FAA Must Justify The $2.5-$6.2 Billion Cost For ADS-B Out Equipage Under New Rule

The Air Transport Association of America (ATA) says the FAA needs to justify the multi-billion dollar cost of requiring aircraft operating in U.S. airspace to be equipped with ADS-B Out equipment as stipulated in its final rule released earlier this week.

"With an FAA cost estimate of between $2.5 and $6.2 billion, ATA is carefully reviewing the ADS-B rule released today, and will have no further comment until that in-depth review is complete," said ATA President and CEO James C. May in a statement released Thursday. "ATA has said repeatedly that any rule requiring this type of equipage and expense must be based on a solid business case in which the true benefits and real costs are fully understood and justified. We are hopeful that the FAA regulatory evaluation supporting the rule will be made available soon in order to help facilitate our review."

ATA statistics show that commercial aviation helps drive more than $1 trillion in U.S. economic activity and nearly 11 million U.S. jobs every year. On a daily basis, U.S. airlines operate nearly 25,000 flights in 80 countries, using more than 6,000 aircraft to carry an average of two million passengers and 50,000 tons of cargo.

ATA airline members and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic.

FMI: www.airlines.org