A key aspect of the FAA's NextGen concept is a vastly different method of communicating between the cockpit and the ground. Beginning in 2015, some routine communications will be handled in a remarkably different way. "The current method of pilot-controller communication is via voice. But NextGen involves a migration from voice to transmitting controller messages via text," says John Kefaliotis, Vice President of Next Generation Transportation Systems at ITT Exelis.