MCLEAN, Va., Aug. 16, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Flight Explorer (FE), a global flight tracking and IT solutions provider to the aviation community, today announced the release of Flight Explorer Professional(tm) Edition 8.0. With Version 8.0, Flight Explorer has added powerful route alerting, enhanced aircraft Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) and Estimated Time Enroute (ETE) analysis tools, a datalink messaging interface and a comprehensive suite of integrated weather products to its Aircraft Situation Display (ASD). Version 8.0 also serves as the foundation for Flight Explorer's Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) initiative, with critical capabilities such as 4D trajectory modeling, additional management by exception alerting and improved event time predictions now fully integrated into the system.
"The new tools available in FE Professional 8.0 support our continued focus to provide our customers the most powerful, comprehensive and integrated ASD the aviation industry has to offer," said Flight Explorer CEO Jim Kelly. "With the advancements in our core product and the application programming interfaces now available, our customers have a system that can today serve as the single display platform for complete flight planning, flight following, data link communications and weather system integration. In addition, with the National Airspace System becoming increasingly congested and complex, Flight Explorer is also providing our customers a clear path to improved operations through CDM/TFM simplification, integration and automation."
FE Professional is the industry's most accurate, reliable and widely-used ASD. The system goes beyond "flight tracking" by incorporating multiple data feeds, dynamic weather overlays, situational alerts and forecast weather and air traffic tools to make FE Professional an essential flight operations management tool.
Key Version 8.0 additions include:
* Enhanced Flight Explorer ETAs and ETEs - Users can now receive the most accurate ETA and ETE information for their aircraft through Flight Explorer's new proprietary 4D route modeling system. The 4D is achieved by combining the dimension of predicted time at each point across the route with the spatial 3D factors of latitude, longitude and altitude. This provides operations personnel a more accurate picture of the future location of an aircraft and a better indication of when it can be expected to arrive at its destination or any point along its flight path. * FE Communicator(tm) Datalink Messaging Solution - FE Communicator is a customizable 'Click and Communicate' messaging solution built into the FE Professional ASD that utilizes the existing Flight Explorer 3rd Party Data Interface to facilitate ground-to-air, air-to-ground, or ground-to-ground data communications between FE Users and equipped aircraft. Users can also receive real-time alerts when new datalink messages are received and access the integrated web-based FE Communicator interface to read and create new messages simply by clicking on the aircraft in the FE Professional GUI display. * Route Deviation Alerts - Users can now receive proactive alerts if an aircraft laterally deviates from its planned route of flight. Thresholds for the alert can be configured by the user based on the magnitude of the lateral deviation in nautical miles. * Flight Plan Change Alerts - Users can now receive proactive alerts if there is a significant change in the ETE and/or distance when a flight plan change occurs for a specific aircraft. Thresholds for the alert can be configured by the user based on the magnitude of the change in ETE and/or route distance in nautical miles. * Display of Original, Previous and Current Route of Flight - Users can now right click on an aircraft and view the original, previous and current route of flight and analyze these routes against current and forecast weather and other airspace overlays. * "Fly the Flight Plan" Functionality - For oceanic flights or areas with minimal radar coverage the "fly the flight plan" logic utilizes Flight Explorer's new 4D route modeling system to effectively "ghost" the flight plan and deliver a more accurate representation of the true location of a specific aircraft. When this capability is applied to NAS constraints Flight Explorer users will also be able to accurately predict when a flight will encounter a constraint and make improved routing and slot management decisions. * User Defined Plane Tags - Users can customize the plane tags associated with a User Defined View by choosing what appears in the four lines of the tag. Field options include ACID, Fuel On Board, Altitude, Speed, Origin, Destination, AC Type, Departure Time, ETA (FAA), ETA (FE), Scratchpad and more. As Flight Explorer continues to integrate CDM data into the ASD the field options will be expanded to include controlled departure times (EDCTs), ATC delay and other critical air traffic management and constraint data. The use of existing interfaces also allows the user to display fuel on board and ETAs from datalink messages provided by the customer. * Expanded MyFleet Specification - Users can now specify their fleet by origin, destination and day of flight. This also includes all current MyFleet interface methods. * Desktop Interface Enhancements to Support ETOPS - the Desktop Interface now supports plotting of custom waypoints with labels and range rings. These can represent the stations along the planned route of flight for ETOPS considerations in pre-flight planning. * Aircraft Selection Based on Rectangle, Control-Click Operations - Users now have the ability to select multiple aircraft and perform common operations such as turning plane tags on or off or sending datalink messages to a specific group of selected aircraft. * Integrated Real-Time and Forecast Weather Products - Users can now benefit from enhanced weather visualization from a comprehensive new suite of integrated, higher-resolution, real-time and forecast global aviation weather data layers from DTN/Meteorlogix and ENSCO. * Dynamic North Atlantic and Pacific Tracks - Users can view daily published overseas North Atlantic and Pacific flight routes. * Enhanced 3PDI Interface - Users can now send custom pre-flight information (flight plan, gate, fuel on board, crew information, etc.) for display and to generate alerts through the FE Professional Event Manager prior to take-off.
FE Professional 8.0 also brings with it updates to key data sources, as well as other enhancements in response to requests from Flight Explorer's global customer base.
About Flight Explorer
Flight Explorer (FE) is a global flight tracking, information technology and communications solutions provider to the commercial and business aviation community. FE provides these solutions to over 800 corporate clients, including over 85 percent of the North American major and regional airlines. Additionally, consumers can enhance their travel experience with Flight Explorer's free online flight tracking and airport information tools. For more information please visit www.flightexplorer.com.