"The ADS-B mandate is not going away. We are about 15 months from the Jan. 1, 2020, deadline and now is the time for aircraft owners to equip."
Source: FAA Acting Administrator Dan Elwell, providing commentary for the surprise announcement last week that the FAA is relaunching its $500 ADS-B rebate program effective immediately and through Oct. 11, 2019. The agency is making $4,900,000 available under the rebate program, which will fund 9,792 ADS-B Out installations. As of Jan. 1, 2020, aircraft flying in airspace where a transponder is necessary today will be required to be equipped with compliant ADS-B Out technology. The previous rebate program, which ran from Sept. 19, 2016, to Sept. 18, 2017, issued more than 10,000 rebate payments.