Mandates Corner

Canada

In February 2022, NAV CANADA announced Canada’s plan to implement the ADS-B Out mandate, which requires aircraft operators flying in certain domestic airspace to meet ADS-B Out performance requirements.

In coordination with Transport Canada, the state regulator, new dates have been developed in response to customer feedback about supply chain limitations and other issues impacting the ability to acquire and install the appropriate transponder.

As a result, the mandate will come into effect as follows:

Class A Canadian airspace on August 10, 2023

Class B Canadian airspace on May 16, 2024

Class C, D and E will occur no sooner than 2026, with the dates determined after further assessment.

Aircraft flying within airspace where the mandate is in place will need:

·         An appropriate transponder with ADS-B Out capabilities and performance within the applicable standard of Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) DO260B, “Minimum Operational Performance Standards,” or newer.

·         An antenna able to broadcast out toward space-based ADS-B receivers emitting 1090 MHz extended squitter. This requirement can be met either through antenna diversity (the use of a top and bottom antenna) or with a single antenna that is capable of transmitting both toward the ground and up toward satellites. Transponders with a bottom mount antenna alone are not sufficient.

The requirements associated with Canada’s mandate are in line with those in a growing number of other locations including Australia, Europe, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, United States and Vietnam.

Mexico

Section 6 of the Official Mexican Standard defines the ADS-B OUT equipment to be installed must be exclusively an ADS-B OUT, version 2, that complies with the DO-260B specification and corresponds to the requirements of the TSO-C166b technical order, operating on the frequency of 1090 MHz and emitting extended squitter signals (ES).

The concessionaire, licensee or air operator who requests the approval of an equipment plan for the installation of the GPS (or position source) for the ADS-B OUT must comply with the following:

a) Equal to or greater than 30% of the air fleet (rounded to the upper integer if it is a fraction). The concessionaire, licensee or air operator must meet this specifications no later than December 31, 2022. Is this date correct? If so, change the last sentence so it reads “…must have met this specification by December 31, 2022.”

 b) Equal to or greater than 60% of the air fleet (rounded to the upper integer if it is a fraction). The concessionaire, licensee or air operator must meet this specifications no later than December 31, 2023.

 c) 100% of the air fleet of a concessionaire, licensee or air operator must comply with all the specifications required no later than December 31, 2024.

See the following articles for more information on the Canadian and Mexican (in Spanish) ADS-B mandates.

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Jeff Kucharski is a Senior Program Manager for Flight Technical Services and can be reached via email at jeff.a.kucharski@honeywell.com.