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:

• The article disputes the claim that General Aviation (GA) is responsible for delays in ADS-B implementation, arguing that GA lacks such influence and resists adoption due to a lack of clear benefits.
• A core issue with NextGen and ADS-B is that it shifts the burden and cost of communication and surveillance from the FAA to aircraft operators, primarily benefiting the FAA by enabling the retirement of ground-based radars.
• Most GA users in non-remote areas see little immediate benefit from ADS-B, as they are satisfied with existing ATC services and perceive airport capacity, not surveillance, as the main cause of delays.
• GA is wary of the "equip now, benefits later" approach for ADS-B, citing previous FAA initiatives (like TIS) where users invested in equipment only for the service to be later reduced or eliminated.

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