Why The Secrecy Around ADS-B?

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There are some big changes coming in the way U.S. pilots fly and they’re not far off. By 2020 anyone flying in controlled airspace will have to have at least ADS-B Out in their airplanes and hardly any have added the necessary gear.

To its credit, the FAA sees the potential challenges of adding the devices to the majority of more than 250,000 general aviation aircraft in the U.S. and is starting now to identify those challenges.

It’s called a meeting for Oct. 28 in Washington to explore what those issues might be and how they will manifest.

In a self-congratulatory news release announcing the meeting the FAA says it’s bringing together the players involved in getting this work done to discuss it.

We can only imagine who is actually invited to the meeting, however, because we aren’t.

The meeting is closed to the media, which is to say that it is closed to those most affected by the changes; the owners and pilots who will be footing the bill for the mandatory equipage.

We’ve been covering this from Day One, as has everyone else in the aviation media, and it never occurred to us that we would be barred from the meeting. And we’re mystified as to why.

If the FAA and the industry want to spread the word to get aircraft owners into the shops to get the gear they will need, it would seem counterproductive to close the door on the principal messengers.

Whenever a meeting on a public interest topic like this is closed to the media it raises questions about the motivation. What will they talk about? Is there something they’re hiding? What’s thereal reason for the meeting.

Fortunately, we’ll have the answers to those questions before the organizers make it to their bar stools. Those who will be at the meeting understand the need for their customers to be fully informed about the issues and opportunities that NextGen and the ADS-B mandate present. So we’ll make a few calls and have the main points of the meeting in front of you before the FAA has its press release written.

From a practical point of view, there’s no point in barring the media from a meeting like this and a lot of good reasons to include us. For one thing, it will assure it’s a transparent and inclusive process from the start.

So how about it, FAA? If you stop sneaking around, it will mean we won’t have to, either. And the people we both represent will be much better served.

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