Airport Operational Infrastructure Assessment

What This Is

A structured review of your airport's operational environment. What systems are present, what connects to what, who has access, and whether any of that is documented anywhere.

For most smaller airports, the honest answer to that last question is no. Not because anyone made a bad decision. Nobody has ever shown up with the right combination of background to look at it this way.

If your systems are clean and isolated, you will know that and have something in writing to prove it. If there are gaps, you will know what they are and what your options look like. Either way, you leave with a clearer picture than you walked in with. The findings are yours to use however you choose.

Why This Matters Now

The telecommunications infrastructure underneath many airport operational systems has been changing for years without a corresponding conversation about security. Carrier circuits that used to be isolated copper lines are now running over IP. Vendor remote access paths have migrated to shared networks. Non-federal AWOS data is transmitted to the FAA weather system via a third-party service provider over a circuit the airport did not design.

None of that required the airport to do anything wrong. But it changed the picture, and most airports have no documentation of what that picture currently looks like.

That documentation gap is increasingly relevant. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 directed a Civil Aviation Cybersecurity rulemaking committee to develop standards covering airports and ground support systems. Projects connected to those recommendations will be eligible for AIP funding. Airports that already have a documented operational posture will be better positioned when those requirements land than airports starting from zero.

These requirements are not theoretical. They are in motion.

Most airports do not have this documented today. The assessment produces that documentation.

What It Covers

Ground-based navigation and approach systems: ILS localizer and glideslope, MALSR, ALSF, PAPI. VOR, DME, AWOS. RMM (remote monitoring) and airport lighting control, including SCADA, where applicable. Vendor and contractor remote access configurations. Third-party data connections, including weather data transmission paths. Any connection between operational equipment and a network, whether it was planned, incremental, or introduced by an outside party.

Written for airport leadership. Plain language. Operational terms.

Who This Is For

Smaller commercial service and general aviation airports manage operational infrastructure without a dedicated OT or cybersecurity resource. Facilities where navigation and approach systems are vendor-maintained. Airports that have used AIP funding for infrastructure that now has some form of network connectivity, whether or not the details of that connectivity are documented anywhere.

If you are not sure whether any of your systems have network connectivity, that uncertainty is exactly the right reason to start. The assessment answers that question.

The Model

Assess, advise, walk. No vendor relationships. No financial interest in any remediation outcome. The only result that matters is that you leave with an accurate picture of your own operational environment, and the documentation to back it up.

Start Now

Start the assessment and receive a preview of your findings. No conversation required. Free for smaller commercial service and general aviation airports managing their own operational infrastructure.

Free Assessment

Answer 23 questions about your airport's operational systems and infrastructure. Takes approximately 10 minutes. You will receive your free preview report via email within minutes.

QUESTIONS?

Email: info@aviationrelations.com

PRIVACY NOTE: Your assessment responses are confidential and used only to generate your personalized report. We do not share your information with third parties.