FlightAware Foresight: A Window into the Future

A Window into the Future

In the world of aviation, having even just a few minutes advanced notice of changes to a flight arrival time - or a taxi time - can have huge downstream effects. One of the things we’ve been focused on at FlightAware is expanding and innovating our Predictive technologies (which we call FlightAware Foresight^SM), and not only that, but deepening the trust in our predictions while simplifying the overall customer experience so that we can unlock the value that comes from having a confident view into the future.

So, whether you’re a traveler worried about making a tight connection, a global airline, or an airport… these tools we’re building offer a game changing experience for over 20 million passengers each year, and for industries and businesses that depend on accurate predictions.

FlightAware Foresight Product Manager JJ De Paep discusses how FlightAware's predictions work and why they are improving the aviation industry for everyone from Airlines and Airports to the daily traveler. 

FlightAware Foresight 

FlightAware Foresight is essentially a toolkit of predictions that we make for a number of different phases of flight. These cover aircraft arrival times (both wheels on the pavement and arrival at the gate), Taxi out times and now arrival runway predictions. The real benefit is that FlightAware's predictions are available so early in a flight and with so much accuracy that it informs all decisions that happen downstream, putting the power back into the hands of our customers. This information can be used to save connections for late flights and to make sure that early arriving aircraft aren't left waiting for a gate, but instead able to efficiently taxi in and deplane. For those in the world of business aviation, airlines or airports FlightAware Foresight puts value into their hands, and  for travelers and consumers, it is the future of aviation. Having the ability to see what's going to happen before it actually does happen is a revolution to the travel experience. 

Machine Learning and AI

We're all becoming more and more aware of machine learning and artificial intelligence, and these things are very much in our shared conscious at the moment... but it can be a little difficult to understand what exactly it does or why it matters. We have amazingly advanced machine learning models that make predictions, and the real value is that we are leveraging some of the most advanced technology in the world. We're able to use that technology specifically for aviation and apply the massive amount of data that FlightAware has gathered over many years to produce models and predictions that are more accurate than anything else available today.

Neural Networks

Neural networks are a type of machine learning model and the reason that this is so exciting for FlightAware is it opens avenues for things that we previously weren't able to accomplish. The neural network takes a single model and is able to stitch together all of this this rich data that we have at FlightAware to make truly global predictions. Now, for each airport and every operating flight our neural network is able to make predictions about when that flight's going to arrive at the airport and at the gate. This is extremely exciting, and it unlocks a lot of value for our customers.

While we’ve accomplished remarkable innovations, we're continuing to raise the bar, which is what I love about FlightAware! It doesn't stop here, we already have machine learning predictions being used around the world within aviation, and now with the introduction of the neural network we are going a step further and are able to offer truly global coverage and to do it with accuracy that is unmatched. 

Why does it Matter?

Why does it really matter, how does it affect me as a traveler, and how does it affect the flights that that I'm flying on?

A good example is a flight I was on recently that arrived early over 25 minutes early. On the surface that sounds amazing! An early arrival means I get to my destination sooner and the airline is happy. But, unfortunately (as in this case) if the ground crews don't have visibility that the flight is arriving early, especially at an outstation or a remote destination, then you end up with an aircraft waiting while the ground crew prepares g the gate. That means both passengers getting a little bit irritable, and obviously for the airline it means an aircraft is burning fuel because they didn't have the advantage of seeing that early arrival with enough notice to make decisions and prepare for it. That's simply one example highlighting the value of these predictions and how they can be used. 

FlightAware Foresight predictions can change the way aviation operates, they help to improve connections and preparedness for aircraft at the gate, especially with tools like our taxi out predictions which help especially during bad weather when there's deicing or storms. All of this data that we're able to offer improves not only the experience of our customers in operations, but also the experience of millions of travelers every year. 

 A Window into the Future

In the world of aviation there are so many complex moving pieces, so having simple tools that can offer that window into the future puts power into your hands to make decisions that can really be the difference. not only having that data but being able to trust it is extremely important to us... because having a window into the future is great, but if it's not accurate or dependable then it doesn't add value. Our focus at FlightAware  across all of our products is that they're dependable and they're accurate, and that's what we are our offering and what we're really excited about in terms of where we're going. It's incredible because we've made this huge leap forward in innovation with the deep learning neural network, but we don't stop there, we're building new model types, and we just released Arrival Runway Predictions. Now you can predict which runway an aircraft is going to arrive on, which directly relates to how long the taxi time will be to the gate. So, we're continuing to make these strides forward and create new predictions, adding more value which will only increase as we move forward, so it is really exciting! 

Connected Aviation Systems

We're really deeply passionate about data and technology and we encourage anybody who wants to learn more to get in touch with us. A huge part of what makes this possible is innovating together, sharing the data and making plans for what could be done, and we look forward to continuing the conversation and innovating together.

Jean-Jaques De Paep, is the product manager for Data reports and Flight Aware Foresight.  He leads the Predictive Technologies crew that is responsible for developing the machine learning models that make up FlightAware Foresight's suite of predictive products. 

With the most comprehensive dataset in the world, FlightAware Foresight's predictive models provide unprecedented insight to improve operational efficiencies and facilitate better decision-making in the air and on the ground.