Aviation adopts texting
Retiring voice messaging can save time, boost safety
CHANTILLY, Va. — Airline pilots and airtraffic controllers are on schedule to switch to text communications at most of the nation’s busiest airports by the end of the year, a milestone that holds the potential to reduce delays, prevent errors and save billions of dollars in fuel costs, says the Federal Aviation Administration.
Controllers and pilots will still use their radios for quick exchanges like clearance for takeoff and in emergencies and situations where time is critical. But the nation’s air-traffic system is gradually shifting to text messages for a majority of flying instructions.
That’s a big advantage, say government and industry officials, because up until now longer and more complicated instructions such as a route change for pilots of planes waiting to take off are communicated verbally, with each word laboriously spelled out in the radio alphabet.
For example, HARD becomes “Hotel Alfa Romeo Delta.” And it is hard to get it right. Pilots have to write down the directions as the controller reads them — then they read them back, also spelling out each word. If there is a mistake, the controller reads the directions back to the pilot again the same way, and so on. Even when there are no mistakes, the process can eat up valuable minutes.
If controllers want to reroute planes around a thunderstorm, they have to contact each plane by radio to relay instructions individually. With dozens of planes waiting for their turn to get instructions, the process can take 30 minutes or longer.
With the new system, called Data Comm, a controller can type a few instructions into a computer, tap a key and send the message directly to the flight management computers in each plane that needs the information. Pilots read the information on cockpit display screens and decide with the push of a button whether to accept it. The controller’s message is also sent directly to airline flight dispatch computers, eliminating more timeconsuming steps.
Typing errors are always a risk with text messaging, but officials said the system has built-in safeguards that cause it to reject messages with certain errors.
“Data Comm will allow passengers to get off the tarmac, into the air and to their destinations more quickly,” said Jim Eck, FAA’s assistant administrator for modernization of the air-traffic system. “Airlines will be able to stay on schedule and packages will be delivered on time.”
Data Comm was rolled out at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., three weeks ago. “We’re all loving it,” said controller Sharlotte Yealdhall. “It has made a huge difference.”