Business Aviation Ramping Up ADS-B

With less than two months remaining until the FAA’s January 1, 2020 Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out deadline becomes effective, we look at US business aviation operator equipage trends. While the FAA is likely to limit significantly the number of exemptions granted for flights of aircraft without ADS-B (Out) after January 1, 2020, nearly 5,500 business aviation aircraft are likely to be without such capability on this date, according to a recent estimate by Nebraska-based Duncan Aviation. The MRO said in September that at least 1,660 business jets, about 23 per cent of the inventory and 3,800 turboprops, about 49 per cent, will lack ADS-B (Out) early next year.

“Operators of aircraft not equipped with ADS-B (Out) must request a deviation at least one hour before the flight from the air traffic control facility with jurisdiction over the airspace,” said Matt Nelson, the Satellite Operations Manager for Duncan Aviation. “Requests are considered on a case-by-case basis and authorizations may be declined due to workload, runway configurations, air-traffic flows, weather conditions, among other reasons.” FAA is not likely to provide frequent waivers for flights of aircraft without ADS-B after January 1 as the agency said in July that it is providing relief to federal, state and local authorities to switch off ADS-B transmissions when government aircraft are “conducting sensitive national defence, homeland security, intelligence and law enforcement missions that could be compromised by transmitting real time identification and positional flight information over ADS–B.”