AJV-13-434-E

Exemption No. 10894

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION

WASHINGTON, DC 20591

 

In the matter of the petition of 

 

AMERIFLIGHT, LLC Regulatory Docket No. FAA–2013–0571

 

for an exemption from § 91.225 

of Title 14, Code of 

Federal Regulations 

 

DENIAL OF EXEMPTION

 By letter dated July 24, 2013, Mr. Andrew Lotter, Vice President of Flight and Director of 

Operations of Ameriflight, LLC (Ameriflight), 4700 Empire Avenue, Hangar 1, Burbank, CA 

91505, petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf of Ameriflight for an 

exemption from § 91.225 of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). The proposed 

exemption, if granted, would grant Ameriflight a 4 year delay from compliance with 

requirements to have automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) Out equipment 

installed on all aircraft in its fleet.

The petitioner requests relief from the following regulations:

Section 91.225(a), (b), and (d) prescribes, in pertinent part, that after January 1, 2020: 

(1) Aircraft operating in Class A airspace must meet the requirements of Technical 

Standard Order (TSO)-C166b and § 91.227; and 

(2) Aircraft operating in airspace designated in paragraph (d) of this section must meet 

the requirements of TSO-C166b or TSO-C 154c, and § 91.227. 

The petitioner supports its request with the following information:

Ameriflight states that it anticipates supply problems for some components for ADS-B 

installation. It also projects that bringing its entire fleet into compliance exceeds the 

capacity of its maintenance department, as well as its ability to remove aircraft from 

service, especially during peak demand seasons. Ameriflight plans to bring the largest, 

fastest and most complex aircraft into compliance first, eventually leaving smaller 
2

aircraft that seldom operate in Class A airspace or into high-traffic airports as the last to 

complete. The petitioner projects final fleet compliance by December 31, 2024.

The petitioner argues that a grant of exemption would be in the public's interest because 

it operates "more than 1900 flights per week, transporting express packages for UPS, 

Fed Ex and DHL, medical laboratory samples, radioactive isotopes used in medical 

treatment and diagnosis and other high-priority cargo to communities throughout the U.S., 

Canada, Alaska, Central and South America, and the Caribbean." It contends that 

business and government entities rely upon the service for timely delivery of urgent 

cargo. 

The petitioner also states that relief from the requirements of § 91.225 would not 

adversely affect safety because Ameriflight's aircraft operate with Mode A/C 

transponders, they are engaged in all-cargo operations and mostly during off-peak hours 

and at less busy airports, and its plan includes the majority of its aircraft being equipped 

by 2020. 

In addition, the petitioner provided a copy of the DOT Inspector General’s report on the 

status of NextGen to the House Aviation Subcommittee, dated July 17, 2013, to support 

its request.

 A summary of the petition was published in the Federal Register on July 26, 2013, 

(78 FR 45287). No comments were received.

The FAA’s analysis is as follows:

The FAA does not find a valid basis to delay Ameriflight’s compliance date for reasons of 

ADS-B equipment availability, workload, or time out of fleet. The subject final rule requiring 

ADS-B Out equipment and use was published on May 28, 2010 (75 FR 30160) and specified a 

compliance date of January 1, 2020.

Manufacturers of ADS-B Out avionics report there is no present or anticipated shortage of 

equipment. A provider of TSO-compliant ADS-B Out equipment informed the FAA that all of 

its system designs have been undertaken with full insight into expected demand for retrofit 

equipment, even in those areas that require specialized parts, such as Global Navigation 

Satellite System (GNSS) sensors. This provider, like many others, has established at least two 

sources with an in-house, back-up capability. Additionally, a separate provider of TSOcompliant ADS-B Out equipment informed the FAA that it could multiply its current monthly 

output twofold immediately and by much more if sufficient demand existed. The FAA is not 

aware of any grounds for concern over availability of equipment to meet a 2020 deadline. 

Various operators, including carriers conducting operations under 14 CFR parts 135, 121 and 

129, regional carriers and cargo lines, have indicated to the FAA plans to comply with the 

equipment requirements by 2020.
3

The petitioner claims that modifications of aircraft will require two aircraft per month to be out 

of service, and that varied and older cockpit designs may not allow for easy refit. The FAA is 

not persuaded that this reflects a realistic amount of time required to install ADS-B Out 

equipment. Some ADS-B Out installations can be accomplished with software upgrades to a 

Mode-S transponder and GNSS receiver. For older equipment that cannot be upgraded, the 

majority of replacements consist of removing the existing transponder and installing the new 

equipment in the same space. Wiring, where needed, can also be quickly installed. In the 

majority of aircraft, the refit of this equipment can be accomplished in 1-2 days; therefore, the 

disruption to the availability of aircraft is expected to be minimal. Based on the FAA’s 

expertise and the information received from other operators that have installed ADS-B Out 

equipment, the FAA does not find reason to expect aircraft to be out of service for a month to 

install ADS-B Out equipment alone.

The FAA specifically stated in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for this rule that "a 10-year 

compliance window gives the aviation community ample time to manage costs and minimize the 

impact of ADS-B on its normal operations" (72 FR 56947 and 56960). The FAA affirmed the 

selection of this compliance date in the final rule based on the comments received and the 

rationale from the proposal that a 2020 compliance date permits most operators to use regularly 

scheduled maintenance to install or upgrade their equipment. Furthermore, the final rule 

specifically contains provisions for pilots of non-equipped aircraft to request access to Class 

A, B, C, and certain Class E airspace areas.

Lastly, the petitioner included, as support for its request, the Statement of the Honorable Calvin 

L. Scovel III, Inspector General, Department of Transportation, on the FAA's Progress and 

Challenges in Advances the Next Generation Air Transportation System.1 This Report was on 

the status of the NextGen Program, and has no bearing on established technology and rules that 

are designed to work directly with implementation of ADS-B Out equipment. The report makes

no recommendations regarding implementation of any NextGen technology, and therefore does 

not support the petitioner’s request.

Given that Ameriflight has 6 years to comply with the rule, and that the rule specifically 

contains a provision to allow non-equipped aircraft to request access to the airspace, the FAA 

does not find that Ameriflight has satisfactorily demonstrated that relief from the requirement is 

warranted at this time.

The FAA’s Decision:

 In consideration of the foregoing, I find that a grant of exemption would not be in the public 

interest. Therefore, pursuant to the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 40113 and 44701, 

delegated to me by the Administrator, the petition of Ameriflight for an exemption from 14 CFR 

§ 91.225 is hereby denied. 

Issued in Washington, D.C., on November 13, 2013.

 

1

This Statement was before the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Aviation, 

United States House of Representatives, July 17, 2013. 
4

/s/

Franklin A. Black

Deputy Director, Airspace Services