Recognizing the need for aviation system transformation to deal with our crowded skies, Congress authorized the Joint Planning & Dev¿t. Office (JPDO), housed within the FAA, to lead a collaborative effort of fed. & non-fed. aviation stakeholders to conceptualize & plan the Next Generation Air Transp. System (NextGen) -- a fundamental redesign & modernization of the nat. airspace system. JPDO operates in conjunction with its partner agencies: the FAA; the DoT, Commerce, DoD, & Homeland Security; NASA; & the White House Office of Science & Tech. Policy. This testimony focuses on the progress that JPDO has made in planning the NextGen initiative & some key issues & challenges that JPDO continues to face. Charts & tables.

In 2003, Congress directed the Secretary of Transportation to establish the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS) Joint Planning and Development Office (JDPO) to plan the development of an air transportation system capable of meeting potential air traffic demand for 2025. All federal agencies involved in aviation participate in the JDPO providing the opportunity overcome many of the major barriers to developing an effective NGATS. To assist this process, the NRC was asked to examine the first NGATS Integrated Plan prepared by JPDO and submitted to Congress in 2004. This report provides a review of the vision and goals, the operational concepts, and the R&D roadmap developed by the plan; an analysis of the JDPO integrated product teams created to carry out the planning; and an assessment of the implementation process.