Europe’s ambitious program to introduce mode-S surveillance datalink technology has once again been rescheduled to account for operational and technical difficulties. On January 13, Eurocontrol announced a “rationalization” of the implementation timetable for mode-S elementary (ELS, known in North America as “upgraded mode-S”) and enhanced (EHS) surveillance for IFR flights in general air traffic (IFR/GAT).
The provisional council of the European ATC agency said that it had become necessary to “align” the compliance deadlines for the initial ELS phase and the more advanced EHS due to “an increasing number of technical and operational difficulties.”
The main change is effectively to postpone the final ELS compliance deadline by 24 months from the March 31, 2005, date that has been looming large for the industry to the same March 31, 2007, deadline that applies for EHS. Eurocontrol has also introduced further latitude for EHS compliance in that operators that have achieved the standard for at least 90 percent of their fleets by March 30, 2007, can obtain a two-year extension, to March 31, 2009, to upgrade the remaining aircraft from ELS to EHS standards.
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