New Communication System At Chicago Airports Expected To Move Planes Faster
(CBS) – To get planes in the air faster, pilots are now essentially texting the control tower instead of talking.
CBS 2's Vince Gerasole went behind the scenes at O'Hare International Airport to see the new technology in action.
From pilots in the cockpit to controllers in the tower, there's a lot of talking going on just to get clearance for takeoff.
It's an alphabet soup of coded flight plans, which consider fuel supply and weight on board.
That can take as long as 10 minutes. If weather conditions change before takeoff, even on the runway, the process starts all over again.
"Data com" is what the FAA calls its new communication system.
With the new method, "That's all happening electronically and it's a faster process," Jesse Wijntjes of the Federal Aviation Administration says.
It transmits and verifies the same information back and forth on screens electronically.
The process means passengers will spend less time on the ground and get to their destinations faster. It can also can save millions on fuel each month.
The technology has been quickly rolled out nationwide since summer of 2015. It debuted in Chicago last October, with 30 percent of the flights at Midway and 10 percent at O'Hare now communicating this way.
