it. i appreciate it, now you got to know, and all the documents, and evidence, and many things. they don't give a response. do you think you can have three branches, and now, we are talking about a lot of surveillance and, people's email or something, has been hacked. so now, can you agree, based on that, who is us? email or accounts, and social media? i don't think i'm in a

position to answer that. talk to us about the international implications of these ideas. for example, if you are apple or selling ann droids, you can't sell, n.s.a. f.b.i. ready i-phone, in europe. so, what are you going to do? build two kinds of i. phones? and ann destroyed phones? three or four or six kinds, when other countries follow our lead. what happens in the india, and united kingdom. that's a great question. i don't think i would market it as a f.b.i. ready phone.

we may have a better brand. but, again, i haven't seen it, and i could imagine them saying, we as a american corporation, will comply, with lawful process, -- pursuant to law, we will comply, with requests of the u.s. government for information, in connection with lawful investigations, and it wouldn't be about mcing the phone, and retairng some cape about thety to access the information. now, congress, will say, we need to force this, and someone

will say, we cellphones, people can get into. we as a society are willing to have american companies, take that. we have time for a couple more questions, and i'm going to try to get a few people. and let the director wrapup. sir. michael, you talked about the balance, and cost benefit, and you brought up the example of a kid being kidnapped. and do you know of any specific cases, where someone was in danger, and rescued, and been blocked from the information. good question. i gave you four cases, where the information on the phone, which would be blocked, would not have been available to us.

someone in the trunk of a car? i don't think i know yet. i have asked my folks to canvas it. are there examples where this, i think i see enough. i'm not looking, when i was preparing the speech, one of the things that i wanted to talk about, was to avoid those educations. and i'm not going to frighten people. that are going to be cases, but, the theory of the case is the main bulk of law enforcement activity. and i don't know the answer. one more question. fox news, and is there any credible evidence that

terrorists can use ebola as a agent here in the united states? no. do you have any, do you want to wrap up? no, i hope, this is the beginning of robust dialogue in this country, about this challenge. i don't think i have the wisdom or the knowledge to say, here's what it should look like. i see a problem. and it's now blinking red, in front of me, and i want to make sure, that people say, how did this happen? we as a country, may decide, and we want to have unlimited encryption. but we as a country, should make that decision, and that's the conversation, that i'm trying to foster. i want to thank the director

for coming in and having this conversation, and please stay in your seats, while he makes his way out. thank you. [applause]

make cal is the

administration of the faa. he was sworn into office, january 2013 and also sworn in here, and at our jarn 2013 luncheon, and he's responsible for the safety of the largest aerospace agency in the world. michael also overseas the traffic control modernization program. as it shifts from grounded base, to state-of-the-art satellite technology. and please join me in welcoming, michael.

thank you very much. it's great to be here. before i begin, i would lick to take a moment, and acknowledge the career, and the work of a trowelly extraordinary public safe vant. today, john, announced his retirements, and he's stepping down after four-and-a-half years. and i know that you join me, in wishing the very best for john. he has the toughest job in washington, and he has done it with great skill. he's going to be missed. as you all know, we've had a very busy last few weeks at the f. aa. the sabotage, and the resulting fire, near chicago, can only be described, as devastating. but it was also something

else. it was an event, that the way i saw it, was marked by a profound sense of teamwork. we have been spending a lot of time together, and we visited chicago center, to see progress on the recovery, and one of the things, that i was struck by, was that you could not tell who was a manager, controller, and you couldn't tell who was a tech i couldn't tell who was from industry and who was from the faa. it looked like one team. now this just goes to show when the faa and the industry work together, and come up with a plan, and establish targets, and then, commit to meet them. we did that in chicago.

as you're all aware, the faa is facing significant challenges, in maintaining our system. and 50,000 operations per day, and countless companies, and all supporting, about 12 million american jobs. at the same time, modernizing that system. this needs to be done, in the face of an extremely unforgiving budget environment. as a industry, we have the responsibility to pull together as one. and to create the kind of airspace system that will serve our needs and provide a very bright future. when weco open operate, look what happens. chicago came back into service, 3 days ago, as

promised, and it took just two weeks. let me tell you why it worked. chicago center controllers, traveled to facilities to help keep it moving. and they are, the experts, in how to move traffic. and they put that knowledge to work, helping their colleagues,. technicians rerouted phone-lines, and at the same time, mechanics and, electricians, rebuilt from the fire. installing, equipment, and connecting more than 10 miles of cable, to some 835 circuits. and this was a team effort, and a very quick turn around time.

for all of our major air traffic facilities, and i asked my team to think creatively as possible, and to make recommendations. as some have suggested, the faa should have been able to restore full operations, in a matter of hours. but our plans have always ben about the steps that we take to maintain a safe system. sawfty overrides every other factor. and the plans have never been designed, so someone could

handle a full schedule, within minutes or hours. in the long run, it gives us the ability to recover, more quickly, because it's a more flexible system. chicago is a good example of why we all need to come together, to focus on upgrading the infrom a structure, and remain competitive and mama sure that we can withstand the unexpected. that same teamwork, is a model, that we need to do more of. income, that same level of cooperation, has taken place between the faa and industry over the last year. we have focused our priorities. and we have worked with industry, through ad vicary committee and, we listen to what

you say and we respond. we're very focused on providing benefits and have done so. we're building on this, and we're sharpening our focus on near term benefits. tomorrow we'll be delivering a report to congress, outlining the priorities, governments, and industry, and we are committed, to delivering it. now, they fall in four areas, more satellite based procedures, and better use of runways. and better awareness at airports and, more streamlined departures. and the first, is satellite based navigation, a lot of good work has been happening, in places like seattle, and denver and, other cities, through

collaboration with airlines, and airport, and we're fast-tracking more direct routes, through our initiative. and already, airlines are seeing benefits. take houston, and north texas. in houston, this amounts to 3 million gallon he of fuel savings, and millions of dollars, and we'll be expanding it to northern california, charlotte and, to atlanta, in the next three years, in response to the request that came in. now, while these procedures, make it more e fitch shen and we want to get the most out of the runways. industry have asked, for improved separation standards, at more airports and we heard you, and we're increasing the

number of airports and we're going to reduce it at nine new airports, in five cities, over the next year. those cities are houston, new york, chicago, san francisco, and charlotte. we have already seen the benefits, over the last two years and, this year, new standards, in cincinnati, and atlanta. delta airlines, is reporting faster taxi out time and, reduce eddie lace, and less time, in airspace. the industry and the faa came together to choose these priorities and we'll deliver on them.

we're also planning not a few you are, for modernization. again, taking the incident in chicago as a example, i would like to paint a picture, how they helped us, and much more quickly and, how it will help us more in the future. the common theme, is that we're switching the system, from point to point communiindication, to network communication. one facility can communicate with all and, all with one. right now, each air traffic facility can only see and talk to aircrafts within their area. voice radios, and radar are wired not a facilities that they serve. it is much more resilient, and flexible, in our .s system.

that's a lot different than changing a lot of hard wiring. the radar, broadcast, is again, a network. a network of sensors. this allows us to adjust the surveillance pictures, and change network settings. in contrast, point to point, requires modifying hardware. it's a much less flexible system, and it will take the entire airspace, and make it much more flexible. and you are seeing the results. during the chicago incident, we

reconfigured our new modernization platform, so controllers, can see far beyond the boundaries of their own center. now, we got a complete picture by putting it all together in, a way, where we were taking advantage of the flexibility we have. our old system, would not have allowed them. it is more flexible and much more powerful. it can process information, from surveillance.

and 64 different radar, versus 24 under the legacy system. and it can follow nearly fies the number of aircraft. so, controllers, have is the ability to see the traffic, and they were better able to control it, and the truth is, four days after the shutdown, chicago's o'hare was once again, the busiest airport, handling more operations than any other airport in the country. now, we'll have more flexibility to control our airspace. it means we'll be able to provide traditional separation of aircraft, in the event of an unplanned outage. know, it is one of the elements of next gen, and it allows us to

move to a satellite based system our role as world leader is not something that we can take for granted. technology is evolving, and we need to take advantage of it, that are enabled. it's job of government to lay the groundwork for infrastructure sure projects, and that's what we have done. this year, they completed the intake lacing of hundreds. the automation system, is now operating at 16 of 20 centers across the nation. now, we have come a long way, and i'm very proud and, we're pushing it across the

finish-line. this is a powerful automation tool and, make a huge difference, in the safety of you remember skies. also installing a new air system and key facilities will have by 2016. this is all very significant progress. recent assertions by the department of transportation, they are not providing today, are missing the key point. the network has created the foundation for next again, and the. benefits that will be lawyered on top. it's like the foundation of a house. it's essential, that you build that first. a report, came out, last week, showing that we're on the right track. we have followed through or a decision, all of us together,

faa, with help and input from industry, to a satellite based system that will provide for greater awareness for allaire space users and, greater competitiveness for our country. the report looked at the big picture and recognized that the full benefits will be realized, once industry is equipped and the dead loin, is a little more than five years from now. we're holding a call to action, at the end of this month. and we're going to be bringing together industry leaders, to identify the barriers, that exist. we need to make sure that everyone is prepared to comply with the 2020 may be date, it is not going to change. now, we need to bring this

same level of focus, and we will only realize the full benefits, when we have a aviation industry that's engaged, and united, around our priorities. we have a lot of accomplish, to modernize it, and maintain the equipment that we use. they want us to do it faster, and better and cheaper. and we're all for that. but, the question is, how are we going to do that, at a fiscal environment that's constrained. and this industry needs to come together, and rally around, what is important, just as we all rallied together in chicago to get the job done.

this process is going to take compromise, and setting aside the. differences, that we might have. but everyone in this room, has a responsibility to secure an air space system that best serves or entire nation. a good way to accomplish this, is through the faa reauthor a sake. last year, we started a conversation, about what type we wanted. and how we should pay for it. there's a sense, that it is time for struckal reform. and that's because the faa is facing two main problems. first, there's been a lack of predict ability in our budget.

we face challenge hes, focusing on core priorits. it's clear to me, that we will not succeed, if we don't prioritize. now there's no shortage of points of view, on how to solve these problems, and the direction to take. but, what i hear are. separate conversations, about air traffic control. certification and what we need to have is a conversation, to identify the priorities for the system as a whole. the danger, is if we only promote certain narrow interests, we could trade one of our interests off and, the industry will be worse off.

if the incident in chicago teaches us anything, when the system shuts down, that are immediate economic consequences. we all know that our national airspace system, it adds, 1. 5 trillion dollars. the system is really an eco system. each part rely's the other. there can't be a disconnect. between sectors in the industry if we expect to be successful. all of us, should have a very kean interest in how all of these issues, play out. so, we need to have an honest conversation, about the challenges. you can always debate the bunchtery needs, and one thing is clear, there's no way, that the faa, can implement next

again, and recapitalize the structure and continue to provide our level of services without making some tradeoffs. evening with short-term choices, there will be significant impact to our budget and services. we need to have the flexibility to make investment choices. a year ago, there was as sense of urgency, and many parts were willing entear taken some approaches. the past year has only sharpened my own sense of urgency, and there's a level of complay sene. business as usual won't

work. it's a mistake. if we don't come up with a plan, and if we don't do it collectively, we'll be signing up for more instability, and more uncertainty, which is what we all say we can't stand for. america is unique. we have a vibrant aviation center. and commercial carriers, and regional, and business, recreational flyers, and new users, like unmanned systems. we have a strong manufacturing base for aircraft. each sector is important. and to together, they create that 12 million jobs, that this industry contributes to our national economy. aviation was born here, in

america, it started here and, it's always been about a pioneer spirit. so. before us, have made great contributions. that leaves us with an important responsibility. as leaders, in this industry, weed in to protect system, and move it forward. we need it think about the future, and how we'll modernize the system. if all we do, is protect our own positions, thinking, we can go it alone, we're wrong. we all need each other, and we need consensus, across this industry. thinking back to our experience, in chicago, in just two weeks, a team of dedicated op