European ADS-B Mandate Won’t Be Met

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Many European operators say they won’t meet the European Aviation Safety Agency’s June 7, 2020, ADS-B mandate and EASA seems to be getting ready to cope with the patchwork of compliance that will result. “The retrofit of the complete European fleet is just impossible at this point in time to be completed in 2020,” Jurgen Lauterbach, manager of corporate aircraft purchasing at Lufthansa, told an industry workshop on July 4. “We will not be ready, it’s not possible, we’d like to support the project, no doubt about that, but we need to start with reliable plans from now,” Avionics Today reported. Only about 20 percent of the airline fleet is equipped now and EASA appears to be facing that reality.

Agency officials told the workshop that it wasn’t backing up the mandate but that it would work with non-compliant operators to get them in the system. That will likely include giving exemptions in exchange for firm plans for equipage. That’s in contrast to the FAA’s attitude about its Jan. 1, 2020, ADS-B mandate. The agency insists there will be no breaks for anyone who doesn’t meet the deadline.

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