Fleet Considerations
In October 2020, the FAA Administrator launched the FAA Alaska Aviation Safety Initiative (FAASI) at a safety summit to discuss recommendations the National Transportation Safety Board made about Alaska charter and commuter operations. FAA Administrator Dickson then directed the formation of a group of FAA experts to focus on safety issues particular to Alaska, which resulted in the safety initiative.
Throughout the spring and summer of 2021, the FAA hosted 12 virtual meetings with aviation stakeholders — including pilots, trade associations, airports and state officials — to get their feedback on current and planned safety efforts in Alaska.
The FAASI Interim Report described a number of factors considered by aircraft owners and operators when selecting aircraft for their fleet.
Part 135 operators and an industry association felt that the FAA did not fully capture the carriers’ investments in upgrading avionics in order to expand IFR capabilities. One carrier noted, “Our company has 14 planes that are IFR only and 7 that are not yet IFR. To date, we have spent $2.5 million to upgrade our fleet for Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) approaches.” The FAASI team recognizes this statement is significant and emblematic of many carriers’ commitment to an IFR-capable fleet.
Many Stakeholders also indicate a willingness to commit their own resources to equip carrier aircraft with ADS-B equipment even though many do not operate in airspace where the equipment is required by rule. Notably, the majority of Stakeholder comments supporting ADS-B came from carriers who operate scheduled, commuter operations, the subgroup of Part 135 operations which transports the largest percentage of passengers within Alaska to remote locations.
Nonetheless, several Stakeholders mentioned the financial limitations smaller operators may have equipping their aircraft with new capabilities and corresponding safety enhancements. One Stakeholder opined that the demise of government-sponsored avionics programs has had notable negative impacts on parts of the Part 135 industry.
Read more in the FAASI Final Report.