Community Continues to Push Back Against ADS-B-Facilitated Landing Fees

On May 8, a bill to limit frivolous use of ADS-B tracking data was signed into law by Montana Governor Greg Gianforte. This legislation battles the recent trend of US airports using ADS-B information to impose landing fees on general aviation planes.

Specifically, House BIll 571 states that “no entity, whether a division of government or a private company or corporation, may use information broadcast or collected by automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast systems, whether that data originates from ADS-B In or ADS-B Out, as a means for calculating, generating, and collecting fees from aircraft owners or operators who operate aircraft within the geographic boundaries of the state.”

The bill was presented and sponsored by Representative Shane Klakken. As a pilot and long-term AOPA member, he set out to protect other Part 91 general aviation pilots with aircraft weighing up to 9,000 pounds.

ADS-B is a type of surveillance technology that transmits any given aircraft’s tail number, airspeed, altitude, location, and type to other planes with ADS-B In installed or to ground receivers. It was introduced as a means to improve safety in the national airspace, giving air traffic controllers and pilots a way to visualize traffic in real-time.

This technology was a game changer for general aviation, and eventually became mandatory equipment in most controlled airspace under a 2020 regulation. When this was implemented, the FAA soothed the public’s initial privacy concerns by promising that “ADS-B would only be used to improve air traffic safety and airspace efficiencies.”

Now, however, ADS-B data is being used as a foundation for airports and third parties to file lawsuits and collect landing fees. This is seen by many as not only an invasion of privacy, but also a twisted method to take advantage of technology that was originally intended to be a safety aid.

House Bill 571 is a major step in the right direction. It passed the state’s House of Representatives on a 60 to 39 vote in early March before progressing to the Senate, where it won the favor of 66 voters.

FMI: https://legislators.legmt.gov