ACI-NA questions new firefighting standards

Proposed new aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) standards from the National Fire Protection Association would not have changed the outcome of previous aircraft accidents, according to the Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA), citing a six-month study conducted by the Airport Cooperative Research Program. The new standards would also add costs to airports required to provide ARFF services, including $2.8 billion in initial costs to implement the standards and $900 million for annual maintenance costs. The new standards include airport apron response times, as well as time standards for the “rapid response area” beyond the ends of airport runways, according to the ACI-NA, “which would likely increase the estimated costs by hundreds of millions of dollars more.