NextGen Framework Starts To Take Shape

At the FAA’s Joint Planning and Development Office Day on Capitol Hill recently, Administrator Marion Blakey introduced two NextGen future ATC documents. First was the agency’s 41-page 2008-2012 Flight Plan, which announced projects such as the statewide Alaska ADS-B project. Second was the 219-page NextGen Concept of Operations, a comprehensive non-technical guide to the program described as similar to “an architect’s blueprints.” Last Friday, the FAA unveiled NextGen’s massive Enterprise Architecture, said to be “like a builder’s plumbing and wiring diagrams, specifying how the house will get its power, water, sewage, cable and Internet connections to the rest of the community.” Next for the program will be the Integrated Work Plan, which is expected later this month.