As part of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Michael Huerta’s commitment to further U.S. global leadership in aviation, he visited the Dubai Air Show this week. His trip included meeting with government and industry aviation representatives from the Middle East region and other regions of the world. With the Middle East experiencing a booming aviation economy, Administrator Huerta is focused on how the FAA can work collaboratively with other nations on key issues such as air traffic management, safety oversight, airport expansion and manufacturing.

Huerta told a group of U.S. aviation executives attending the air show that government officials from the Middle East have visited the U.S. to learn about our use of NextGen technologies to improve safety and efficiency. He also said the FAA is sharing with our regional counterparts how we are using safety data to spot trends and mitigate potential safety problems that could lead to accidents.

Last year, Administrator Huerta selected ‘global leadership’ as one of the agency’s four strategic initiatives. The Global Leadership Initiative is transforming how the FAA prioritizes and targets resources to engage with the international aviation community to improve safety, efficiency, and environmental sustainability through regulatory harmonization and partnerships.

Total passenger growth for global aviation is up six percent on average, with the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Latin America leading the way. In the U.S., the FAA safely guides more than 25 million flights each year while more than 3.5 billion passengers travel by air to destinations throughout the world. The U.S. aviation industry drives nearly $1.5 trillion in economic activity, or 5.4 percent of the Gross Domestic Product.