A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/876590
SURVEILLANCE BR OADCAST SERVICES (SBS) OFFICE Eric Labardini (ZHU) is the Article 114 Rep resentative to the SBS Office. Below is the update for SBS. The NATCA Surveillance and Broadcast Services (SBS) team i ncludes: Eric Labardini (ZHU), National SBS Article 114 Rep, Craig Bielek (A90), Dan Hamilton (SFO), National Airport Surface Surveillance Capability (ASSC) Rep, Andrew Stachowiak (I90), Tom Zarick (ZDV), National Interval Management Rep, and Chris Aymond (MSY), National Terminal Interval Management Rep . ADS - B : As of September 1, 2017, the number of Rule Compliant ADS - B Out in the U . S . reached 35,599. ADS - B In equipped aircraft reached 31,297. Current equipage levels are falling short of the projected num bers needed to reach the Jan 1, 2020 deadline to equip with ADS - B. Avionics Installation capacity NAS wide could also be exceeded t he longer users wait to equip. So far, the Agency has been cl ear that the deadline is firm. The stage is set for a potential showdown, as the date looms closer. Most, if not all, a ir c arriers have provided the Agency with a plan to meet the deadline. However, the means to achieve those plans in the short amount of time remaining is becoming a larger que stion. One example that s tands out is Honeywell avionics, which have yet to offer an ADS - B solution. Southwest Airlines and others are heavily de pendent on Honeywell avionics. United Airlines has made significant progress in upgrading their B737 fleet with 100 of 101 planned ADS - B installations complete. Several other airlines are also showing increased fleet equipage. The military, as previously released in the press, expects to be unable to meet this deadline for several versions of their fighter and o lder aircraft. They are wor king with the Agency on a compromise that requires DOD radar availability at key sites to be identified. Many DOD Air Traffic facilities do not even plan to track aircraft via ADS - B. GA equipage is a harder question and being carried as a High risk by the SBS Program Office. Increased avionics availability and competition among manufacturers continues to bring the overall cost for GA users down. In addition, the Agency has initiated another rebate program and it is showing some interest, but not as high as expected. The rebate program expires September 19, but users have approximately five months to complete their installations afterward. Facilities may see these GA ADS - B operators flying more check flights as they attempt to validate their installations an d claim the rebate. The SBS PO very rough estimate of avionics installation capacity nationwid e is 50,000 aircraft per year. The rough estimate of all NAS aircraft that need to equip is 160,000. Users that wait too close to 2020 may find that the capacity for installation falls short of demand. An issue not screened by automation systems but an important assumption for future ADS - B dependent applications is the br oadcast call sign of the user. ADS - B sends this information to automation systems for comp aris on to the filed call sign. When a mismatch occurs a Call Sign Mismatch (CSMM) alert can be generated. The SBS Article 114 work group has recommended disabling CSMM alerts ac ross all automation platforms. The issue was highlighted in recent Equip 2020 meeti ngs since ADS - B dependent applications (CAVS, Advanced Interval Management, etc.) are d ependent on