GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC

Aerospace needs more federal money, more committees and less taxation to avert crisis, says presidential commission

The US aerospace sector faces serious challenges and needs urgent government policy action, says the final report of the presidential commission tasked with recommending ways to maintain a robust industry. Threats to the sector's health include US air traffic gridlock, a declining industrial base, increasing international competition and an ageing workforce, the report says.

The final report of the Commission on the Future of the US Aerospace Industry covers a wide range of issues, raising concerns that the broad scope of the actions recommended could undermine their impact. One of the 12 commissioners, former deputy defence secretary John Hamre, appended to the final report his view that it is "too general and diffuse" to have the effect required.

Commission chairman Robert Walker disagrees, saying the report is "very specific on the challenges in the industry's core competencies, and clear on how the nation should address them". He says the document is "an urgent call for action to the public and lawmakers".

The report makes nine main recommendations, ranging from establishing a vision for US aerospace to developing a new business model for the industry. Perhaps the most controversial recommendation is the creation of a government-wide management structure to promote aerospace. This would include a White House policy council, aerospace offices within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and other federal agencies, and a joint committee in Congress.

Walker says the challenges facing industry are a result of "systemic failures over the years", partly due to the government taking decisions that affect aerospace in "vertical stovepipes". The report identifies the need for reforms inside the government. "We need to build a horizontal decision-making structure without challenging the power structure," he says.

Horizontal decision-making would allow existing federal funding for aerospace to be prioritised and used more effectively. "Money can be invested in essential things now going to lesser priorities," says Walker. But more research funding is "essential" if the recommendations are to be followed, he says.

The commission recommends establishing a national aerospace policy, suggests broadening the White House space policy council to cover aerospace, and proposes a new Congressional oversight body modelled on the Joint Nuclear Energy Committee. But Walker admits there is no precedent for the proposed aerospace management office within the OMB, which oversees the entire federal budget.

The report recommends the vision of "anyone, anything, anywhere, anytime" be used to create a national policy that recognises the role aerospace plays in the US economy, mobility and security. "It is vital the public and lawmakers understand the importance of aerospace and do not take our leadership for granted," says Walker.

Transformation of the US air transport system is "a national priority", says the commission. "We have to step up to the airline crisis," says Walker. Recommendations include the rapid deployment of a more automated, more robust air traffic management (ATM) system able to accommodate an increasing number of aircraft and widening variety of vehicles; accelerating certification processes; and streamlining runway development.

"We know the air traffic system was approaching gridlock in 2000, and will do so again," says commissioner John Douglass, president of the Aerospace Industries Association. "A lot of the technology needed is already deployed by the military. We need to organise it nationally in a joint programme involving the Department of Defense, Department of Transportation, NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."

Commissioner Ed Bolen, president of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, says major hub airports must be given more flexibility to construct more runways. "New runways are the most effective way to increase capacity," he says. "We also hope to increase the use of airspace by different types of aircraft that can use the 5,400 regional and rural airports that are underutilised."

The report does not propose direct government support for airlines, but recommends their tax burden be reduced.

Rather than focus on the airlines' near-term troubles, the report looks to the future. "If we have an ATM system that is robust and dynamic enough, we are best positioned for the future," Bolen says.

The USA must create a national space imperative, the report recommends. "We need to focus less on where we want to go and more on what is needed to get there, like propulsion and power," says Walker. "We need to create the tools that allow us to do new things, like get to Mars in weeks, rather than years."

Space plays a key role in another recommendation, to reverse the decline in the aerospace workforce. "There is no replacement stream coming along," says Walker. The report calls for improvements in education and creation of an interagency task force to attract talent.

The report highlights concerns with the US defence industrial base and recommends spiral development to keep design teams together; stable funding for core capabilities; fewer restrictions to defence exports; and action to sustain critical technologies, such as solid rocket motors, that are unlikely be used by the commercial sector.

The report also calls for the government to establish a level playing field for US industry in the global market. This could include challenging European aid for Airbus.

Source: Flight International