Speaking at the Chamber of Commerce Foundation's 13th Annual Aviation Summit in Washington, DC, A4A president and chief executive officer, Nicholas Calio, bemoaned the lack of progress in the US government's implementation of its NextGen air traffic control system, which is replacing the existing technology to deliver more capacity to the US air traffic system. NextGen is overseen by the US government's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA sees NextGen as a process rather than a single project with an end date.According to Calio, airlines have already invested hundreds of millions in technology for the NextGen system, yet are still waiting to see it put to use for airline customers. "Air traffic control reform can provide a broad-based approach to changing the governance, financing and delivery of service to travelers and suppliers," he says."Putting a new framework in place would be a long-overdue first step toward creating a system that is not dependent on an annual funding cycle that furloughs our air traffic controllers and leads to consistent delays."Calio notes that this would be a critical step in correcting the programme management and execution issues which have impeded progress to date, crippling the US airline industry's global competitiveness and progress.During his keynote address, Calio also examined the costs and benefits of commercial aviation, calling for transformational change and leadership within government and the airline industry, pushing towards a holistic national airline policy. Such a policy would, he hoped, not only speed up the implementation of NextGen, but also reform air traffic control and rationalise the rising federal tax and regulatory burdens. "Given the way Congress has moved from crisis to crisis on must-do financial legislation, a comprehensive policy push like the establishment of a holistic national airline policy needs an action-forcing event," says Calio."We believe the next FAA Reauthorisation bill can be such an event." Calio and a team of US politicians are working towards a reauthorisation bill that will be, he says, 'transformational'. "That's just the kind of leadership, aspiration and video we need to be the world leader within our industry once again."