NBAA joins Joint Aviation Community coalition to detail industry views

The NBAA announced on Wednesday that it has joined a coalition that details the aviation industry's views on the proposed mandate requiring new radio altimeters to be installed on tens of thousands of aircraft and helicopters. A radio altimeter provides real-time altitude data to support critical flight decisions and operations and feeds key data to numerous aircraft systems. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed expanding wireless telecommunications into the Upper C-band (3.98-4.2 GHz), a portion of the frequency spectrum used by the altimeters for safety-data transmission, by auctioning off portions of the frequency for potentially millions of dollars. In response to this proposal, the FAA proposed a requirement for aircraft to install new RAs that are resistant to interference from non-aviation entities. The Joint Aviation Community coalition was formed by multiple aircraft and avionics manufacturers, industry groups and other stakeholders. The coalition has recently submitted comments on its views on the proposed mandate. The coalition states that it is fully committed to aviation safety and efficiency across multiple frequency ranges and systems, but has concerns over the costs involved in completing those retrofits for Part 91 and 135 aircraft by the target date of 2034. The FAA estimates that almost 40,900 aircraft will need to have new radio altimeters installed and estimates the cost to be $4.49 billion. The coalition claims that this estimate is too low and that it may cost up to $120,000 per RA unit, which would cost significantly more than the FAA's estimated $80,000. RELATED STORIES: NBAA plans to bring BACE to New Orleans in 2028 NBAA leads new coalition against luxury aircraft tax in Washington Modern Skies Coalition supports legislation to shield FAA from future shutdowns Stakeholders urged the FAA to support financial incentives to offset the installation cost. It claims the incentives could accelerate the retrofit schedule, especially for Part 91 and Part 135 operators who may not be able to recover from the high costs. "Any incentive or compensation mechanism should adequately reflect the full costs borne by the aviation sector, which the Joint Aviation Community currently estimates between $4.49 billion and slightly over $7 billion in total undiscounted costs," said the coalition in its comments. "Over many decades, the business aviation sector has enthusiastically adopted new technologies that ensure flying remains the safest form of transportation," said Heidi Williams, NBAA VP for Air Traffic Services. "At the same time, we recognize the need to address potential concerns over the cost and other impacts of new mandates for technology equipage. We look forward to collaborating with the FAA to address the concerns involving its radio altimeter proposal, so that we can ensure all aircraft are equipped with the technology needed to protect essential safety systems from signal interference by non-aviation parties."