Adjusted for inflation, the average round-trip domestic airfare fell 15% from 2000
2007 domestic flight delays cost the United States approximately $31 billion
In 2012, the value of U.S. merchandise exported by air reached an all-time high of $427B
In 2012, U.S. exports of air-travel services reached an all-time high of $39.5B, driving a $5.1B trade surplus
In 2012, U.S. passenger and cargo airlines spent more than $50B on fuel, averaging 36% of operating expenses
In 2012, U.S. airlines posted the lowest annual rate of mishandled baggage ever recorded
FAA projects U.S. air travel demand to top 1 billion passengers in 2027
In 2012, US airlines flew 83.4 million passengers in scheduled international service - a record high
In 2012, the total value of merchandise exported from or imported to the United States by air exceeded $927 billion
In 2012, 7.15 teragrams of merchandise was exported from or imported to the United States by air

	A4A Testimony by Tom Hendricks, SVP for Safety, Security and Operations Before the Subcommittee on Aviation of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
	PubZone1 February 8, 2012 A Review of Issues Associated with Protecting and Improving Our Nation's Aviation Satellite-Based Global Positioning System Infrastructure Chairman Petri, Ranking Member Costello and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting us to appear at this timely and important hearing. The continued integrity of the Global Positioning System is critically important to the millions of customers who we fly every day, as well as to the tens of millions of other people in our country who rely on it. GPS will be the backbone of air navigation both domestically and internationally in the coming years. Interference with its accessibility or reliability would be catastrophic for civil aviation and the communities that depend on air transportation. We deeply appreciate the Subcommittee’s recognition in the FAA reauthorization bill of the importance of this technology and, particularly, your support for the continued advancement of NextGen. With respect to the LightSquared proposal, the incontestable fact is that it will create widespread GPS interference, which will have ruinous effects on aviation. Experts have repeatedly reached that conclusion. LightSquared’s proposal therefore should be withdrawn. This matter needs to be put to rest once and for all. To be clear, we do not oppose the expansion of wireless broadband services but any expansion cannot be permitted to interfere with existing or anticipated aviation GPS use, many of which will significantly enhance safety. We are dependent on that technology; there is no substitute for it. One obvious lesson of the convoluted experience with the LightSquared application is the need for a governmentwide policy that protects the aviation GPS spectrum. Without such an authoritative policy, spectrum encroachment will remain a threat. The Importance of GPS to Aviation As the Subcommittee knows all too well, we have historically relied on a ground-based air navigation system. It is a system that has become increasingly defined by its limitations. Users of the system have, for the most part, had to fly from one ground navigation aid to the next, often resulting in circuitous routings. This inefficiency wastes time and fuel. It also restricts the number of routings that aircraft can use, which in turn constricts capacity growth. GPS is at the heart of the ongoing, multi-billion dollar NextGen program that will shift air navigation from that outmoded terrestrial system to a modern satellite-based system. This is a transformational change. All who are involved in it – Congress, the Federal Aviation Administration, airlines, general aviation and the Department of Defense – recognize the need for that transformation. This massive effort will result in more precise navigation, safer operations, far more direct aircraft routings, better airspace utilization and airspace capacity growth. Because of these operational improvements, there will be substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. One existing application of GPS has produced a breakthrough in the safety of airline operations: the elimination of controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents for large jet aircraft in the United States. Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems aboard aircraft combine GPS information with onboard terrain databases to provide flight-deck crews with look-ahead warnings of dangerous terrain. This has made air travel far safer than it was only recently and illustrates the remarkable benefits that leveraging GPS with other technologies can achieve. The introduction in the coming decades of NextGen capabilities will be the real game-changer. Its integration of GPS with other technological innovations will create the satellite-based system of air traffic management that we all realize is so necessary. GPS is the indispensable element of this long-needed overhaul. Protecting GPS from Interference Given the essential role of GPS, the federal government must develop comprehensive safeguards for aviation’s use of it. The stakes are too high for the passengers and shippers that rely on air transportation, the communities and businesses that depend on air service, and airlines and their employees to leave to chance our continued ability to utilize GPS to the greatest advantage. Consequently, we need a governmentwide policy that guides federal agencies’ responses when potential interference issues emerge. That policy must make clear that interference in the aviation spectrum is prohibited and that other users cannot be permitted to encroach into the aviation spectrum. Domestically, the most obvious place to begin to strengthen governmental policy against GPS interference is the National Executive Committee for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT). PNT is a government organization established by presidential directive to advise and coordinate federal departments and agencies on matters concerning GPS. The PNT is chaired jointly by the Secretaries of Defense and Transportation, and includes equivalent-level officials from the Departments of Homeland Security, State, Interior, Agriculture and Commerce. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman participates in the PNT as a liaison. At the very least, the FCC should be required to consult with the PNT before taking action on any application to operate a terrestrial-based communications network that may affect the L-band spectrum, which is the band that GPS uses. On the international front, U.S. government positions expressed at international conferences at which spectrum issues are considered – such as the World Radiocommunications Conference that is currently being held in Geneva – must reflect the importance of protecting the GPS spectrum throughout the world. Conclusion We appreciate the Subcommittee’s interest in this vital issue. We are prepared to assist you in any way that we can. PubZone2	A4A advocates measures to support aviation safety, security and well-being.