Air travel will more than double in the next 20 years, a prediction that the Federal Aviation Administration said underscores the need to keep the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen, on track to accommodate growth.
In a report released today, U.S. airlines will reach 1 billion passengers per year by 2021, two years earlier than last year’s forecast of 2023.
“We need to invest in aviation today to make sure America’s economy remains competitive,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said in a statement. “Innovative NextGen technology will help meet the demands of the future by getting passengers to their destinations safely and more quickly.”
NextGen would transform the U.S. aviation system from ground-based radar to satellite-based systems.
Today’s FAA 20-year forecast predicts the number of passengers traveling on U.S. airlines will increase by 3.5 percent from last year to 737.4 million passengers this year. That figure is projected to grow an average of 2.8 percent each year during the remaining forecast period to 1.3 billion by 2031.
Ann Schrader: 303-954-1967 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
