The ADS-B In Resistance Playbook

This is the third post in a series on the two-decade resistance to ADS-B In, the technology the NTSB says would have prevented the Flight 5342 collision (part one: The Original Sin).

An FAA requirement to equip aircraft with a collision avoidance technology like ADS-B In comes with a price tag if you’re an airline, business aircraft operator, or an individual fortunate enough to own an aircraft.

At the same time, the National Airspace System (NAS) is a public resource that belongs to all of us. Using it is a privilege, and keeping it safe is a shared responsibility of all who choose to participate.

But let’s say you prefer to shirk this responsibility and have some resources at your disposal. You’re in luck! There is a proven playbook for doing this that has worked extremely well for nearly two decades.

Play 1: Maximize seats at the table

When the FAA considers major new rules for the industry, it often convenes an aviation rulemaking committee (ARC) that includes representation from private industry. The more organizations on the ARC that are aligned with your interests, the more likely you are to get what you want or, equally important, kill the things you don’t want. Don’t just settle for one seat at the table, and make sure like-minded friends join the party as well.

Play 2: Never miss an opportunity to buy time

The rulemaking process can often extend over multiple years. Every step in the process is an opportunity to introduce delays. Deadline for comments? Ask for an extension. And then as the process progresses, ask for more chances to provide comments and delay those comment periods as long as possible as well.

If you like something, speak with urgency and decisiveness. But if you don’t like something, insist on further investigation or research.

If a concrete requirement does eventually manage to take shape, push the timeline for compliance out as long as possible. Then, look for ways to push it out again. And then again. Tuck that conscience away and shoot for 10 years or more.

Play 3: Move the goalposts

If you can drag the rulemaking process out enough, eventually new technologies will emerge that overlap with the item under consideration. This is gold, since you can try to kill the safety technology under consideration without ever saying you’re against it. After all, you’re just pushing for something better.

And then someday, when you join the next rulemaking committee for the next thing, you simply point to the fact that it’s emerging technology that is still in its infancy and impractical to deploy today. Another opportunity to buy time. Never forget play 2.

Play 4: Define the decision criteria on your terms

A reasonable person might assume that the potential to save human lives would be part of the calculus of whether airlines and other aircraft operators should be required to invest in ADS-B In technology. But this is your playbook. You don’t need to be reasonable.

Instead, what if you frame the entire discussion around whether there is a “business case” for you?

For example, would investing in ADS-B In generate a positive return against an airline’s direct operating expenses over a three-year period with a 15 percent discount rate? How about if the cost of ADS-B In is inflated a bit with some creative math?

That’s really how the FAA should decide, right?

Airline passengers don’t have a seat on the committee, so why should benefits to them — like the benefit of living another day — factor into the ADS-B In equipage decision?

Play 5: Substitute new ingredients

If you’re staring down a major expense like ADS-B In, why not argue that something else that costs you much less money could accomplish the same goal?

Sure, a fact-based analysis might show that your proposed lower-cost approach is less effective at keeping the flying public safe than ADS-B In. But you’re forgetting play 4! You defined the goal to the FAA as saving you money — not safety. Genius, right?

Play 6: Have a lobbyist call in a favor

Eventually, over the course of years, you may find that you’ve run plays 1 through 5 as many times as you can. Or maybe some do-gooder members of Congress decide to pass a law with specific requirements that limit your flexibility in the aviation rulemaking committee sandbox. Not to worry!

This is when you will finally get a return on those steak dinners and campaign contributions. It’s time to call in some favors. You don’t need to convince everyone in Congress. A few sympathetic people in the right positions are all you need to throw sand in the gears of progress.

In D.C., stopping something requires far less political power than passing it.

I’m conscious of the fact that all of this sounds like the rantings of a bitter, grieving, and emotionally damaged person.

And I am all of those things.

But this is actually what has been happening for decades with ADS-B In and other aspects of aviation safety. And I’m going to share the receipts.