Issues & Policies | Aerospace Industries Association

Issues

Strategic Plan

Overview

Our 2010 Strategic Plan ensures that the Aerospace Industries Association provides the highest quality representation for our members. In these challenging economic times, our main objective is to help our member companies grow their businesses.
We will accomplish this objective by:

To keep us on track, our plan establishes a detailed set of goals, targets, and critical milestones that will measure our progress and guarantee that all of our members and business sectors (national security, civil aviation, and space) are represented equally and effectively.

National Security
A strong defense underpins America’s national security. Military preeminence requires that we have superior weapons systems now and in the future. The aerospace and defense industrial base produces the weapons that protect our country, bolster our economic strength, support our allies and promote U.S. interests around the world. The aerospace and defense industry faces challenges to its ability to perform this role effectively. A global economic recession, domestic issues and two wars are straining the defense procurement accounts necessary to replace degraded weapons systems and to modernize aerospace defense forces for the future. It is critical that we do not allow spending on research and development and procurement to erode to a point that it threatens our future aerospace dominance. AIA will strongly advocate for a real increase in defense procurement dedicated to aerospace within a defense budget that is at least four percent of GDP.

At the same time, the current defense acquisition system inhibits the efficient and cost effective production of weapons systems. Our export control system -- designed for the Cold War -- constricts sales to our allies. Reforming the acquisition process and the export control system is critical to keeping weapons systems affordable, sustaining the companies that produce the world class systems, preserving millions of middle class manufacturing jobs and generally supporting our national economy. We will work for extensive, targeted reform of the defense acquisition system and the export control process.

Further, since the attacks of September 11, 2001, our homeland security responsibilities have expanded considerably. Information systems for commerce, government and finance must be protected. Our companies increasingly provide support to the nation’s homeland security system, and our strategic plan reflects this throughout.

Ultimately, our industry’s success rests on the competence and dedication of our workforce. That workforce is aging and, if current trends continue, we will not have sufficient qualified workers to replace them. Our companies are working to attract young people qualified in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to enable the U.S. to continue to lead the world in providing aerospace systems to military and other national users. This year, our companies will work to coordinate the efforts of all organizations so that we may identify and support the programs most effective in improving STEM, and they will join with the administration in supporting a national STEM effort.

Civil Aviation
The civil aviation industry is struggling to get back on its feet. This year saw a small uptick in large commercial aircraft orders, but business and general aviation aircraft sales are still well below normal. The global economic crisis continues to threaten civil aerospace manufacturing. As a result, our plan focuses on those areas most important to the health, recovery and growth of civil aviation. Future growth in the civil sector will depend on our ability to meet growing concerns about climate change; accelerate the implementation of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen); develop a roadmap for the near-term integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the national airspace system, and promote fair international agreements that allow our companies to compete globally.

Many experts predict commercial air travel demand will surge and more capacity will be needed in 2010. Growth in air travel, although welcome news to operators and manufacturers, will not be sustainable unless there is an air traffic system capable of handling additional aircraft. AIA will continue to push for the acceleration of NextGen as the clearest path to a more efficient and accommodating system. This effort will require continued close coordination between AIA, FAA, Congress and the civil aviation industry. Our goal will be not only to help accelerate a new air traffic control system that permits our members to deliver more aircraft, but to also facilitate the efficiencies that will allow our customers to operate in ever more environmentally friendly ways.

AIA’s efforts in these areas, and our work to integrate and accelerate UAS into our civil airspace system, must be conducted in close cooperation with regulators and air navigation service providers worldwide. By working across borders to secure global harmonization of standards and regulations we will ensure a truly international marketplace for our products. AIA will continue to fight for fair international business practices and open trade agreements – critically important ingredients to the industry’s economic recovery and growth.

Space
Space systems are a vital and growing part of our nation’s infrastructure. We depend on the space sector for seamless global communications, GPS, intelligence gathering, missile defense and warning, weather monitoring, and earth observation. Space systems provide datalink and communications capability to our rapidly expanding fleet of military unmanned aircraft systems and deliver worldwide capability for our operations in cyberspace. The challenge is a space environment that is increasingly crowded and contested. The U.S. Air Force currently tracks over 18,000 man-made objects orbiting the Earth, and that number is growing rapidly. As our dependence on space assets increases, protection of our critical space infrastructure must be a priority.

AIA will continue working to educate policymakers about the threats posed by a crowded and contested space environment. Our efforts to support greater space situational awareness, space system reconstitution and debris management are continuing. Moreover, because our space industrial base and workforce depend on robust and stable government budgets, AIA will steadfastly support reliable funding across the civil, defense and intelligence space sectors.

The space sector is also crucial for advancing technological development, expanding our knowledge of our Earth and the universe and maintaining the international leadership position of the United States. For these reasons, it is important that government decision-makers understand how important the space sector is to our country and our economy. AIA strongly supports efforts to maintain a robust U.S. commitment to space science and exploration. Additionally, we will continue efforts to create a level playing field for U.S. space manufacturers and to ensure its competitiveness worldwide.