The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that the FAA and JetBlue have signed a NextGen agreement that will allow the airline to fly more precise, satellite-based flights from Boston and New York to Florida and the Caribbean beginning in 2012.

NextGen is the transformation of the U.S. national airspace system from a ground-based system of air traffic control to one based on satellites, which will enhance safety and reduce aviation congestion. The announcement follows President Obama’s State of the Union Address last week, in which he stressed the importance of targeted investments to foster American innovation that will make our nation more competitive globally and strengthen our economy here at home.

The agreement will also allow JetBlue to fly a new route to the Caribbean, and could lead to the development of two new, shorter ADS-B-only routes to the Caribbean from Boston, New York and Washington. The FAA will collect NextGen data by observing and conducting real-time operational evaluations of ADS-B on revenue flights. For more information, visit www.dot.gov or www.jetblue.com.