This has got to stop. We all know that FAA inspectors at the Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) level are overworked and that FAA regulations, policies, procedures and programs impose impossible requirements on agency personnel. But when a drop-dead simple piece of paperwork that needs an approval signature hits the desk and gets delayed for some obscure confounded reason, causing the grounding of a multimillion-dollar jet, well, this simply has got to stop.
Here’s the story, from a flight department director. I’ll call him “Paul,” who wisely chose to remain anonymous because he’s afraid that any further pressure on FAA personnel will result in more delays. According to Paul, he proactively planned to prepare his company’s two jets for the ADS-B OUT mandate, which affects U.S. airspace starting Jan. 1, 2020. He found that the first step needed is to upgrade the dual flight management systems (FMS) in the jets to Waas-compliant units, after which adding ADS-B OUT-compliant transponders would be a relatively simple job. The reason he went ahead with the FMS upgrade now is because a timely discount offered by the avionics manufacturer is saving his company tens of thousands of dollars. And he feels that getting ready for ADS-B now will be far better for his company than waiting until the last minute, not to mention adding the benefits of being able to fly Waas-LPV approaches.
Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.
