S.Amdt. 4624

SA 4624. Ms. CANTWELL submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her to the bill H.R. 2881, to amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize appropriations for the Federal Aviation Administration for fiscal years 2008 through 2011, to improve aviation safety and capacity, to provide stable funding for the national aviation system, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

On page 84, between lines 10 and 11, insert the following:

SEC. 317. NEXT GENERATION AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM METRICS.

(a) In General.--The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall develop metrics--

(1) to measure the progress, over the near, intermediate, and long terms, of the Next Generation Air Transportation System toward achieving the operational performance goals of the system by 2025; and

(2) to allow for a practical assessment of the performance of the system with respect to safety, capacity, efficiency, and cost reduction.

(b) Metrics.--The metrics developed under subsection (a) shall include the following:

(1) The number and rate of fatal accidents each year associated with commercial air carriers and with general aviation.

(2) The average actual and scheduled gate-to-gate travel times on a set of routes that the Administrator determines are nationally representative.

(3) The number of useable operations per hour on runways at Operational Evolution Partnership airports.

(4) The number of new runways at existing, secondary, and new airports where additional runway capacity is needed.

(5) The average cost per flight per year.

(c) Report.--The Administrator shall include in the annual report required under section 709(d) of Vision 100-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act (49 U.S.C. 40101 note) an assessment of the progress of the system in the near, intermediate, and long terms based on the metrics developed under subsection (a).

(d) Public Availability.--The Administrator shall post on the Internet website of the Federal Aviation Administration the metrics developed under subsection (a) and the assessment of the progress of the system required under subsection (c).