U.S. airlines are weighing retrofits of Airbus jets with ADS-B In, a cockpit traffic-receive system that can help pilots avoid midair collisions, rather than waiting for a legal mandate. Acron Technologies, which has already installed the equipment on American Airlines’ single-aisle Airbus fleet, is in talks with most major U.S. carriers as lawmakers consider whether to require the technology after the January 2025 collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk that killed 67 people.
ADS-B In is optional today, while ADS-B Out remains mandatory on U.S. commercial aircraft. The additional receive function gives crews real-time traffic information in the cockpit and could become standard equipment if Congress or regulators move ahead with a mandate.
Acron chief executive Alan Crawford indicated some customers could place orders by year-end, although no airlines were named. United Airlines plans to fit the system on new widebody deliveries and is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to expand approval to other aircraft types. The retrofit cost runs in the tens of thousands of dollars per aircraft, making the issue a fleet-planning and capital-spending question for operators with large Airbus narrowbody fleets.