Flight planning software today
Flight planning software is of course constantly in development and constantly being improved. It is only when we consider how difficult flight planning was in the past, that we can truly begin to marvel at the technological advances which have taken place over the course of a relatively short space of time. During the two World Wars in which air travel was a mainstay of battle, the needs of pilots in terms of flight planning were quite simple. The pilot needed to know where he was headed for, what lay between him and his target and how much fuel was required to get there and back safely. Of course the great pilots who flew fighter planes were excellent and brave navigators who understood a great deal more about plotting than most non-pilots could hope to, but there was no need for the complex flight plans which commercial aeroplanes need today. In order to carry many paying passengers and their luggage safely across continents it is important to plan and to plan well! Flight planning software does a large amount of the work for us today…what used to take early commercial flight planners (during the 1950s and 60s) many hours of calculations to achieve, now takes minutes. Early flight planning companies relied mostly on brainwork to achieve the intricate measurements and predictions which are needed to ensure the safest flight possible.
Flight planning software in focus
Flight planning software has made many aspects of flight planning so much simpler. At the flick of a switch the relevant information for any particular flight can be zoomed to your laptop anywhere in the world. Communication is faster and plans are more efficient. Because of the nature of flight planning and the variables which are part and parcel of the issues at hand, mistakes are less frequent and fuel calculations are more precise. These aspects are a real boon to airlines because time is money and saving money and resources (fuel) are both major issues for everyone whether they happen to be a pilot or a passenger. Today’s climate is such that it simply isn’t acceptable to waste fuel and apart from the cost to the earth; the cost of fuel in terms of budget is always on the rise. Flight planning software is used in various ways by smaller independent airlines and larger multi national outfits. Larger companies may design their own versions of flight planning software which are tailored to the company’s specific needs. In this way many companies find that their savings are even greater as the flight planning software has been designed to fit like a glove and adhere to their own particular needs. Without a doubt, technology has improved safety and saved much time for many commercial airlines; things are getting faster and more efficient all the time and flight planning software is no different to any other form of software in that it is designed to save time and money…which is what it does in spades.