"The resulting delays have impacts throughout the national airspace system," she said.

In 2005 she became one of only a few licensed pilots flying FAA certified unmanned aircraft in national airspace system.

In 2006 En Route and Oceanic Services supported 47 million operations in the national airspace system.

NextGen is consistent with the FAA's mission to maintain the safest, most efficient national airspace system possible.

This portfolio includes research in the fundamental aeronautics of flight, aviation safety and the nation's airspace system.

Flying out of the fourth-busiest airport in the state, they also experience a complex airspace system, he said.

Its potential impact on the operations of the national airspace system is disputed, however.

NNEW will provide a common weather picture across the national airspace system, and enable better air transportation decision making.

A nationwide strike by the air traffic controllers union in 1981 forced temporary flight restrictions but failed to shut down the airspace system.

Fuel taxes, he said, are a much better approximation of how much use a plane makes of the national airspace system, and require no paperwork.