Australia Wrestles With ADS-B; Can The U.S. Be Far Behind?
Australian ATC provider Airservices Australia last week said it has canceled plans to purchase a large quantity of ADS-B-compliant avionics it had planned for use in that country’s lower-level airspace. The plans involved buying and paying installation costs for some 1,500 aircraft. However, saying that use of ADS-B below FL300 is “a significantly more complex matter than [in] upper level airspace,” the company retracted a Request for Proposal it had issued. In a prepared statement, Airservices Australia said the plan to install and use ADS-B in lower-level airspace “raises a number of operational and policy issues that require resolution before a decision to proceed can be made.” Exactly what those issues were, Airservices Australia isn’t saying. At least publicly, where we in the U.S. can figure it out. Whether the ATC provider’s decision will have an impact beyond Australia — say, to the U.S., where the FAA has taken steps to transition its air traffic control system to one based a
