Summary#
This bill, the Pilot and Aircraft Privacy Act, would add rules about how automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast (ADS‑B) data can be used and about fees for general aviation aircraft.
Key provisions in the bill:
- It creates a new section in title 49 that says no person, including a government agency, may use ADS‑B data to identify an aircraft for the purpose of assessing a fee or charging the owner or operator. It also says air traffic controllers may use ADS‑B data only to help track aircraft and improve safety and efficiency, or for other purposes the Secretary of Transportation approves after notice and comment.
- It amends another section to change the text so that neither the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration nor any Federal, State, local, territorial, or Tribal official may (the bill expands who is covered by the prohibition in that section).
- It adds a new section that requires a public‑use airport to make public certain information before imposing a landing or takeoff fee on a general aviation aircraft. The airport must disclose efforts to reduce non‑airside expenses, efforts to get revenue from other sources, the cost estimate and share of fees for planned airside safety projects and a timeline, and an assessment of the fee’s impact on general aviation pilots, students, charities, and businesses. Revenue from such fees may be used only for airside safety projects. The FAA Administrator may issue regulations or reporting requirements to carry out this section. The bill defines general aviation aircraft as aircraft used for personal, recreational, flight training, or non‑scheduled operations.
What it means for you#
- Pilots and aircraft owners: ADS‑B tracking data could not be used to identify your aircraft for the purpose of imposing fees. Airports would need to publish information before charging landing or takeoff fees on general aviation aircraft.
- Airports: Before imposing a general aviation landing or takeoff fee, the airport operator must make specified disclosures publicly and must use any fee revenue only for airside safety projects.
- Air traffic controllers and the FAA: The bill limits how ADS‑B data may be used in day‑to‑day air traffic control and expands the set of officials covered by a prohibition in an existing section of title 49.
Expenses#
- The bill does not include any dollar amounts or official cost estimates in the text provided. No publicly available information on total federal costs or savings is included in the bill text or metadata.
- The bill requires airports to prepare and publish disclosures and allows the FAA to create regulations or reporting requirements; those provisions could involve administrative costs, but the bill text does not quantify them.
Proponents' View#
No publicly available information.
Opponents' View#
No publicly available information.