By Allison Lampert
Sept 3 (Reuters) – Some airlines are not waiting for a U.S. legal mandate to look at outfitting planes with an additional system to avert midair collisions, according to the CEO of Acron Technologies, which retrofits Airbus jets with the equipment.
Acron, which has equipped American Airlines’ single-aisle Airbus planes with the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast In platform, is talking with most U.S. carriers and could see another order by year’s end, Acron CEO Alan Crawford said on Thursday.
U.S. lawmakers are now weighing two legislative alternatives that could lead to an ADS-B In requirement to prevent midair collisions after the January 2025 crash between an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that killed 67 people.
“I don’t think the industry is waiting to see what passes ultimately from a legislative perspective,” Crawford said.
“We’ve got active conversations right now where the customer is indicating they would want to place orders by the end of the year, but you just never know.”
While U.S. commercial jetliners must be equipped with ADS-B Out to transmit their positions, ADS-B In is an optional aviation technology that allows planes to receive real-time traffic broadcasts from other aircraft in the cockpit.
The Air Line Pilots Association has said it supports Congress mandating ADS-B In to improve pilots’ situational awareness and assist in preventing midair collisions.
Safety agencies in the U.S. have investigated multiple near-miss incidents.
Other technologies are set to advance by the end of 2026, with Honeywell Aerospace’s SURF-A, cockpit safety software designed to prevent runway collisions, expected to be certified late this year.
One industry source, however, said some U.S. airlines prefer to wait for legislation before investing in new technologies so they would not face possible additional costs down the road to meet legal requirements.
Crawford said the cost of equipping planes with ADS-B In ranges in the tens of thousands of dollars.
United Airlines has said that its new widebody aircraft deliveries will come with ADS-B In. The carrier said it was working with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and others to obtain the service for other aircraft types.
Delta Air Lines directed a request for comment to U.S. airlines’ trade group Airlines for America, which was not immediately available.
(Reporting by Allison Lampert; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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