AOPA is calling on members to flood Congress with messages of support for a bill that will stop the use of ADS-B data for airport fees. As we reported and commented upon, the Pilot and Aircraft Privacy Act was introduced by U.S. Senator Ted Budd, R-N.C., and U.S. Representative Bob Onder, R-Mo., in their respective chambers earlier this year and would stop the increasingly common practice by third-party vendors of matching ADS-B data to FAA aircraft registrations to automatically send bills to the registered owners when they touch down at a participating airport. The organization includes a link to help them send a letter to members’ elected representatives.
“GA pilots spent more than $500 million complying with the FAA’s 2020 ADS-B Out mandate after the general aviation community was assured the data would only be used for air traffic safety and airspace efficiency,” said Jim Coon, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs and Advocacy, in a letter to members. He said the intent is to ensure that ADS-B is used for its intended purposes and not eliminate airport fees. “When this bill becomes law, airports will still be able to impose fees, as long as they are fair and reasonable,” the letter says. “Airports could also continue to use ADS-B to monitor traffic counts and understand traffic patterns and flows to help them manage and create operational efficiencies.”
“Let’s see if this distracts everyone!”
100%! Easy to see the mysterious board members of AOPA grasping for a quick populist topic. Cheap sugar high.
Its like the “E” in other parts of our daily theater, however there is a long, rocky road ahead to convince congress to slaughter another group’s golden cash cow.
In fairness, this is AOPA doing what AOPA does, and the ADS-B billing issue is real. But it also pulls attention away from the board and CEO turmoil. The core issue is trust, and right now trust is the leak.
AOPA got suckered. They got assurances from FAA/DOT, but neglected prohibiting private industry. Now they’re scrambling to pass a law to close that loophole. This is America 2026. Any angle for a buck.
With government/politics there is no such thing as “assurances”. Technology as it is will always be used for purposes other than intended. Sometimes for good, sometimes for bad.
I personally don’t have an issue with this. What I wish AOPA would focus on is the lack of transparency of costs associated with any airport. They sort of have given it a half hearted try.
If we use such an automated system like ADSB to bill then the costs must be clearly published and easily accessible to all pilots. This is certainly NOT the case.
What is “fair and reasonable” is in the eye of the beholder and without information this type of system can be used against unsuspecting pilots for “the bad”. However, costs to maintain our airports continue to go up like everything else, and if we expect to maintain our airports, then we need some easy transparent way to pay for it.
Forget the fees.
Nip this in the bud.
The traveling pubic would be up in arms if their make, model of automobile, name, address and location tracking were openly published simply because they decided to travel on public roads.
Remove access to the database.