FAA Seeks to Encourage NGATS Equipage, But Will Mandate If Necessary

The FAA's associate administrator for aviation safety, Nicholas A. Sabatini, said last week that the agency's ADS-B Program Office will soon issue a NPRM (notice of proposed rule making) that would require aircraft to be equipped with ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) avionics to assure access to certain U.S. airspace by 2020.

An ADS-B equipment mandate was one of several issues discussed by Mr. Sabatini at the FAA's New Technologies Workshop last week, under the general rubric of the FAA's plans for implementing the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS, which is now being frequently referred as "Next Gen.")

While discussing the evolution to Next Gen, Mr. Sabatini said every decision U.S. JPDO (Joint Planning & Development Office) - and specifically the FAA - makes today must be made in the context of the future: "How will this choice interact with other technologies and affect other decisions?  What are the tradeoffs?  Can we afford them?"

Getting to Next Gen will require attention to costs, Mr. Sabatini said, but will require even more attention to consequences.  At every decision point, we must know how the decision will affect every other part of the system. And this will require a systems approach, Mr. Sabatini emphasized.

In this regard, Mr. Sabatini said: "...[The FAA is] looking to the aircraft - that will have the on-board equipment and technology to perform the task at hand - anywhere, anytime in the world, and perform it safely.... Ultimately, air traffic services will be tailored and flights will be managed based on individual aircraft and flight crew performance capabilities.  In the future, the system could 'reward' these more capable aircraft by allowing them greater operating flexibilities."

Put another way, Mr. Sabatini opined that we are transitioning from a "system where 'first come, first served' could be supplemented with 'best equipped'..." and "best equipped" could come to be defined as meeting performance-based aircraft standards in navigation, surveillance and communications.

Click here to view the full text of Mr. Sabatini's speech.  01-20-2007.

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