The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently announced it awarded Massachusetts-based Air Space Intelligence, a software company, with a contract for two technologies that will improve how flights are scheduled and managed throughout the National Airspace System.
The Flow Management Data and Services (FMDS) analyzes flight plans, airline schedules, and real-time position updates to estimate current and anticipated traffic flows and capacity limitations. Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes, and Trajectories, an enhancement within FMDS, continuously analyzes airline schedules, weather, airport capacity, airspace conditions, and operational constraints to predict traffic flows and identify potential conflicts before they occur.
Together, the technologies will make the National Airspace System more predictable, efficient, and optimized by allowing controllers to overlay weather patterns and flight paths into one central visualization, reducing flight delays, improving traffic flow and increase airspace capacity. They will allow the FAA to proactively identify delays and available airspace to mitigate them days, weeks, and even months in advance, and house all critical data in one platform.
“Every day, our air traffic professionals knowingly manage thousands of scheduling conflicts across the National Airspace System, which ultimately end up as delays for the traveling public,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said.
Initial operations are expected to begin this fall.