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FAA’s Data Comm Tower Service Now Available at 62 U.S. Airports

The CPDLC avionics panel in an equipped aircraft is where pilots communicate digitally with ATC using Data Comm Tower Services. FAA
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), established in 2003, aims to modernize the National Airspace System (NAS) through a portfolio of innovative technologies and airspace procedures.
  • A core NextGen technology, Data Comm Tower Service, replaces voice communication with digital messaging between air traffic controllers and pilots, significantly reducing "talk back, read back" errors.
  • Data Comm is currently operational at 62 U.S. airports and has demonstrated substantial benefits, including reduced taxi-out times, prevention of 111,000 communication errors, and projected savings exceeding $11 billion for operators and the FAA.
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When H.R.2115, the Vision 100 Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act, was signed into law in December 2003, it endorsed the concept of a Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) to be developed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). A month later, the DOT secretary announced plans for a new, multi-year, multi-agency effort to develop an air transportation system for the year 2025 and beyond that would increase efficiency in the National Airspace System (NAS). NextGen would not be just one technology or product, the bill stated, instead it was conceived to be a portfolio of innovative new technologies and airspace procedures to increase NAS system efficiency and capacity.

Dan Pimentel

Dan Pimentel is an instrument-rated private pilot and former airplane owner who has been flying since 1996. As an aviation journalist and photographer, he has covered all aspects of the general and business aviation communities for a long list of major aviation magazines, newspapers and websites. He has never met a flying machine that he didn’t like, and has written about his love of aviation for years on his Airplanista blog. For 10 years until 2019, he hosted the popular ‘Oshbash’ social media meetup events at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

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