FAA Calls ADS-B ‘Summit’

The FAA says it's done its part and now it's up to the aviation industry to meet the 2020 deadline for mandatory ADS-B equipage. To that end the agency will hold a "call to action summit" to discuss how to bring tens of thousands of aircraft into compliance in a little more than six years. The summit will be held Oct. 28 and will last the whole day. The location was not included in the FAA press release. "The FAA has met its commitment and built the foundation for ADS-B," FAA Deputy Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a speech to aviation leaders. "It is time for all users of the national airspace - avionics suppliers, aircraft integrators, operators and installers - to work together to ensure that all aircraft flying in controlled airspace are equipped with these NextGen avionics. The full benefits of increased safety and efficiency of the national airspace depend on 100 percent equipage."

Only a fraction of the more than 250,000 active aircraft on the U.S. registry have been fitted with the gear. It's not clear how many of those owners plan to add ADS-B out to meet the minimum requirement but industry officials are growing concerned that many will wait until the last minute and the demand will overwhelm avionics installers. That and the cost of the equipment will likely be leading topics for discussion at the meeting. The FAA recently finished installing the 634 ground-based radio stations that form the basis for the nationwide system.