Committee approves narrower ban on using ADS‑B broadcasts for landing‑fee billing after hours of testimony
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Summary
SB 422 would bar airports and private entities from using ADS‑B surveillance broadcasts to calculate, generate or collect landing fees in specified circumstances; the committee adopted a substitute amendment that narrows the prohibition, heard multiple industry and pilot witnesses on safety and billing concerns, and reported the bill favorably.
Senate Bill 422, sponsored by Senator Wright, would prohibit using automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast (ADS‑B) transmissions as the basis to calculate, generate or collect landing fees and similar charges for aircraft operating in Florida when those fees are derived from ADS‑B data. Senator Wright said the bill targets private services that use ADS‑B returns to infer touch‑and‑go operations or landings and then bill aircraft operators months later for those events.
A substitute amendment (barcode 905100) was explained and adopted; it specifies that the prohibition on using ADS‑B for billing applies in listed circumstances including when a fee would be assessed for a landing (including touch‑and‑go) or when a fee would be assessed based on an aircraft entering a specified radius of an airport's airspace. Senator Wright said the bill does not prevent airports from charging landing fees by traditional counting methods and emphasized the bill's safety intent: pilots should not turn off ADS‑B to avoid surprise invoices.
Testimony was mixed. Tiffany King, president & CEO of the Florida Airports Council, said airports can still charge landing fees and that the amendment was moving the bill in a positive direction but that the council wanted to continue working with the sponsor. David Pollock, director of Tallahassee International Airport, described his airport's four years of ADS‑B use and said the technology aids safety and operations but that further tweaks may be needed. Multiple pilots and pilot organizations (including the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and other pilot advocates) urged passage, saying ADS‑B was mandated by the FAA for safety and warning that using its broadcasts for billing creates surprise invoices and could discourage necessary training (touch‑and‑go practice) and thereby harm safety.
Committee members asked about potential federal preemption; Senator Wright responded the bill is intended to preserve ADS‑B for safety while preventing private firms from misusing broadcast data for billing. After debate and testimony, the committee recorded CS for SB 422 reported favorably on roll call.
Key unresolved questions noted in committee included whether prohibiting ADS‑B–based billing could reduce airport revenue or shift costs elsewhere, and whether the state legislation risks federal preemption of federally governed aviation systems; members and witnesses asked for continued discussions and tweaks to the amendment.