Airline Industry Defense of Future Air Navigation System (FANS) Spectrum

James Miller and Mark Hurston, Jack Ryan, Kors van den Boogaard and Anouk Mukherjee

Abstract:	The demand for global air transport is escalating at a furious pace as the world’s market economies continue their drive towards maintaining an adequate throughput of goods and services. In order to serve these needs and to enable the continued growth of aviation operations, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has embarked on a worldwide transition to a seamless, air traffic control (ATC) infrastructure based on advanced CNS (communications, navigation, and surveillance) applications. These applications, based on the capabilities of the evolving Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), are the foundation of the Future Air Navigation System (FANS). Without the safety and efficiency improvements of FANS, it is feared that projected air traffic growth will reach untenable levels, leading to widespread gridlock scenarios as early as 2005. Unfortunately for ICAO member States, hundreds of international airlines, millions of passengers, and billions of affected citizens, the spectrum “real estate” on which the new CNS/ATM systems are based is under attack by Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) interests which could preclude continued evolution of GNSS applications. Specifically, the ICAO secured frequency range from 1559-1610 MHz, which most of the world’s air carriers are equipping for and relying upon as a critical, safety-of-life navigation band, could be harmed by the current regulatory process of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Just as airline passengers depend on air carriers for safe transport, the air transport industry must be able to rely on such bodies as the ITU to promote the safest possible operating environment on a global scale. Spectrum protection is not a traditional airline concern, however, this paper will discuss how some quests for new technologies and profits have placed aviation interests and requirements in jeopardy. Present lobbying efforts within ITU World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC) forums are forcing airlines and trade organizations such as the Air Transport Association (ATA) and International Air Transport Association (IATA) to take action, in coordination with their members, as the economic muscle of companies competing for spectrum overcomes customary protective mechanisms. This paper will examine some potential adverse impacts of recent ITU WRC decisions on the airline industry, and discuss key industry activities that are taking place to ensure that the global aviation community and its many constituents are protected from harmful intrusion into the evolving FANS environment.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 12th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1999) September 14 - 17, 1999 Nashville, TN
Pages:	629 - 640
Cite this article:	Miller, James, Hurston, Mark, Ryan, Jack, Boogaard, Kors van den, Mukherjee, Anouk, "Airline Industry Defense of Future Air Navigation System (FANS) Spectrum," Proceedings of the 12th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1999), Nashville, TN, September 1999, pp. 629-640.
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