REMARKS FOR HONORABLE MARY PETERS SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION

The following information was released by the U.S. Department of Transportation:

Thank you, Ed (Bolen, President of NBAA), for that kind introduction, and congratulations to NBAA on your 60th Anniversary! I understand we're also celebrating Georgia's centennial of flight.

Even as we commemorate these milestones, we are at the gateway of a new chapter in aviation history. I hope it will open onto a future as filled with promise as the one Ben Epps envisioned when he took off over that cow pasture near Athens one hundred years ago a future of innovation and expanding freedom as technology opens new opportunities and aviation propels our economy to new heights.

There certainly is a lot to be excited about in the business aviation community.

Demand for business aircraft has never been higher. After a banner year in 2006, new jet sales in 2007 are approaching the one thousand mark. Meanwhile eager buyers are snatching up used planes so fast they barely hit the market.

The first new very light jets are rolling off the line, and orders keep pouring in. Enterprising companies are developing "air taxi" services based on this exciting new aircraft type. Fractional ownership and other creative business models also are expanding options in the world of business aviation.

All these trends point to air travel becoming more convenient and accessible, expanding Americans' freedom to travel the country.

We could be on the verge of the greatest revolution in travel since the Interstate Highway System. Except for one thing America is fast reaching the limits of our current aviation system.

Already, dated systems are straining to keep pace with today's air traffic. Last year was the worst year on record for flight delays, and this summer was a traveler's nightmare.

The freedom that Ben Epps and other early aviators knew when they took to the skies has been replaced by frustration felt by weary travelers stranded for hours on the runway missing connections, missing meetings, missing out on a child's first pitch or solo performance.

It is clear that to ensure freedom, convenience, and reliability in our skies, we must bring our aviation system into the 21st Century. President Bush made a point of stressing the importance of modernizing America's aviation system when I was sworn in as Secretary of Transportation last October.

Like the President, every business person in this room knows how important technology is to maintaining a competitive edge. You wouldn't expect your employees to operate today's incredibly complex systems with outdated technology, nor should our air traffic controllers.

Yet I remember visiting the TRACON at the Pensacola Airport shortly after Hurricane Ivan. Two impressions stand out in my mind.

The first was the tremendous damage done by the storm.

The second was that the equipment looked like something that was used to guide the Beatles during their first trip to America.

The planes of that bygone era have given way to Dreamliners and microjets. But the basic design of the technology we use to manage air traffic has not changed fundamentally since I walked onto the tarmac to board my first airplane, just after graduating from high school.

We still rely on ground-based radar systems to track planes in the sky, and our controllers still rely on voice communications to get information to pilots.

We must transform the way we move air traffic with technology fit for this century, not the last. The cornerstone of the transformation I am talking about is NextGen, the Next Generation Air Transportation System initiative.

Replacing our outdated air traffic control architecture with state-of-the art satellite-based navigation can dramatically improve the way America flies enabling better use of our airspace, better use of our airports, and greater safety, security, and freedom for Americans who travel for business or pleasure.