Everyone Agrees It's Great... IF It Gets Done

At a press conference held this week at Oshkosh, Garmin came out to discuss the progression and benefits of ADS-B. After some quick announcements from Gary Kelley, Garmin's vice president of marketing, he provided the overall theme of the conference, which was to boast how ADS-B provides added safety and efficiency.

"This (ADS-B) gives you efficiency," Kelly said. "We can tighten up spacing and sequencing that means less fuel burn."

Of course, this will obviously depend on the amount of flying you do.

As ANN reported, to date, Garmin has delivered over 1,800 ADS-B units since 2004, and not just for large air carriers. The University of North Dakota has 75 units already in place, and is scheduled to have 100 by the end of the year.

Along these lines, GAMA CEO Pete Bunce stated "He (Bobby Sturgell, the acting FAA administrator) is making sure that this just doesn't apply to the commercial folks. He is very careful to make sure that general aviation can enjoy the benefits of this enhanced safety."

"Enhanced safety" seemed to be the overall theme of the conference. Once implemented, ADS-B ground stations can track aircraft movement and will eventually be used to provide radar-like traffic separation services.

"I can tell you from experience, that I think that ADS-B will be the single greatest enhancement to aviation safety. Ever," said Johnny Rowlands, traffic reported for KMBC in Kansas City. Bobby Sturgell would later add that ADS-B "takes the search out of search and rescue."

But the advantages of ADS-B are not new. So when it came time for questions, the overall theme turned from safety and efficiency, to cost and legislation. Particularly why it is going to take so long for the FAA to fully implement ADS-B -- the current target date is 2025.

When questioned what their biggest hang up was, Kelley replied that getting the notice of proposed rule making (NPRM), needs to be completed. This will provide Garmin some direction with which to enhance their products.

Until that day comes, it makes no sense to move forward... meaning, for the moment, ADS-B remains largely a heavily-promoted vision of the future.

FMI: www.garmin.com, www.gama.aero, Read More About ADS-B