Air carrier pilot flying reported GPS jamming occurring from cruise all the way to initial approach; and subsequent GPS system degradation. ZAB Center stated that the jamming was a normal occurrence.
Synopsis
Air carrier pilot flying reported GPS jamming occurring from cruise all the way to initial approach; and subsequent GPS system degradation. ZAB Center stated that the jamming was a normal occurrence.
Narrative
Bottom line: We received significant GPS jamming west of Abilene; TX (ABI) that continued all the way until our destination of El Paso (ELP). Narrative: We began to receive GPS jamming enroute during cruise west of ABI. Most other aircraft in this area were receiving the same GPS disruption that we encountered and were notifying ATC. Albuquerque Center indicated that this was a normal occurrence after XA:00 every night. We also notified Center of our GPS system degradation. I never notified company Dispatch as it seemed that this was a normal occurrence in that area. If I had it to do again; I would have sent them an ACARS message to help give them situational awareness and possibly help other crews. We elected to execute a non-GPS approach into ELP; LOC Runway 4. We landed uneventfully after receiving vectors from ATC. Our main indications of the GPS jamming were the GPS light and TERR POS on the navigation display. The TERR POS meant that we lost look-ahead terrain alerting or terrain display. This is a threat in an area with significant terrain. We regained GPS signal after landing - all systems back to normal.Cause: Albuquerque Center made it seem like this type of GPS jamming was normal after XA:00. Just by the radio chatter; most other crews seemed to be caught off guard by the jamming. I know that jamming in that area is common; but I didn't expect it to continue all the way through landing in ELP. In the terminal area of ELP; there was also confusion from other airline crews on whether they could execute a GPS based approach with the GPS jamming and subsequent degradation to their aircraft systems. El Paso Approach was offering GPS based approaches even with the jamming. GPS jamming was also noted in the ELP ATIS.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.