Pilots first heard about a Chinese live-fire naval exercise near Australia last week when already in the air. Incident highlights how airlines are increasingly having to react at short notice to geopolitical disruptions and military hazards. It also shows how China’s military, in its first drills in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, is raising tensions by being more assertive across the Indo-Pacific region. The messages were sent between aircraft and ground stations using an Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) system, according to previously unreported text messages. \”We/re don/t have a NOTAM in effect for Chinese exercise. Have not seen or heard any of that,\” an airline dispatcher told two American Airlines flights approaching Sydney and Brisbane from the U.S. at 3:37 a.m. on Saturday morning. \”The issue with this one was the short notice, or no notice effectively, really,\” Cornell told Reuters. \”All of a sudden it came to the attention of the pilots and they had to self-manage maneuvering around this zone,\” Cornell said.
