March 14, 2019
With just nine months remaining until the FAA’s Jan. 1, 2020, ADS-B Out equipage deadline, a popular flight tracking website reports approximately seven out of 10 business aircraft are utilizing the technology.
FlightAware.com has inventoried aircraft flying with ADS-B throughout the United States and disseminates those numbers by aircraft type and fleet size. According to the company’s February 2019 fleet summary, the percentage of active business aircraft flying with ADS-B grew from 46 percent in February 2018 to 68 percent last month.
While ADS-B is now standard on nearly all new business aircraft sold in the U.S., another finding from the report is the number of legacy business aircraft types that have been retrofitted with the technology.
According to FlightAware’s statistics, 81 percent of all Rockwell Turbo Commander 690 and Cessna 441 Conquest II turboprops flying in the U.S. are ADS-B compliant, as are 84 percent of Beechcraft Super King Air 300s. Three-quarters of all Cessna Citation CJ1 business jets, 82 percent of Dassault Falcon 2000 jets and 80 percent of Socata TBM-700 turboprop singles are also flying with ADS-B.
NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen urged business aviation operators who haven’t already equipped with ADS-B to arrange their installations now. “Our industry has always embraced new technologies, including ADS-B,” he said. “But, it’s clear we must redouble our efforts to ensure that business aircraft remain flying beyond the Jan. 1, 2020 deadline.”
The FAA mandate applies to aircraft operating in airspace defined under Part 91.225, essentially areas that currently require a transponder. Compliance requires an aircraft to have onboard a Wide Area Augmentation System-enabled GPS receiver approved for ADS-B; an ADS-B capable transponder; any equipment necessary to combine that data; and a transmitting antenna.
Operators may also equip their aircraft with ADS-B In capability, adding traffic and weather information to cockpit displays and bringing improved situational awareness to business aviation flight decks.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.