AMERICAN AIRLINES EASES CELLPHONE POLICY AS FAA TESTS NEXT MOVE

An FAA spokesman said Fri. the studies, including a short-term assessment due in Nov., were examining technology that had burgeoned since the agency’s advisory on such devices was issued in 1997. Saying technology such as wireless PDAs had grown significantly since then, he said: “It’s almost like a comparison between human years and dog years.” The long-term study will cover emerging areas such as ultra-wideband.

RTCA, formerly the Radio & Technical Commission for Aeronautics, has created a special committee at the request of the FAA to examine PEDs. It said the first of 2 phases would focus on current PED technologies -- cellphones, PDAs, Bluetooth devices and Wi-Fi devices -- using 802.11a and 802.11b standards. The group will identify existing standards for intentional and spurious radiofrequency emissions for those devices, including “key modulation characteristics of intentional RF transmitters.” The study will determine actual RF emissions from the portable devices, particularly those within or near aircraft radio receiver bands. The point is to “assess the risk associated with portable electronic devices to safe operation of aircraft,” RTCA said. The study will recommend guidance for acceptable use of PEDs on aircraft, including guidance for intentional RF transmitters such as cellphones.

The 2nd phase, with an Oct. 2005 completion date, will focus on emerging technologies such as ultra-wideband and pico-cells for cellphone use on aircraft. Besides examining the same RF emissions areas as the first part of the research, the 2nd phase also will “define and recommend specific guidance for aircraft design and certification that can mitigate the risks identified for portable electronic devices, if determined practical by the special committee,” RTCA said in terms of reference for the study released earlier this year. It said the technology assessment also would “develop, with support of the FCC, recommended RF emission limit changes for consumer portable electronic devices.” In the last year, aviation officials and regulators have raised concerns that FCC rules allowing UWB devices to go forward could hamper key avionics systems before potential interference risks were evaluated fully. FAA begin testing UWB’s potential to interfere with safety- of-life and other systems last year (CD Nov 18 p5). Pico- cells are used by systems such as AirCell, which has an FCC waiver to operate cellular equipment to provide service to airborne callers without causing interference to onboard aircraft systems.

Meanwhile, American Airlines said last week it planned to allow customers to use cellphones, 2-way pagers and other electronic devices until the aircraft door was shut. Customers on most arriving flights will be able to use cellphones “shortly after landing, while the aircraft is taxiing to the gate,” American said. “We're pleased to be the first airline to offer this relaxed cellphone policy,” said Dan Garton, American’s exec. vp-mktg.

Under existing policy, phones must be turned off when the seatbelt light goes on upon departure, an American Airlines spokeswoman said Fri. The change will allow use of PEDs to continue until the plane door is shut, giving passengers about an extra 10 minutes, she said. On arrival, travelers now must wait to turn on PEDs until the plane arrives at the gate and the seatbelt sign is turned off. Under the new policy, when the plane touches down and a flight attendant gives the go-ahead, cellphone use can begin. Before this change, the airline conducted tests with equipment manufacturers and suppliers, giving the results to the FAA to review, the spokeswoman said. The FAA ultimately approved the American Airlines’ changes, she said. The airline said the FCC had regulatory purview over the devices themselves and barred their use during flight.

FAA officials said last fall they expected RTCA to move ahead with the special committee to examine the potential impact of PEDs on aircraft (CD Nov 20 p2). U.S. airlines and technology developers such as Intel have backed the creation of such a panel. RTCA’s role in the world of aviation standards is similar to that of IEEE for Internet technology. The study comes as airline officials and wireless developers are trying to balance consumers’ interest in using new electronic devices on aircraft with protecting avionics systems from interference.

“The airlines are still adhering to the guidance that we gave them in a 1997 advisory circular,” the FAA spokesman said. That advisory bars operation of PEDs on aircraft unless the plane’s operator has determined they won’t cause interference. “They are also trying to accommodate the increasing demand from their customers that they be able to use these devices.” He said that any recommendations to emerge from the RTCA research would be used by FAA in assessing whether a rulemaking was needed to update that circular, he said.