FlightGlobal
• Dominic Perry
Operation Blue Skies will use artificial intelligence to test whether small flightpath changes can reduce aviation’s climate impact from contrails. The £5 million, 30-month project is due to begin operational evaluations this northern-hemisphere winter in Shanwick oceanic airspace, under a UK government-backed consortium.
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Operation Blue Skies will use artificial intelligence to test whether small flightpath changes can reduce aviation’s climate impact from contrails. The £5 million, 30-month project is due to begin operational evaluations this northern-hemisphere winter in Shanwick oceanic airspace, under a UK government-backed consortium.
The FAA has installed SMR-4 surface radars at KDCA and KEWR and awarded AT&T a $74.3 million indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract covering communications. The investments strengthen airport-surface surveillance and communications infrastructure at two key U.S. airports.
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The articles combine two separate U.S.-led initiatives: a Space Force space-domain-awareness payload launched aboard Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite 7, and the FAA’s $74.3 million initial task order to AT&T under its multibillion-dollar Enterprise Network Services modernization program.
The FAA is investigating how two American Airlines 737-800s operated near Phoenix under the same callsign after a delayed inbound aircraft met its replacement outbound flight. The event raises operational and air-traffic-control questions around flight identification when aircraft and schedules change unexpectedly.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has installed a Surface Movement Radar Model 4, upgrading surveillance of aircraft and vehicles on the airport surface. The modernization is intended to improve situational awareness and safety for ground movements at one of the Washington region’s major airports.
Two American Airlines Boeing 737s briefly operated through the same Phoenix-area air traffic control sector using the identical flight number, 2482, and shared a radio frequency. A veteran controller detected the conflict between the departing and arriving aircraft and intervened; the incident is now under investigation.
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Air-ground communications show a Phoenix controller had to separate converging American Airlines Boeing 737-800s operating outbound and inbound services that shared the same callsign. The event highlights the operational risk created when similar flight identifiers are used simultaneously in the same airspace.
Merlin has reached a certification milestone for software designed to communicate with air traffic control, advancing the role of AI in cockpit operations. The development marks progress toward integrating automated systems into regulated flight environments, where safety assurance and human-machine coordination remain central challenges.
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