Chicken? Or Egg?

A news story appearing in August quoted a Washington think-tank member as blaming general aviation for the delays in implementing ADS-B, the underlying technology in the FAAs latest scheme to modernize the national airspace system and improve efficiency. Robert Poole of the ironically named Reason Foundation was quoted by online sister publication AVweb.com as saying, "Because aircraft owners balk at being forced to buy and install new gear until they get real benefits from it (and this is especially true of GA owners), FAA felt under strong political pressure to make the deadline as far off as possible (hence, 2020)." Itd be a wonderful thing if GA had that much clout at the FAA.

Key Takeaways:

• A Washington think-tank member, Robert Poole, blames general aviation owners for ADS-B implementation delays, arguing they resist new equipment without clear benefits, and leverages this point to advocate for ATC privatization.
• General aviation perceives NextGen and ADS-B as the FAA's attempt to shift communication and surveillance burdens and costs onto operators, allowing the agency to retire its ground-based radar infrastructure.
• Many GA users see limited practical benefits from ADS-B in non-remote areas, remaining skeptical due to past FAA initiatives (like TIS) that required equipage but were later scaled back, leading to a "equip now, benefits later" fatigue.

Key takeaways sponsored by Aviator Pro | Start Your Training ->

See a mistake? Contact us.