In testimony on the progress of NextGen before the Senate Subcommittee on Aviation, FAA Deputy Administrator Michael G. Whitaker said unequivocally that the 2020 deadline for installation of mandated ADS-B equipment in general aviation aircraft is hard and fast. According to a post on AVweb, there have been rumors that the FAA was going to let the deadline date slip. Apparently desiring to put a stop to the rumor mill, Whitaker said: “Let me be very clear. The 2020 deadline is not going to change. We are in a position to achieve this important milestone on time. The cost of equipment has come down considerably. There is sufficient maintenance capacity to allow all equipage to occur — in fact, waiting to equip might cost more if aircraft owners crowd repair stations to get the work done on the eve of the deadline.”
And if you like your health plan, you can keep your plan, period. If this bureaucrat forgets that he works at the pleasure of the representatives that are elected by the people, he may want to look who signs his paycheck. He should be very careful about making blanket statements like this. Any thing can change, and he would do well to remember this. I for one am not spending a dime on this equipment until the dust settles. I still remember MLS?
Two points:
1. The FAA should cancel the TSO for any transponder that is not ADS-B out (1090ES) compliant. No one should be buying avionics that will be obsolete in a few years and it would further drive down cost by focusing manufacturing on a smaller line of products and drive competition in that all manufacturers would be competing in a smaller space.
2. When will Cessna and Garmin get their act together and release a GTX33ES FRU for the G1000? It is madness that they still haven’t done this after all this time. They seem to just prefer blaming each other.