Aviation Officials Endorse Universal Tracking

International aviation officials this week are expected to endorse universal tracking of airliners, according to people participating in the process, without resolving the central question of whether pilots should be able to turn off such systems.

Prompted by the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, more than 100 regulators from around the globe meeting in Montreal this week are expected to urge airlines to embrace real-time tracking of aircraft regardless of where they fly. Members of the International Civil Aviation Organization, the U.N. agency that sets safety standards for civil aviation, will stop short of mandating changes.

Similar proposals in the past have failed to gain traction because of industry inertia and cost concerns but this time the proposals from the agency are being embraced by many airlines and their main trade association, the International Air Transport Association, which is developing complementary solutions.

For the short term, the aviation regulators are expected to push for reliance on existing satellite and aircraft communication systems--some of which aren't used to their full capabilities--to provide real-time position information for airliners.

Longer-term plans call for starting a two-year or longer process to draft world-wide ICAO technical standards for what information should be provided to the ground as part of position reports, and how frequently aircraft should transmit such information.

The moves expected to be announced Tuesday also set the stage for large satellite operators, service providers and equipment makers, including Inmarsat PLC, Intelsat SA, Rockwell Collins Inc., Iridium Communications Inc. and Thales Group SA, to compete for potentially lucrative business.

"It's a chance for everyone who has a horse in the race to show up and start maneuvering," said one senior satellite industry official familiar with the matter.

ICAO staff papers prepared for the meeting highlight public disbelief in the wake of Flight 370 that "an airplane could simply disappear" and urge the industry to quickly enhance and expand in-flight tracking. "Other industries, such as the maritime sector, already are using technologies that allow tracking of their global assets," one paper notes.

In addition to tracking planes, some communication links can instantaneously provide flight data in the event of an unusually violent maneuver, some other onboard emergency or a crash. Such alternatives could eliminate the problem posed by more than two months of fruitless searches for remnants of Flight 370 and its "black-box" data and voice recorders.

Other potential services being reviewed by the U.N. agency include automatic satellite messages to alert airline dispatchers in case pilots fail to promptly contact air-traffic control facilities as expected; and installation of emergency locaters on planes that could be activated remotely from the ground under certain circumstances.

But as in the past, technical and cost considerations threaten to derail parts of the initiative. Twice before in the past 13 years, the benefits of continuously monitoring aircraft positions and making onboard communication systems tamper-proof prompted extensive industrywide debate.

The issues arose after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S. using passenger jets, as well as the 2009 crash of an Air France jet in the Atlantic. In both cases, however, industry inertia and cost concerns stymied the most ambitious proposals for change.

In early 2003, for example, the Federal Aviation Administration proposed making it impossible for anyone on board an airliner to turn off its transponders, used by air-traffic radars to automatically track location and movement. But four years later, the agency dropped the security enhancement after opposition from airlines and others. Critics argued more-secure cockpit doors and other security upgrades made the transponder modifications unnecessary.

Since then, pilot groups have objected to tamper-proof electrical solutions on the grounds that cockpit crews need to retain maximum flexibility to isolate specific circuits or pull individual circuit breakers in the event of an in-flight fire.

Airlines also fret over the cost of aircraft-wiring modifications, though technology developed in the past few years could provide less-expensive alternatives.

ICAO's current tracking proposals also are embraced by many airlines and their main trade association, the International Air Transport Association, which is developing complementary solutions. Tony Tyler, the organization's chief executive, touched off the debate last month by calling for speedy adoption of real-time satellite tracking of airliners. But IATA stopped short of endorsing tamper-proof signaling systems, and ICAO members aren't likely to take a firm position on that issue this week.

Potential action by the U.N. body is important because it would establish a benchmark for all carriers, not just those belonging to IATA.

A paper presented to the agency by European Union officials, who have been leading the charge for enhanced tracking and emergency transmissions, stressed that "future solutions should complement what is already working today in a consistent and cost-effective manner."

Meanwhile, satellite-services providers are jockeying for position. Inmarsat, the U.K.-based company whose network tracked the digital handshakes or "pings" from Flight 370, has offered periodic tracking services to airlines free of charge. In addition, the company will offer "enhanced position reporting" to allow aircraft to cruise closer to others, and provide live streaming of flight data and voice recordings.

Some industry projections show that Inmarsat antennas are installed on more than 6,000 airliners.

By contrast, Aireon LLC, a joint venture between Iridium Communications and air-traffic control providers from four countries, appears to be urging a slower phase-in. The venture will begin launching the first of 72 satellites next year intended to provide space-based traffic control services and real-time position tracking. The global system, which won't be fully operational until 2017, could be used for safety monitoring as well.

Don Thoma, Aireon's president and CEO, said in an interview Monday he doesn't anticipate a winner-take-all system that would mandate one company's technology or network over another.

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