Air/Ground International Radio Service
ARINC's Air/Ground International Voice Service provides high-frequency (HF) single side band aeronautical operational control (AOC) voice communications for aircraft flying over the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Pacific oceans; Canadian and Arctic regions; and the Gulf of Mexico and Central and South America. ARINC connects far-reaching corners of the world to one of two ARINC long-distance operational control facilities located in New York and San Francisco. The radio operators at these facilities also control remote, high-powered HF radio sites located in Molokai, Hawaii; Guam; Barrow, Alaska; and Long Island, New York.
The service is augmented by ARINC's VHF Air/Ground Domestic Voice Service, which provides coverage for overland routes in the United States and Canada and at oceanic gateways along the east, west, and Gulf coasts, and Hawaii.
The Air/Ground International Service is used to:
- Coordinate ground and flight activities—Airlines can better control and track arrival times, allowing more efficient handling of ground operations
- Inform dispatch of important events—This includes emergency and other situations
- Handle irregular operations—Pilots can resolve fuel situations with dispatch when experiencing weather-induced irregular operations
- Make ground arrangements—Corporate jets can use a phone patch to contact a fixed-base operator and arrange for various services on landing
- React quickly to changes—Dispatch can divert an aircraft from its flight plan to pick up unscheduled passengers or freight
- Stay in touch while aloft—Aircraft maintaining the Selective Calling System (SELCAL) watch on assigned frequencies can be contacted by ARINC radio operators for delivery of ground-party messages.
- Provide timely flight following information—This includes delivery of position reports and reroute information to dispatchers and flight followers
ARINC's radio operators are on duty 24x7. They handle messages by:
- Sending transcribed messages to any ARINC data network service, teletype subscriber, or any International Civil Aviation Organization address, worldwide
- Delivering messages by telephone
- Delivering messages by fax
- Establishing a phone patch between aircraft and any ground facility
- Delivering ground-originated calls to aircraft anywhere in the coverage area
- Signaling the aircraft's SELCAL system that a message is incoming, relieving the pilot of the need to continually monitor the call frequency
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