The current air-traffic control systems in the United States are at least 20 years behind the current technologies and without an upgrade the United States is at risk of falling behind the rest of the world. The NextGen project is attempting to change U.S. air travel from a ground-based, analog system to a satellite-based system using global positioning system (GPS) technology by 2018. The new system would automate many parts of ground and air-traffic control, enable real-time GPS maps of air and ground traffic, incorporate weather monitoring to reroute planes, and allow planes to fly closer together without a loss of safety. The NexGen system is the largest project undertaken by the Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA), but a report from the General Accountability Office (GAO) has determined that the original cost of $40 billion will quadruple to $160 billion if the FAA maintains its plans for requiring extensive electronic systems to be installed on every aircraft. The GAO also reported that the FAA has not established clear performance goals and metrics for NextGen whereby the “FAA could pursue and implement capabilities that fail to produce the desired results.” Witnesses before a House of Representatives subcommittee called into question the FAA’s handling of the project and raised concerns that the project would be able to be completed on schedule.

A few months later, another report publicized that the FAA failed to develop the necessary skill sets to make NextGen work and that more planning was needed. A third report by the GAO found that the FAA failed to have adequate performance metrics in place to monitor and manage the project. In order to control the ballooning costs of the project, the GAO reports that the FAA will have to develop NextGen with “lower levels of capabilities, whose cost estimates remain in the $40 billion range.

1 Using Figure 1.1 as a guide, what are some of the warning signs that this project may have problems or fail?

2 In your opinion, what could be done to improve the likelihood of success?

AppendixLO1