Statement of Policy for Authorizations to Operators of Aircraft That Are Not Equipped With ADS-B Equipment

The FAA put a new rule regarding ADS-B in the Federal Register on 04/01/2019. Despite the date, the rule is no joke. Here is a summary: 

After Jan. 1, 2020, all aircraft operating in the airspace identified in §91.225 must comply with the ADS-B Out equipment and performance requirements.

Operators of aircraft not equipped with ADS-B-Out must request a deviation at least 1 hour before the flight from the ATC facility with jurisdiction over the airspace. Requests are considered on a case-by-case basis, and authorizations may be declined due to workload, runway configurations, air-traffic flows, weather conditions, among other reasons.

“This appears to be a clear sign from the FAA that the mandate compliance date will not be pushing to the right, and that the process by which you can make an occasional flight through ADS-B airspace will be as cumbersome and uncertain as possible,” says Matt Nelson, Manager of Satellite Operations at Duncan Aviation.