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 AIA UPDATE: May 2007, Volume 11, No. 8
Lockheed Martin, Rockwell Collins Receive Worker Safety Honors AIA has recognized member companies Lockheed Martin for overall excellence and Rockwell Collins for the greatest reduction in illness and injury rates as part of the association's 2007 Worker Safety Awards. AIA President and CEO John Douglass said the companies' records reflect the value the aerospace and defense industry places on safety. "We recognize Lockheed Martin and Rockwell Collins as industry leaders when it comes to worker safety," Douglass said. "Their efforts have been highly successful and they can serve as role models for what is possible regarding safeguarding employees." Lockheed Martin swept all three subcategories of general excellence: aircraft manufacturing, missile and space vehicles, and aerospace components. The excellence rating was based on low workplace injury and illness rates and excellent safety program elements for the company's U.S. operations. Rockwell Collins took the award for the company showing the most progress on worker safety between 2005 and 2006. Calculated as a percentage of change from one year to the next, the company showed the greatest reduction among its industry peers in its incident rates, lost workday rates, and lost workday case rates. The demonstrated excellence of Rockwell Collins Safety Management System contributed to the dramatic safety improvement performances of its U.S. operations during this period. AIA Source: hoai.huynh@aia-aerospace.org AEROSPACE FOCUS  Export Control Modernization Effort Shows Signs of Progress AIA President and CEO John Douglass and Mark Esper, AIA executive vice president of defense and international affairs, participated in a meeting in April of senior officials at the White House and leaders from the Coalition for Security and Competitiveness. The Coalition is a group of leading business and trade organizations advocating a modernized export control system to boost U.S. national security and economic strength. Many of the Coalition's proposals to make the export control system more predictable, efficient, and transparent have been targeted for interagency review. Initial responses on the feasibility of these ideas are expected from the administration in late summer or early fall. For more information about the Coalition, visit www.securityandcompetitivness.org. AIA Source: remy.nathan@aia-aerospace.org Rocket Teams Will Fly-Off May 19; 38 AIA Members Are Sponsors The field is set for the final round of the Team American Rocketry Challenge, with the top 100 qualifying teams earning the right to vie for the title and more than $60,000 in scholarships and other prizes on Saturday, May 19, at Great Meadow in The Plains, Va. A list of the qualifying teams is available on the Web at www.rocketcontest.org. The competition is in its fifth year. About 7,000 students on 690 teams from 48 states and the District of Columbia took part in qualifying rounds. AIA President and CEO John Douglass said the students once again show a great measure of intelligence and ability, a good sign for the new generation of aerospace workers the industry will soon need. "We're happy to see another excellent group of finalists, and enthusiasm in the contest has never been greater," Douglass said. "Hopefully, some of these students will be working on real rockets and other aerospace products in the future." The contest presents teams with a dual challenge. Students must launch the rocket as close as possible to an altitude of 850 feet and a flight time of 45 seconds, and the raw egg payload must return to the ground unbroken. Raytheon Company, an AIA member company, is sponsoring a trip for members of the winning team to the International Paris Air Show in June. For more information, including details on how to sponsor a team, visit www.rocketcontest.org. WASHINGTON PIPELINE: Aerospace: Cornerstone of Global Economy By John W. Douglass, AIA President and Chief Executive Officer The upcoming International Paris Air Show in June offers a perfect opportunity to reflect on the remarkable economic relationship between the United States and the European Union, especially in aerospace and defense. Statistics paint the picture very well. Three European countries — Germany, the United Kingdom, and France — are separately in the top 10 of U.S. foreign trading partners overall. In aerospace specifically, the relationship is even stronger. In 2005 the United States exported $18 billion in aerospace and defense items to Europe, which represented 45 percent of all items sold internationally. Likewise, the United States imported $13 billion in aerospace products from Europe that year, which was 47 percent of all the items the European Union exported. As you can see, this trade relationship is part of the reason aerospace is one of few U.S. industries to post a positive trade balance each year. The surplus rose to a record $55 billion in 2006 and, with commercial aircraft sales surging, only looks to increase in coming years. Aerospace has outpaced every other U.S. manufacturing sector in trade surplus for years. These are important facts to showcase during an international air show in Europe because the U.S.-European trade relationship doesn't succeed on its own. AIA in the United States and our counterparts in Europe work hard to advocate national policies that bolster trade and oppose barriers that some would throw in our way. An especially important component to this relationship is defense trade. In addition to being a vital economic factor, selling defense items to our close friends and allies allows us to operate in sync with them when we are shoulder-to-shoulder on battlefields such as Afghanistan and Iraq. Such cooperation goes beyond providing good jobs and boosting local economies — it also saves lives. One way AIA is working to bolster defense trade with our allies is by advocating the modernization of the U.S. export control system. Working with our partners in the Coalition for Security and Competitiveness, we are pushing a set of administrative improvements to the system that will increase its predictability, efficiency, and transparency. Improving this one area of our economic relationship will result in greater security on the battlefield and strength in our economy. AIA is cooperating with our international partners in Europe and elsewhere in other ways. We continue to work on expanding and coordinating ethical business practices in the global aerospace market, collaborating closely with our European allies through the International Coordinating Committee of Aerospace Industry Associations. In addition, we are advocating a series of policies and initiatives aimed at creating an international aerospace market with harmonized trade rules and national policies dealing with market access, government procurement, environmental issues, supply chain security, government subsidies, standards, certifications, and export credits. There's no better place to talk about these policies than at Le Bourget where the Paris Air Show provides the opportunity to strengthen and nourish some of the most important strategic relationships in the world. WASHINGTON WATCH: Industry and Congress Question FAA Funding Proposal The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives plan to counter the administration's proposal by presenting their own FAA reauthorization proposals in coming months. The congressional versions are expected to diverge more than usual from the administration's plan, given the strong criticism leveled at FAA during recent Senate and House hearings. FAA's controversial new financing proposal involving user fees, higher fuel taxes, and open-ended authority to assess fees for safety-related functions put the agency on the defensive at every congressional appearance Its argument that user fees are necessary to fund transformation to the Next Generation Air Transportation, dubbed NextGen, got little support. Members of Congress expressed serious concern about the substance and process of FAA's proposed financing plan and whether it's necessary for financing NextGen. AIA's Civil Aviation Department is meeting with Senate and House staff on their respective reauthorization proposals. AIA maintains that the general fund contribution to FAA should be 25 percent, not the 19 percent the agency requested. Industry also believes that the borrowing authority that FAA requested is a beneficial approach to future financing of capital programs, but the timeframe is too constrained. For example, to realize the benefits that this business financing offers, the borrowing authority should start sooner than 2013 to support NextGen's near-term capital needs. Furthermore, the repayment period should be stretched beyond 2017. A longer repayment period would better reflect typical debt financing for capital projects that generally are measured by the useful life of the project. AIA also is urging Congress to ensure that the NextGen R&D gaps are addressed by Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) partner agencies. FAA admits that the gap exists between where NASA will end NextGen-relevant R&D and where FAA can assume it. Until last year, NASA undertook the research that now constitutes the gap of unmet NextGen R&D. FAA has told Congress that it expects JPDO to identify agency ownership for NextGen's "orphaned" R&D. Industry urges Congress to give JPDO the authority and resources to ensure that critical R&D is accomplished. NextGen R&D, as well as other NextGen activities, need funding within a critical timeframe to meet the forecasted capacity crunch that will severely constrain the system in the next few years. NextGen-related funding requested by the administration for FAA and JPDO-partner agencies falls far short of the $1 billion more needed annually to develop and implement the NextGen system while maintaining the legacy system. AIA Source: susan.mertes@aia-aerospace.org WASHINGTON WATCH: JPDO Formalizes Its Reorganization The Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) has realigned its focus from long-term planning to near-term implementation. Integrated Product Teams (IPTs) will be restructured as task-focused working groups to support recommendations for NextGen policies, procedures, and technology. Operating on the model used by the RTCA, each working group will be co-chaired by a federal employee and an industry representative nominated by the NextGen Institute and approved by the JPDO director. Subject areas will generally conform to those of the IPTs: airports, environment, global harmonization, safety, security, shared situational awareness, and weather. The agile air traffic system IPT will be divided into two working groups — aircraft and air navigation services. A working group executive committee will direct study teams comprised of working group members focused on specific issues. There might also be standing study teams to address inter-related and recurring long-term issues identified in the working groups. Broader governance changes will also be implemented, such as formation of the Joint Architecture and Engineering Board. This body, whose actions will be determined by consensus, will manage the application of information technology for NextGen. AIA Source: susan.mertes@aia-aerospace.org WASHINGTON WATCH: Douglass Calls for Urgency in Completing NextGen System National security and economic vitality depend on the timely development and deployment of the Next Generation Air Transportation System, AIA President and CEO John W. Douglass told the House Science Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics in late March. Known as NextGen, the new air transportation system is targeted for full operation by 2025. Noting that FAA's current air transportation system lacks the ability to handle increases in aviation traffic anticipated by 2015, 10 years before the completion of NextGen, Douglass strongly urged Congress and the administration to provide the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) with the resources to "meet this looming crisis." From this point forward, Douglass testified, "NextGen development and implementation will require at least $1 billion more per year," yet the fiscal 2008 budget proposal for the system increases the fiscal 2007 request by only three percent. "A lack of sufficient NextGen program integration across the various JPDO partner agencies," he continued, "poses a significant risk. The relevant agencies must make every effort to complete the alignment of their activities and resources with the JPDO planning process now." Douglass offered recommendations for the improvement of NextGen initiatives in five categories:
Douglass' testimony can be accessed at www.aia-aerospace.org. AIA Source: patrick.mccartan@aia-aerospace.org AIA's Mark Esper Appointed to U.S.-China Review Commission Mark Esper, AIA's executive vice president of defense & international affairs, has been appointed to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell for a two-year term expiring Dec. 31, 2008. The commission, which is made up 12 members serving two-year terms, was created by Congress in 2000 to investigate and assess the economic and security implications of the U.S.-China relationship. "We are very pleased and fortunate to have Mark Esper as a member of the Commission," Chairman Carolyn Bartholomew said. "He has extensive experience in national security affairs, including defense, foreign policy, intelligence matters, and trade issues." Headed by Bartholomew and Vice Chairman Dan Blumenthal, the commission focuses on proliferation practices, economic transfers, energy, U.S. capital markets, regional economic and security impacts, U.S.-China bilateral programs, World Trade Organization compliance, and implications of restrictions on speech and access to information in the People's Republic of China. When appropriate, the commission provides recommendations for legislative and administrative action. The commission's next public hearing, which will look at China's economy and its implications for the United States, will take place May 24 and 25 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The panel's four annual reports to Congress, transcripts of its public hearings, research papers, trade and economic date, and translations of relevant Chinese-language materials are available at www.uscc.gov. AIA Source: lauren.airey@aia-aerospace.org Repair Station Security Has Gotten the Attention of Congress AIA has been meeting with representatives of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and select congressional offices to ensure that repair station security legislation does not impose unnecessary restrictions on U.S. industry. In 2004, TSA was mandated as part of FAA's Vision 100 to promulgate regulations certifying repair stations on the basis of security. A timeline for draft regulations, repair station audits, and certification of domestic and foreign Part 145 repair stations was laid out. A notice of proposed rulemaking is expected to be released in late summer. Ongoing delays in drafting the regulations, however, have caused Congress to take action in the form of the Senate's Aviation Security Improvement Act, S. 509, which imposes more restrictive timelines than those included in the Vision 100 legislation. The Senate proposal also contains a provision that restricts FAA's ability to issue new Part 145 certificates to foreign repair stations. AIA has met several times with TSA and congressional staff to ensure that TSA's regulations are released according to the mandated timelines and to make certain that industry is not undeservedly penalized for administrative delays in the release of repair station security regulations. Repair station facilities, both in the United States and overseas, need to be secure. AIA is working closely with government stakeholders to ensure that regulations utilize risk-based management principles and do not impose unnecessary and over-burdensome requirements on U.S. industry. AIA Source: mike.vanzummeren@aia-aerospace.org AIA Participates in Seminar on Technology Enhancements for Defense Helicopters Led by AIA Vice President of Civil Aviation Michael Romanowski, AIA staff met with U.S. Defense Department officials in mid-April to discuss defense rotary wing fleet modernization. Romanowski presented recommendations for fleet safety and survivability enhancements based on the first phase of the Rotary Wing Revitalization Project completed in December 2006. The AIA working group, formed in 2005, was asked by the Defense Department to examine the high number of defense rotorcraft losses during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The group was also asked to investigate barriers, limitations, and boundaries to the defense rotorcraft industrial base before providing recommendations to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics. Helicopter losses in the Global War on Terror are a leading cause of U.S. fatalities in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Industry data has revealed that nearly one-half of rotary wing aircraft lost are non-combat related. Commercial off-the-shelf technology and technologies requiring limited R&D are available to help mitigate these hazards. Short-term recommendations encompass options utilizing existing commercial off-the-shelf technology and potential technologies requiring limited R&D. They include:
Long-term technology enhancement recommendations include:
AIA Source: susan.mertes@aia-aerospace.org New Staff Member Bailor to Manage Association's Workforce Efforts David Bailor, a veteran of 22 years developing and implementing educational programs, has been named manager of AIA's workforce initiatives. Bailor joins the association from the Close Up Foundation, the nation's largest civic education organization, where he was most recently director of program services. While at the foundation, Bailor designed and developed curricula for educational programs. At AIA, Bailor will focus on attracting students to aerospace-related careers and helping to ensure that appropriate educational programs are available nationwide. As part of that effort, he will also be involved in the Team America Rocketry Challenge. Bailor is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley where he majored in history. He can be reached at david.bailor@aia-aerospace.org. Export Control Modernization and Workforce Are Topics of Press Briefing A push for export control modernization and the importance of addressing a looming workforce challenge were two priorities AIA Board of Governors Chairman William H. Swanson stressed during a luncheon and media briefing in March. Joined by AIA President and CEO John Douglass, Swanson, who is Raytheon's chairman and CEO, addressed a small group of invited reporters to stress AIA's 2007 priorities and answer questions. Swanson highlighted AIA's work in the Coalition for Security and Competitiveness, a joint effort with other advocacy organizations pursuing improvements to the export control system. The administration can take steps without legislative changes, he emphasized, to make the system more predictable, efficient, and transparent while still protecting important technologies. Douglass stressed the importance of vigilant compliance with existing export laws, noting that AIA has provided educational sessions to its members on the issue. On the subject of the aging aerospace and defense workforce, Swanson said that, looking out, the challenge is to make sure the talent pipeline remains healthy enough to meet the future needs of the industry — a subject Swanson champions through his support of math and science education programs. The reporters represented national media like Forbes magazine, Dow Jones News Service, and the Los Angeles Times as well as influential trade publications Aviation Week and Space Technology and Defense News. They questioned Swanson and Douglass for about an hour, covering a range of topics from DoD contracting to the Next Generation Air Transportation System. |
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