NBAA Will Again Represent Members on ADS-B Planning at Working Group, Nov. 18

Nov. 14, 2014

NBAA Chief Operating Officer Steve Brown will represent Member concerns regarding the FAA’s Jan. 1, 2020, deadline to equip aircraft with Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) at a Nov. 18 “Equip 2020” working group meeting.

The FAA recently held an ADS-B summit at which industry representatives presented aircraft owners’ and operators’ concerns, including questions of the overall benefit of ADS-B. At the summit, Doug Carr, NBAA’s vice president of regulatory and international affairs, shared NBAA Member Companies’ concerns, including challenges with maintaining privacy on ADS-B Out-equipped aircraft. Other concerns for consideration by the working group are difficulties meeting the FAA’s 2020 deadline, the cost of retrofitting aircraft and exploring possible alternatives to traditional certification methods.

“The industry’s struggle to meet the FAA’s 2020 mandate is a significant concern,” said Brown. “The Aircraft Electronics Association recently suggested that the industry would need to equip more than 80 aircraft per day to meet the 2020 deadline. Do we have enough industry capacity – that is, equipment and manpower – to complete installations on all affected aircraft?”

NBAA officials will participate in the subgroup that considers alternatives to traditional ADS-B technology. This subgroup will look at testing, certification and other issues related to alternative technologies.

“We are optimistic this working group will provide creative solutions to meet the FAA’s 2020 deadline,” said Brown. “However, the FAA has continuously indicated no extension is forthcoming and the industry must be prepared to comply by Jan. 1, 2020.”

The Nov. 18 meeting will be held at the FAA Portal Building in Washington, DC and managed by the NextGen Institute.

For many years, NBAA has been deeply involved in helping to ensure that NextGen planning, including the role of ADS-B, addresses the needs of business aviation. NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen was appointed by the FAA administrator to serve on the agency’s NextGen advisory committee. Brown, who will attend the Nov. 18 ADS-B meeting, serves on the National Research Council, which provides guidance on FAA’s NextGen research programs. Bob Lamond, NBAA’s director of air traffic services and infrastructure, along with several members of NBAA’s Air Traffic Services group, are on numerous working groups that deal with ADS-B equipage and other NextGen issues.