Per Aviation Week:
FedEx Endorses IATA Aircraft-Tracking Review Plans
April 10, 2014
Industry should back whatever emerges from an International Air Transport Association-convened task force examining aircraft tracking in the wake of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappearance, FedEx Corp. Chairman and CEO Fred Smith said today.
He also added his voice to those calling on operators to embrace space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) to track those aircraft with operating transponders, wherever they may be.
Stressing the need for a global, coordinated approach that includes the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), IATA CEO Tony Tyler earlier this month said the goal is for the task force to report its results in December.
"Once the report comes out, we as an industry should proceed with a sense of urgency to adopt IATA's recommendations," Smith told attendees at an International Aviation Club luncheon in Washington.
Moving smartly on space-based ADS-B would come at relatively little cost to the airlines, which are already being required to fit ADS-B to fly within Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere, and Smith notes it would generate ancillary financial benefits, too.
Iridium and a group of air navigation service providers led by Nav Canada have formed Aireon to provide global ADS-B tracking using payloads hosted on every one of the satellite operator's 81 Iridium Next spacecraft. Space-based ADS-B should be operational by the end of 2017, and, like many others, Smith argues that adopting this approach could come close to paying for itself.
"If this were something that were just a ... pure safety initiative and nothing but cost, you get the inevitable pushback," Smith said. But "I don't think you have to reinvent something that's been demonstrated and proven and has the corollary benefit of significantly improving the productivity of the industry ... It's going to be relatively easy to do with the new satellite constellation that will be out there so let's get on with it and take advantage of reducing fuel consumption and emissions at the same time."
In his prepared remarks, Smith said FedEx believes "rapid deployment of space-based ADS-B" will lead to quicker trips with lower fuel consumption and emissions thanks to the reduced separation minima that will result, "while providing air traffic control with a near real-time picture of traffic. In this same regard, NextGen air traffic control is essential and should be accelerated."
The inability to locate MH370 or understand why it went missing has triggered calls to take a closer look at how to incorporate practical inflight aircraft monitoring and communications systems.
Noting that his own customers are used to being able to track packages in real time, Smith said the flying public is "incredulous" that a modern widebody aircraft can go missing for so long.
"We in the industry understand all of these issues that make [tracking and search] hard to do. The public doesn't give a damn about that," Smith said. "It is unacceptable to the public for a 777 airplane in 2014 with 239 souls on board to go missing. So there's going to be a response."