Airlines deal with an aging system as NextGen approaches
By Christine Boynton | March 9, 2012
As the global aviation industry modernizes—specifically with initiatives such as NextGen and SESAR—Boeing Commercial Airplanes VP-environment and aviation policy Billy Glover doesn’t see the upheaval as a detriment to airlines, which he characterizes as resilient.
“We’re in a system in the US and Europe which has been around for almost 100 years,” he said at the FAA’s annual Aviation Forecast Conference in Washington Thursday. “It’s a system that was built brick-by-brick. Now we’re trying to keep it going and transform it into the system that we’d like to have.” And he does see growth today—it is moderate but it is there. “I think cargo and the aviation industry in general will continue to grow,” he said. “Our industry [is] willing to deal with change.”
“We have a chance to do good things,” he said, adding, “It’s going to take a lot of work.”
Rockwell Collins VP and MD-Americas Thierry Tosi was also optimistic. “It’s tough, but we have strategies in place to make it,” he said.
Campbell Aviation Group SVP Kevin Healy said, “Airlines, and the aviation industry will continue to adapt to grow because it’s necessary.”
Glover said, “There are more people in the world that have never flown than those who have. That means we have a good growth pattern ahead of us.