Flight Explorer, David R. Bornemann Associates, Inc. and WSI Join Technologies to Enable Airlines to Improve Their Customers' Travel Experience
Automated data entry innovation will give airline dispatchers greater ability to anticipate and react to weather delays, peak traffic and system uncertainties
Fairfax, VA and Tampa, FL - April 30, 2001 - Just in time for the influx of summer air travel, three aviation-related companies today announced that they are linking their technologies to help make it possible for the nation's airlines to smooth out air traffic problems during peak periods by giving airline dispatchers greater ability to anticipate and react to weather delays, peak traffic congestion and system uncertainties. The result will be a better travel experience for airline customers. The announcement was made at the Regional Airline Association Annual Convention in Tampa, Florida.
The companies are: Flight Explorer, the leading provider of Internet-based real-time flight tracking and information systems; David R. Bornemann Associates, Inc.(dRb), the leading provider of PC-based flight planning, aircraft tracking and flight crew scheduling software; and WSI, the leading provider of aviation weather. They will integrate their systems to automate the exchange of real-time data and display information among the varied systems that airline dispatchers use to monitor and manage flights.
"This is a real winner for the airlines and their customers," said Walter Kross, president and CEO of Flight Explorer. "Giving dispatchers these powerful tools to do their jobs better and more efficiently enables them to improve the safety and convenience of the air travel experience. We're excited to join with David Bornemann to make this possible for the first time. Reaction from the airlines has been very favorable."
David Bornemann said, "The interface with Flight Explorer allows dispatchers to make better operational decisions, reducing data input errors and substantially reducing the time it takes to enter data. It also enhances the value of the dRb software for our airline customers."
John Muscarella, vice president of marketing and sales for WSI, said, "Since our three companies are all leaders in their field, share numerous clients, and provide critical services that must closely interact, this alliance made perfect sense, both for us and our customers. Our combined offerings will help to simplify operations within a dispatch department, and most certainly improve safety and efficiency for the airlines."
Currently, dispatchers at local and regional airports must manually input critical flight information, updating it throughout the day, to keep track of thousands of aircraft across the county - a time-consuming and cumbersome task. Linking the Flight Explorer system -- which receives and processes flight information directly from the Federal Aviation Administration -- with the dRb software and WSI weather data, will automate the process, providing dispatchers with real-time information and alerts concerning:
Time departures
Estimated time of arrival
Route flown to route planned
Flights ahead of and behind flight plan
Fuel consumption
Holding patterns
Weather patterns
Diversions
Departure and arrival times
Downstream scheduling delays
The requirements for the linked systems were developed in partnership with Midwest Express, Atlantic Coast Airlines, Atlantic Southeast Airlines and others. Integration testing was performed with WestJet Airlines.
About Flight Explorer
Flight Explorer is the world's leading provider of Internet-based real-time flight tracking and information systems. It produces the industry's best Internet-delivered real-time aircraft situation display (ASD). Flight Explorer is the easiest, most powerful and reliable ASD in the industry. With only a personal computer and Internet access, anyone -- from a major airline dispatcher to a corporate travel manager to an aviation enthusiast -- can use Flight Explorer to track one aircraft -- or thousands -- anywhere in the United States and Canada. Customers include United Airlines, American Airlines, American Eagle, US Airways, AirTran, Atlantic Coast Airlines, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Trans Air, Air Alaska, Spirit Airlines, UPS, MCI WorldCom, Raytheon and airport authorities in more than two dozen states. For more information, call 703-383-0048 or visit http://www.flightexplorer.com.
About David R. Bornemann Associates Inc.
Bornemann Associates (dRb) was formed in 1978 to provide independent data processing expertise and software products to the aviation industry. The firm specializes in computer software development and professional consulting assistance; its staff members are experienced in the identification and evaluation of alternative data processing and operations research techniques, and the effective application of these techniques to the solution of airline technical problems. The members of the firm's technical staff have more than 300 years of aviation information systems experience, primarily in the development, implementation, and support of computer-based systems for airline schedule development, crew scheduling, flight planning, and operations control. In addition, the firm's customer support organization is composed entirely of former airline managers and supervisors who embody over 200 years of relevant experience in the airline industry.
About WSI
Established in 1978, WSI is the world's largest commercial provider of weather information for aviation, media, industry and, government. WSI is the primary weather provider for more than 80% of the major U.S. airlines, as well as numerous international and regional carriers. WSI also serves over 1000 corporate flight departments, 800 of the U.S.'s busiest FBOs, and is the source for graphical weather data for the FAA's Flight Service Stations for pilot briefings. WSI products are seen daily by millions of TV viewers on the Weather Channel, CNN and on major TV newscasts across the country.
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