Based in Washington, Jen managed Aviation Week’s worldwide defense, space and security coverage from 2013 to January 2024.
Prior to taking on the Executive Editor role, Jen was Aviation Week's Congressional Editor. Jen came to Aviation Week in March 2011 from Politico, where she covered the intersection of defense and politics. She also worked as a reporter and editor for Defense Daily, Inside the Army, The Other Paper and The Columbus Dispatch.
Jen received a Master’s degree in journalism as a Kiplinger Fellow at the Ohio State University. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in history and journalism from the University of Michigan.
The FAA has awarded Harris Corp. a 15-year, $291 million contract to provide a secure voice communication network for U.S. air traffic control facilities as part of the NextGen air transportation system. Company officials expect the program will proceed despite budget uncertainty on Capitol Hill. The system will replace the FAA’s aging system of voice switches with one based on Internet Protocols that will support communication among air traffic controllers, as well as air-to-ground communication between pilots and controllers.
Eighty percent of likely voters in swing states believe that politicians in Washington should find a way to block potential across-the-board budget cuts that could take place in January, according to a Harris Interactive poll commissioned by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). But 66% percent of those voters were only somewhat or not at all aware of the measure known as sequestration—the self-imposed congressional penalty for failing to reach an agreement to reduce the deficit that set the $1 trillion in federal budget cuts in motion.
TALKING NEXTGEN: The FAA has awarded Harris Corp. a 15-year, $291 million contract to provide a secure voice communications network for U.S. air traffic control facilities as part of the NextGen air transportation system. Company officials expect that the program will proceed despite budget uncertainty on Capitol Hill. The system will replace the FAA’s 40-year old system of voice switches with one based on Internet Protocols that will support communications between air traffic controllers on the ground as well as from pilots in the aircraft to controllers on the ground.
