My recent month-long correspondence with a reader dealing with a botched ADS-B installation got me thinking about the logistic nightmare thats already unfolding as the 2020 ADS-B mandate gets closer. More on how you might troubleshoot your installation, or at least figure out if its working or not, in a minute. First, some updated ADS-B stats.
The majority of the fleet that will fly in controlled airspace-nearly 160,000 aircraft-is expected to line up at shops for ADS-B upgrades before December 31, 2019. The equippage effort is falling short because only a fraction of the fleet has been upgraded. The AEA (Aircraft Electronics Association) estimates there are roughly 900 FAA repair stations in the U.S. that should be qualified to perform ADS-B installations. That means more than 120 installations will need to be performed each working day, or 30,000 annually. This assumes that shops will do nothing else but install ADS-B.