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New 'Data Com' Technology Could Drastically Cut Delays At Newark Airport

NEWARK, N.J.(CBSNewYork) -- Flight delays at Newark International Airport could be drastically cut thanks to new technology.

Inside the cockpit of a 777 at Newark Liberty International Airport pilots showed CBS2's Christine Sloan how much note taking and communication goes on when a plan gets rerouted in bad weather.

"We've got to manually enter that into the flight management computer. We've got to call up our dispatch and read that to them again," pilot Chuck Stewart said.

A new digital system called 'Data Communications' being used at the airport will nearly eliminate radio interactions. Everything will be sent to the cockpit by computer.

"They are able to ingest that into the flight management system," Stewart said.

The old system took about 15 minutes. With Data Com it takes less than thirty seconds.

"You don't have to call a friend for directions. His address is pre-programmed into your GPS system and all you have to do is push go," Michael Huerta, FAA, said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the new technology has already cut down on travel delays and improved safety.

It's being used on about 80 planes a day leaving Newark, including United, Fed-EX, and UPS.

"It allows controllers to send text instructions to several aircraft at once," Huerta said.

The plan is to equip 56 airports with Data Com within a year at a cost of about $741-million

Memphis International is the only other airport equipped with Data Com.

The FAA said there are many layers of protection built into the system to protect is from hackers.

 

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