Many industry experts predict that a significant percentage of the U.S. general aviation fleet will not meet the FAA’s Jan. 1, 2020 deadline for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) compliance. According to equipment installers, bizav operators waiting until 2019 to upgrade their aircraft may encounter equipment shortages and scheduling unavailability.

Other surprises may include early versions of ADS-B equipment proving non-compliant with the 2020 standards; controller-pilot datalink communications (CDPLC) mandates for flights to Europe; and additional NextGen performance-based navigation (PBN) requirements likely emerging in the next 10 years.

The Requirements

The ADS-B requirement serves as NextGen’s “surveillance” piece of ICAO’s global Communication Navigation Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) plan. As such, ADS-B is just one segment in FAA’s NextGen suite of programs, but it depends critically on the compliance of every aircraft owner to make the entire system work.

With the goal of eventually replacing traditional radar and ground-based navigational aids, ADS-B technology periodically broadcasts GPS-derived location information and other data from an aircraft’s flight management system (FMS) to anyone with an ADS-B receiver. This enhances situational awareness for controllers and pilots, and will allow more direct routing and reductions in separation minimums once all aircraft are ADS-B compliant. While industry experts have identified privacy and security concerns with ADS-B technology, all signs point to the FAA enforcing the 2020 deadline that was published in May 2010.

The compliance standards outlined in 14 CFR Sec. 91.225 and 91.227 essentially state that all aircraft operating in airspace that requires a mode-S transponder today will need functioning Version 2 ADS-B Out by 2020. Aircraft operating above FL180 in U.S. airspace (and in certain other airspaces around the world) must also contain a functioning mode-S transponder-based ADS-B transmitter; aircraft operating below FL180 in U.S. airspace may alternatively use a universal-access transceiver (UAT).

Nearly coinciding with the FAA’s ADS-B deadline is the EASA’s deadline for CPDLC compliance. According to EC regulation 310/ 2015, civil aircraft operating within EU airspace above FL285 must have CPDLC capability by Feb. 5, 2020.

The “communications” portion of CNS, CPDLC allows pilots and air traffic controllers to communicate via text messaging. CPDLC can be implemented as part of a Future Air Navigation System (FANS) 1/A+ avionics suite that includes ADS-C (contract), VHF datalink radio or appropriate satcom, and datalink control and display unit (DCDU). FANS 1/A+ capability is required for crossing certain North Atlantic airspaces, but CPDLC capability through the Aeronautical Telecommunications Network (ATN) B1 requirement is preferred in EU airspace.

The EU delayed its ADS-B Out mandate for retrofit aircraft to June 7, 2020; this mandate applies only to aircraft with a maximum certified takeoff mass exceeding 5,700 kg (12,566 lbs) or a maximum cruising true airspeed greater than 250 knots. However, EC Airspace Regulation No 551/2004 provides for local mandates to extend ADS-B requirements to a “wider population of aircraft” in areas where ADS-B is used.

Where the Fleet Is Now

As of March 1 this year, 51,882 U.S.-registered aircraft have been equipped with ADS-B, according to the FAA’s website. FAA Office of Communications statistics indicate that as of Feb. 1, 2018, approximately 5,970 aircraft, or 34.6 percent of the IFR GA turbine fleet (which includes business jets and turboprops) have been equipped with rule-compliant ADS-B Out. The FAA has reiterated that “all aircraft that plan to enter ‘rule’ airspace beginning Jan. 1, 2020 must be equipped with ADS-B.”

While some small general aviation aircraft can install standalone ADS-B solutions for as little as $5,000, the cost for a bizjet can be as high as $120,000 if there is no existing Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) GPS or FMS in the aircraft. One problem with the ADS-B installation is that it’s usually not a simple bolt-on solution and may require new and upgraded equipment.

The FAA website’s ADS-B Equipage page tracks the number of equipped but non-compliant aircraft flying. For example, it indicates that 37,941 general aviation fixed-wing aircraft are ADS-B equipped as of March 1. However, only 34,246 of those are ADS-B rule compliant. The difference between the numbers indicates non-performing emitter (NPE) aircraft, essentially those aircraft containing an ADS-B Out system that does not transmit in accordance with FAR 91.227.

“The FAA is monitoring ADS-B transmissions and calls each operator that fails an ADS-B test,” said Mark Francetic, regional avionics sales manager for Duncan Aviation, a chain of FBOs and MRO centers that includes 27 U.S. facilities performing ADS-B installations. “As soon as you get an ADS-B system installed, the FAA is tracking you. If they see an anomaly, they’re calling you to get your equipment fixed.”

Various sources report that up to 30 percent of ADS-B systems fail due to installation or configuration error. While installation errors usually require a return to the avionics shop, some configuration errors are as simple as incorrectly transmitting aircraft size or identification code and may be rectified by the pilot. Call sign mismatches are also easily fixed by the pilot. However, since ADS-B data is normally not directly displayed on the FMS and because some avionics shops cannot fully test or determine ADS-B data transmitted, most operators are not aware of faulty data being transmitted by the ADS-B system until the FAA or ATC apprise them of the situation. Operators are encouraged to request a free public ADS-B performance report (PAPR) from the FAA website to ensure that their ­aircraft is transmitting correct data.

Some NPE aircraft may be victims of upgrading too early. For example, some owners installed ADS-B equipment to comply with Australia’s Dec. 12, 2013 ADS-B mandate for all IFR aircraft flying at or above 29,000 feet in Australia’s airspace.

“The Australians had a mandate for ADS-B, and they didn’t extend [the deadline],” said Francetic. “On that day in December [2013], a lot of those operators flying large business jets like Gulfstreams and Globals flew them to the United States, parked them, threw us the keys, and told us to fix them for ADS-B…The problem that we have now is that [owners of] many of those airplanes that installed ADS-B to the European standard in Australia, which was an earlier version, think they are compliant with ADS-B and they are not. ATC will know it’s an earlier version because the data won’t display correctly, and will force those operators to land or will refuse entry into U.S. airspace.”

Owners of some of these jets may be able to use FAA Exemption 12555, which allows the extended use of an older GPS navigation receiver meeting TSO-C196 or TSO-C129 specifications rather than the Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) or WAAS requirements through Dec. 31, 2024. All other ADS-B Out equipment requirements must still be met and operational by Jan. 1, 2020. According to the FAA website, the agency granted the exemption “because the type of GPS navigation receivers suitable for transport-category aircraft that meet the ADS-B Out rule requirements will not be available in sufficient numbers until closer to 2020.”

NextGen 2020 and Beyond

The FAA, avionics manufacturers, installation shops, and training facilities have all been gearing up to meet the 2020 mandate for several years. However, the demand for ADS-B installations has not risen as dramatically as forecasted. Even with the deadline less than 20 months away, operators continue to delay installations. The penalties for waiting include higher costs, longer downtime waiting for parts, and the possibility of being grounded on Jan. 1, 2020.

“Right now, if an airplane just needs ADS-B and they already have WAAS GPS, we can turn that airplane in two weeks for approximately $80,000,” said Greg Vail, avionics manager at Savoy, Illinois–based FBO and MRO company Flightstar. “But the cost will go up to [about] $90,000 on June 1. Honeywell notified the world that there would be 15 percent price increases on June 1 of 2018 and 2019, and that’s still not getting people motivated to come in.”

A Bombardier-authorized service facility, Flightstar has been granted STCs for ADS-B Out and single WAAS FMS with localizer performance–vertical (LPV) monitor installations for the Learjet 40/45. The Flightstar ADS-B STC either installs a standalone WAAS GPS system with ADS-B equipment or ties an existing Universal Avionics UNS-1Ew satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) FMS to the ADS-B equipment for GPS position information. The single WAAS FMS solution replaces an existing FMS with the UNS-1Ew and adds a Universal Avionics LPV monitor with a second WAAS GPS antenna and LPV annunciators.

“From Universal’s perspective, the core [of NextGen capability] is the SBAS FMS, which offers LPV, P-RNAV (precision-area navigation), and ADS-B with an accompanying transponder,” said Robert Clare, director of sales at Universal Avionics. “There are so many areas in the U.S. where the only option to get into an airport is to fly an LPV approach. That’s going to continue as some of these other ground-based solutions that are more expensive to maintain will be decommissioned.”

Another key area of NextGen technology that is already in use around the world, LPV approaches take advantage of WAAS or equivalent augmentation systems’ accuracy to provide lateral and vertical guidance, similar to a Category I ILS. As of March 1, 2018, more than 3,800 LPV approach procedures are serving nearly 2,000 U.S. airports, including 1,132 non-ILS airports. Approximately 136 European airports offer LPV-equivalent European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) approaches.

“WAAS LPV provides a lot of benefits to corporate operators, including fuel, time, and engine-wear savings,” said Clare. According to an LPV savings calculator on Universal’s website, a Challenger CL604 flying 300 hours per year with WAAS at home base—estimating 50 percent of destination airports will also have WAAS, and average fuel cost of $5 per gallon—predicts fuel savings of $44,750 per year. When time savings of 25 hours per year are factored in along with reduced engine cycles and reserve cost, the estimated total savings increases to $50,563.

Because ADS-B is not the only piece of the NextGen puzzle, Universal launched its NextGen Roadmap in 2015 to help customers equip their aircraft for best airspace access through all phases of the NextGen program. It advocates not installing standalone GPS sensors and ADS-B Out components, but rather an SBAS-FMS with ADS-B transponder for ADS-B compliance, and a FANS/CPDLC-capable communications management unit (CMU) with CPDLC-compatible cockpit voice recorder.

“Beyond 2020, the next big thing is performance-based navigation [PBN],” said Clare, referring to ICAO’s program to standardize RNAV required navigation performance (RNP) and other navigation system approaches and routes around the world based on the CNS operational requirements. “PBN is going to become more prevalent, depending on where you’re operating,” Clare added. “There are some areas where you can already use PBN if you have the right FMS. That should get you well into 2024–25.”

According to the FAA website’s Performance Based Navigation page, one of NextGen’s primary goals is to create a PBN-centric National Airspace System. The FAA has already published more than 9,000 PBN procedures, including approaches, arrival and departure procedures, and RNAV-based routes, focusing on metroplex areas including Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; Denver; Washington, D.C.; Dallas-Fort Worth; Houston; Los Angeles; Phoenix; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; and south Florida.

“Operators who are focused on ADS-B now may not be able to fly into certain airspaces later because their FMS doesn’t have PBN capability,” said Clare.

FANS-1/A and CPDLC

As of Dec. 7, 2017, all aircraft flying within the North Atlantic Tracks (NAT) between FL350 and FL390 must be equipped with FANS-1/A CPDLC, ADS-C, and VHF datalink (VDL) or satcom systems. On Jan. 30, 2020, the flight level for this requirement drops to FL290.

Focusing on CPDLC installations since 2012, Sugar Grove, Illinois–based Chicago Jet Group holds 10 FANS-1/A+/CPDLC STCs for 16 business and commercial aircraft types.

“Chicago Jet has earned its own place in this business with CPDLC for aircraft,” said Chicago Jet Group president Mike Mitera. “The FANS, ATN, and CPDLC technology—we pretty much own that. While everyone else was working on ADS-B, we were focused on the datalink stuff. We’re the experts on it.”

Mitera formed a separate company called Kobev International to conduct FANS/CPDLC/ATN training worldwide. Using a Wi-Fi hotspot on the ramp, Mitera connects the aircraft avionics and laptop running a terminal with custom training software to Kobev servers to simulate an air traffic control ground station.

“We do hands-on training in the client aircraft,” said Mitera. “I work with the crew like a simulator instructor. I can send and receive messages, set up ADS-C, and show the pilots the ADS information coming from their aircraft live.”

Mitera says that one benefit of going to the customer’s aircraft is that every avionics suite is different, and each has its own characteristics and challenges.

“When they’re hands-on with their own equipment, they can see any shortcomings in the system,” said Mitera.

Even aircraft flying U.S. domestic routes can benefit from CPDLC installation as the FAA increases data comm capability at airports and en route centers across the U.S. Currently 57 airports have data comm (CPDLC) capability, and initial en route services are scheduled to begin in 2019. The FAA reports that more than 1,100 domestic air carrier aircraft have been equipped with CPDLC capability and more than 45 operators are using data comm in the national airspace system.

“The advantage of CPDLC for the Learjet operator in the U.S. is the digital communications with ATC,” said Vail, who indicated that Flightstar should receive a CPDLC STC for the Learjet 40 series by midsummer. “If a corporate operator sitting at Newark has CPDLC, he basically turns on his equipment and his clearance pops up into the flight management system. He accepts it and they give him a taxi clearance and away he goes, saving an average of 22 minutes.”