Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed S.B. 422 into law on April 23 — making Florida the second state in the nation to bar airports from using ADS-B surveillance data to calculate or collect fees from general aviation aircraft. The law’s broader scope and the national momentum behind it mark a watershed moment for the GA community.
Taking effect July 1, the law prohibits any Florida airport from using information broadcast or collected by ADS-B systems — ADS-B In or ADS-B Out — as the basis for generating invoices, calculating landing fees, or collecting charges from owners and operators of aircraft weighing 12,499 pounds or less. That threshold is notably broader than Montana’s landmark May 2025 ban, which covers aircraft under 9,000 pounds. Montana moved first. Florida followed. Lawmakers in more than a dozen states — including Arizona, Oklahoma, and Minnesota — are now watching closely.
How the Practice Started — and Who Built It
The technology at the center of the fight is PlanePass, Vector Airport Systems’ automated landing fee billing and collection platform. Vector partnered with real-time airport data firm Virtower in February 2023, feeding Virtower’s ADS-B-derived operational data directly into PlanePass to generate invoices without requiring FBO or airport staff involvement. Critics immediately drew comparisons to red-light camera programs — automated enforcement systems run by out-of-state private companies.
By the end of 2025, roughly 100 airports nationwide were using ADS-B to calculate and collect fees. Florida was ground zero. Kissimmee Gateway Airport, Tallahassee International Airport, and St. George Island Airport were all listed as PlanePass clients as recently as January 2026. Four of five Florida airports that considered Vector contracts proposed identical fees of $3 per 1,000 pounds of gross weight.
Kissimmee Gateway Airport Director Don Germolus made clear the fees aren’t disappearing — just the billing mechanism. “We will not be able to use the most cost-effective manner of collecting these fees, but we’ll have to implement other methods which will become more labor intensive,” Germolus said, adding that increased operating costs would be passed to users.
The Safety Argument That Won
The legislation was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Tom Wright (R-8) and independently introduced in the House by Rep. Doug Bankson (R-39), an active GA pilot, who filed companion House legislation (HB 387) in November 2025, with co-sponsorship from Rep. Kim Kendall (R-18), a former air traffic controller. Bankson’s argument in committee was straightforward: the FAA mandated ADS-B Out in 2020 for safety and traffic awareness, and third-party services had repurposed that mandate into automated invoicing that penalized flight schools and discouraged training activity.
That argument got high-profile federal reinforcement on February 12, when NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told a Senate Commerce Committee hearing that ADS-B fee collection “should be prohibited.” Homendy warned that billing pilots through their own safety equipment creates a direct incentive to disable or avoid using it — an outcome with obvious consequences for situational awareness and collision avoidance.
“ADS-B is a safety tool, and it should be used for safety, not as a revenue generator to charge general aviation pilots ramp fees or landing fees.” — NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, February 12, 2026
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford echoed the concern, telling Flying magazine that incentivizing pilots to disable safety equipment is “where the FAA wants to throw the penalty flag,” and calling ADS-B a “critical safety tool” not intended for billing — though Bedford stopped short of indicating new FAA rulemaking was forthcoming, describing the issue as being “on the radar.”
AOPA — Celebrating the Win, Pushing for a Federal Fix
“This law is a step in the right direction. Florida is one of the busiest states for general aviation — and also, in recent years, became a hotbed for airports that wanted to adopt ADS-B-based technology to collect fees.” — AOPA Southern Regional Manager Stacey Heaton
“We need a national response to avoid a patchwork of laws across the country.” — AOPA SVP of Government Affairs and Advocacy Jim Coon
That national response is already moving. The Pilot and Aircraft Privacy Act (PAPA) — introduced by Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and Rep. Bob Onder (R-Mo.), both active GA pilots — was folded into the ALERT Act, which passed the full House on April 14. ALERT now heads to conference committee to be reconciled with the Senate’s ROTOR Act. A federal prohibition on ADS-B-based fee collection, applying to airports across all 50 states, is within reach.
What Comes Next
Florida’s July 1 effective date gives airports operating under Vector contracts roughly two months to establish alternative fee collection methods. In Arizona, House Bill 2210 is advancing amid a parallel fight over proposed landing fees at Falcon Field in Mesa. The state-by-state legislative wave is accelerating — but the real finish line is federal, and the inclusion of PAPA language in the ALERT Act suggests Congress is close to drawing it.
We’ll continue tracking the ALERT Act conference process and any airport legal challenges to state-level ADS-B fee bans as they develop.
Sources
- AOPA — Florida SB 422 Coverage and PAPA Legislative Updates
- AeroTime — Florida ADS-B Fee Ban Signed by DeSantis
- AvWeb — ADS-B Fee Collection and State Legislative Responses
- Flying Magazine — FAA Administrator Bedford on ADS-B Misuse
- Florida Senate — S.B. 422 Bill Text and Committee History
- Congress.gov — ALERT Act and PAPA Legislative Text
- Aero-News Network — Kissimmee Gateway Airport Response
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