AMERICAN AIRLINES plans to buy flight-management/global-positioning systems (FMS/GPS) to replace Omega navigation systems in up to 400 Boeing 727s and McDonnell Douglas MD-80s and DC-10s. A selection is planned by September.
American is the first major airline to plan a fleet-wide GPS retrofit programme. Rockwell-Collins, which plans to offer a version of its new AVSAT-900 FMS/GPS, sees a retrofit market, worth $2 billion over the next five to ten years.
Other potential bidders include Canadian Marconi (CMC), Honeywell/ Trimble, Interstate Electronics and Litton.
Installations are expected to begin a year from now, driven by US plans to begin decommissioning the Omega/VLF ground-station network in 1997. American has specified an FMS/GPS, with growth capability to include the wide-area augmentation system (WAAS) and local-area differential GPS (LADGPS). The airline is hoping to achieve Category I landing capability with the WAAS, and Cat II/III with the LADGPS, using essentially the same box.
American is one of a group of airlines, including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Northwest Airlines which have joined forces to develop a specification for a GPS navigation and landing unit for retrofit.
Source: Flight International
