Avionics News August 2014 - 14

In this monthly column, Ric Peri of the AEA's Washington, D.C., oﬃce, informs members of the latest regulatory updates.

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A EA V I C E P R ES I D E N T O F G OV E R N M E N T & I N D U ST RY A F FA I RS

By the numbers
FAA says 2020 ADS-B deadline won't change

ast month, Avionics News highlighted the results of
an Aircraft Electronics Association member survey for available resources in support of the ADS-B
Out mandate. The results were as expected: the industry is
ready, willing and able to support the Federal Aviation Administration's mandate.
But what do repair shops tell their customers?
One of the regular questions I get from the industry and a
constant point of discussion among the aviation trade associations is, "Will there be an extension to the 2020 deadline?"
The answer came June 25, 2014, when Michael G. Whitaker,
deputy administrator and chief NextGen officer for the FAA,
gave a statement before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on aviation. The hearing was titled, "NextGen: A Review of Progress,
Challenges and Opportunities for Improving Aviation Safety
and Efficiency."
During his opening statement, Whitaker said, "Let me be
very clear. The 2020 deadline is not going to change. We are in
a position to achieve this important milestone on time. The cost
of equipment has come down considerably. There is sufficient
maintenance capacity to allow all equipage to occur - in fact,
waiting to equip might cost more if aircraft owners crowd repair
stations to get the work done on the eve of the deadline. "
Now, I am the first to admit that actions speak louder than
words, and the FAA's track record for implementing an avionics mandate on time is not stellar. In fact, I cannot remember a
mandate in the last five decades that was implemented on time.
But this time, there is a 10-year implementation plan with
strong language from senior FAA officials. And don't forget the
FAA must answer to Congress regularly on the cost and sched14

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2014

ule for implementation.
So with all this is in place to support the 2020 mandate, I'm
not sure I would bet against the timeline. And that is exactly
what operators who procrastinate will be doing - betting against
modernization and wagering the utility of their aircraft.
But hey, we have six years - what's the rush?
Well first of all, we don't have six years. The aircraft must be
compliant to §91.225 no later than Dec. 31, 2019, not in August
2020. In reality, we have five years, four months and counting.
So what does this mean?
Let's do the math.
Five years equates to 1,275 workdays (five days per week
and 52 weeks per year with five holidays equals 255 actual
workdays per year).
The week of Aug. 4, 2014, is the 32nd week of the year,
which leaves 20 more weeks before the end of the current
year or 97 workdays after accounting for the three remaining
holidays.
As of today, we don't have six comfortable years to equip the
aircraft; we have a mere 1,372 workdays.
There are quite a few aircraft population numbers floating
around, and I suspect the exact numbers are irrelevant. It is routinely reported that we have 186,000 operational general aviation aircraft. Here are the latest (2012) general aviation statistics
from the FAA:
* 155,000 piston aircraft.
* 9,400 turboprop.
* 11,500 jet aircraft.
* 10,100 rotorwing.
* 36,300 experimental/LSA/other.

Avionics News August 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News August 2014