Boeing’s NextGen work may stay in Egg Harbor Township
By EMILY PREVITI Staff Writer | Posted: Thursday, June 3, 2010
With related stories and graphic explainer
The Boeing Company said Thursday that it wants to do as much work on the Next Generation Air
Transportation System as possible at the FAA facilities in Egg Harbor Township.
Neil Planzer, Boeing’s vice president of air traffic management, praised the FAA’s William J. Hughes
Technical Center during a telephone news conference. He gave details on Boeing’s $1.7 billion
contract with the FAA to advance the NextGen system.
“We’re going to look to focus as much of the R&D as we can in the southern New Jersey area, as well
as other places. But clearly, FAA has a world-class facility there,” Planzer said.
NextGen refers to a variety of aviation concepts and technologies aimed at modernizing air travel. The
bulk of related work thus far has occurred at the tech center, which is the FAA’s main testing and
development site. The center shares a campus with the Atlantic City International Airport and bases for
the U.S. Coast Guard and the 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard.
To accommodate future phases of NextGen research, development, testing, integration and
globalization, the FAA is working with the South Jersey Economic Development District to build a
seven-building complex on an adjacent 55-acre parcel. Stakeholders have predicted the research park
will ultimately employ 2,000 people and attract academic, engineering, avionics and information
technology businesses, among others, to the surrounding area.
Boeing already has a presence at the technical center and elsewhere in southern New Jersey. The
Chicago-based company has not yet determined when it will move into the research park, said Gene
Hayman Jr., Boeing’s director of advanced air-traffic management.
Boeing also has not yet calculated the number of jobs its contract will create locally and overall,
Planzer said. The company anticipates knowing more specifics Tuesday after meeting with the FAA,
Hayman said.
At present, Boeing is handling NextGen program management work out of offices in and around
Washington, D.C., Hayman said.
Planzer and Hayman said they already anticipate Boeing also will work on globalizing NextGen,
speeding the process for forecasting weather, the primary factor in flight delays; developing a
four-dimensional (time, altitude, speed and distance) trajectory system for aircraft; and expanding the
tailored-approach system the company has helped initiate at airports in San Francisco, Los Angeles and
Miami.
Those trials suggest significant reductions in noise, fuel and pollution, according to Hayman and the
FAA website.
“I believe we can see a lot of these begin earlier than 2020,” he said, referring to the target rollout date
for the full slate of NextGen technologies. “The FAA and this team in particular can help to deliver
much more of these benefits early on.”
What’s next
The FAA will finalize details Tuesday with executives from not only Boeing, but also ITT and General
Dynamics, the other prime contractors whose respective $1.5 billion and $1.2 billion deals were
announced May 26.
The agreements will cover the next 10 years of NextGen work. Known as Systems Engineering 2020,
that phase focuses on implementation of NextGen. SE2020 also includes continued research and
development of additional components of the multibillion-dollar aviation advancement initiative.
On May 27, the FAA announced that all aircraft must be equipped to communicate their positions via
the ADS-B system by 2020. Automatic-Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast is a major component of
NextGen that relies on satellites to facilitate airborne navigation and communication instead of radars,
which are less precise. The expected result: more planes can travel closer together more efficiently and
safely than the radar-based system presently allows.
The upgrade will require private-sector operators to invest as much as $4.1 billion collectively.
ITT has been a major player in the development of ADS-B. The company previously stated it would
allocate as much as $150 million to local subcontractors. ITT representatives plan to meet with the
FAA today for a preliminary discussion, spokeswoman Leah Lackey said.
Virginia-based General Dynamics did not respond to requests for comment.
Contact Emily Previti:
609-272-7221
EPreviti@pressofac.com
With related stories and graphic explainer
The Boeing Company said Thursday that it wants to do as much work on the Next Generation Air
Transportation System as possible at the FAA facilities in Egg Harbor Township.
Neil Planzer, Boeing’s vice president of air traffic management, praised the FAA’s William J. Hughes
Technical Center during a telephone news conference. He gave details on Boeing’s $1.7 billion
contract with the FAA to advance the NextGen system.
“We’re going to look to focus as much of the R&D as we can in the southern New Jersey area, as well
as other places. But clearly, FAA has a world-class facility there,” Planzer said.
NextGen refers to a variety of aviation concepts and technologies aimed at modernizing air travel. The
bulk of related work thus far has occurred at the tech center, which is the FAA’s main testing and
development site. The center shares a campus with the Atlantic City International Airport and bases for
the U.S. Coast Guard and the 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard.
To accommodate future phases of NextGen research, development, testing, integration and
globalization, the FAA is working with the South Jersey Economic Development District to build a
seven-building complex on an adjacent 55-acre parcel. Stakeholders have predicted the research park
will ultimately employ 2,000 people and attract academic, engineering, avionics and information
technology businesses, among others, to the surrounding area.
Boeing already has a presence at the technical center and elsewhere in southern New Jersey. The
Chicago-based company has not yet determined when it will move into the research park, said Gene
Hayman Jr., Boeing’s director of advanced air-traffic management.
Boeing also has not yet calculated the number of jobs its contract will create locally and overall,
Planzer said. The company anticipates knowing more specifics Tuesday after meeting with the FAA,
Hayman said.
At present, Boeing is handling NextGen program management work out of offices in and around
Washington, D.C., Hayman said.
Planzer and Hayman said they already anticipate Boeing also will work on globalizing NextGen,
speeding the process for forecasting weather, the primary factor in flight delays; developing a
four-dimensional (time, altitude, speed and distance) trajectory system for aircraft; and expanding the
tailored-approach system the company has helped initiate at airports in San Francisco, Los Angeles and
Miami.
Those trials suggest significant reductions in noise, fuel and pollution, according to Hayman and the
FAA website.
“I believe we can see a lot of these begin earlier than 2020,” he said, referring to the target rollout date
for the full slate of NextGen technologies. “The FAA and this team in particular can help to deliver
much more of these benefits early on.”
What’s next
The FAA will finalize details Tuesday with executives from not only Boeing, but also ITT and General
Dynamics, the other prime contractors whose respective $1.5 billion and $1.2 billion deals were
announced May 26.
The agreements will cover the next 10 years of NextGen work. Known as Systems Engineering 2020,
that phase focuses on implementation of NextGen. SE2020 also includes continued research and
development of additional components of the multibillion-dollar aviation advancement initiative.
On May 27, the FAA announced that all aircraft must be equipped to communicate their positions via
the ADS-B system by 2020. Automatic-Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast is a major component of
NextGen that relies on satellites to facilitate airborne navigation and communication instead of radars,
which are less precise. The expected result: more planes can travel closer together more efficiently and
safely than the radar-based system presently allows.
The upgrade will require private-sector operators to invest as much as $4.1 billion collectively.
ITT has been a major player in the development of ADS-B. The company previously stated it would
allocate as much as $150 million to local subcontractors. ITT representatives plan to meet with the
FAA today for a preliminary discussion, spokeswoman Leah Lackey said.
Virginia-based General Dynamics did not respond to requests for comment.
Contact Emily Previti:
609-272-7221
EPreviti@pressofac.com
