Pilots, controllers test email system

WASHINGTON — The scratchy and time-consuming radio transmissions that pilots use to communicate route changes before taking off from airports may soon be a thing of the past for some airlines.

The Federal Aviation Administration is giving the go-ahead for a new data and email system that allows tower controllers and airplanes sitting on the tarmac to relay requests and instructions for flight plans. It’s being touted as one of the most significant improvements to the U.S. air-traffic system, with promises of unclogging airports, saving airlines money and reducing emissions.

“This saves a tremendous amount of an air traffic controllers’ time,” Ray Adams, a controller at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, said as he demonstrated the system for reporters on Thursday. “This is a huge leap forward.”

The system essentially brings the kind of automation now common to a smartphone into an airplane cockpit. In trials in Newark and Memphis, planes flown by United Continental Holdings, United Parcel Service and FedEx were able to cut to the front of departure queues and shave time off delays when bad weather descended.

The so-called datalink system is being rolled out in increments and will be at more than 50 U.S. airports by next year, the FAA said in a statement.

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