Money And The Origins Of ADS-B

I have no idea where you get your facts when reporting a story, but UPS didn’t “invent” ADS-B. Period. I was there flying the mentioned 757 and 767 aircraft.

Long before ADS-B came into being, UPS purchased the company that developed the well-known Apollo LORAN and the subsequent GPS receivers and associated avionics. They actually bought the company to develop the DIAD handheld computer used by their drivers.

That company developed avionics to utilize ADS-B technology. They had some very bright people, but in no way did they invent ADS-B. The company and UPS were heavily involved in tests of ADS-B technology in Alaska and other places.

UPS intended to use ADS-B to develop a merging and spacing protocol to reduce the vectoring required during inbound pushes to their hubs at night. That is where the savings in fuel was to come. They developed and installed, at great expense, a dedicated Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) for the 757 and 767 aircraft. The EFB wasn’t anything like the iPads used today. It was a huge box permanently installed to the left and right side of the captain and first officer’s seats respectively.

That piece of avionics along with associated equipment installed on the glareshield was used to facilitate the merging and spacing scheme. Unfortunately, it was a colossal failure due to the ATC requirement to integrate non-participating aircraft flying into the hub and other technical issues.

After it became clear that merging and spacing wasn’t going to happen, the EFBs were removed. Not long after, UPS sold their UPSAT subsidiary to Garmin.