LaHood: Obama is committed to 'NextGen' airplane technology

President Obama is committed to finding a way to fund new routing technology for airplanes, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday, even though he acknowledges Congress has yet to even fully fund the Federal Aviation Administration.

The FAA has long planned to switch the air traffic control system from World War II-era radar technology to a satellite-based system. But in the series of continuing resolutions approved this spring as Congress was working to avert a government shutdown, lawmakers cut about $200 million from the FAA's budget that would have gone to the conversion.

Additionally, a long-term overall funding bill for the FAA has also been bogged down in discussions over the labor rights of airline and railroad employees. But LaHood said Wednesday that the administration was working to find a way a pay for NextGen, right after it convinces Congress to fund the FAA for longer than a few months at a time.

"The administration is committed to being helpful to the airlines," LaHood said in an interview with Air Transportation World magazine.

"First we need an FAA bill. Once that is done, we'll sit down with the airlines and try to figure out how to get technology in the cockpit," he said.

Plans called for the NextGen system to be installed by 2014 at the busiest airports, and nationwide by 2020. The new system would cost the FAA about $22 billion through 2025, while airlines would spend about $20 billion to upgrade their airplanes' computer systems.

Congress recently introduced a 19th stopgap measure to fund the FAA, which would provide money to the agency through June.

Longer-term bills have passed both the House and Senate, but inter-chamber negotiations have been consumed by a labor provision that overwhelmed debate on the underlying bill — and drew a veto threat from President Obama.