FlightAware

FlightAware is a global aviation software and data services company based in Houston, Texas, United States.

FlightAware, LLC
Type of businessPrivate company
Available inMultilingual (18)
FoundedMarch 17, 2005
HeadquartersHouston, Texas, United States
Area servedUnited States and Canada (2005-2008)
Worldwide (2008–present)
Key peopleDaniel Baker (CEO)
Karl Lehenbauer (CTO)
IndustryAircraft Tracking
RevenueUS$4 million (2009 est.)
URLflightaware.com
UsersOver 12,000,000[1]
LaunchedSeptember 8, 2005 (2005-09-08)
Current statusActive

11 Greenway Plaza houses the headquarters of FlightAware

The company operates a website and mobile applications which offer free flight tracking of both private and commercial aircraft around the globe.[2] It is currently the world's largest flight tracking platform with a network of over 30,000 ADS-B ground stations in 197 countries.[3] FlightAware also provides services and data to aircraft and airport operators as well as other aviation organizations to assist in their operations.[4] FlightAware provides enterprise services and tools to aircraft operators worldwide as well as flight tracking systems to airports in over 50 countries across North America, Europe, and Oceania.[5]

The company has its headquarters at Eleven Greenway Plaza in Houston, and an advertising office at 500 Fifth Avenue in New York City.[6]

History

In late 2004, CEO, Daniel Baker, started exploring the idea of creating a free flight tracking service as he wanted a way for his family to track his private flights around the country. At the time, there were few enterprise solutions that offered this kind of service. Baker recruited friends Karl Lehenbauer and David McNett to help create a free public flight tracking service. On March 17, 2005, FlightAware was officially founded and began processing live flight data.[7] FlightAware earned over one million dollars in revenue in its first 18 months.[8] FlightAware has been profitable since 2006 and is growing at the rate of 40-50% per year, as of April 2014.[9]

Previous to the current location at 11 Greenway Plaza, FlightAware headquarters was in Suite 1300 at 8 Greenway Plaza,[10] and originally the FlightAware headquarters were in the Midtown area of Houston.[11][12] FlightAware's CEO has cited Houston's inexpensive office space, geographical proximity to the rest of the country, and lack of a city or state income tax as an advantage.[13][14]

Website
Example of a chart available for download

The company's web site provides flight tracking information and notifications of private and commercial flights as well as airport activity, flight and airport maps with weather, aviation statistics, flight planning and instrument flight rules procedures for airports in the United States and Australia.[4][15][16] In addition, the site includes pilot services such as flight planning, aviation news, photos, and an aviation discussion forum.[7][17]

Users can register with the site for free, which adds features and functionality as well as the ability to participate in community features. Registration allows users to upload photos, submit aviation-related news (squawks), participate in discussion forums, and set up aircraft alerts in addition to numerous other features. FlightAware reports over ten million registered users.[1]

FlightAware serves over 500 million flight tracking pages to over 12 million users per month as of June 2019.[1]

Commercial products and services

FlightAware provides various paid commercial services designed to support aviation-related businesses, consumers, and FBOs. These services provide a significant portion of FlightAware's revenue.

FlightAware Global

"FlightAware Global" makes worldwide flight tracking available for aircraft operators via satellite or VHF data-link (VDL) through the FlightAware website. This service requires data service with a participating data-link provider and combines this data with existing FlightAware ANSP data feeds in 50+ countries and FlightAware's ADS-B data in 100+ countries.[18]

FlightAware integrates with all major aircraft datalink services using ACARS or similar protocols via SATCOM or VDL including:[19]

For aircraft with cockpit datalink services, FlightAware can provide real-time worldwide flight tracking and status as well as text messaging and other operational dispatch services in some cases.

Selective unblocking

A selective unblocking service is available for aircraft owners and operators to selectively choose friends, family, employees, and business associates that are allowed to track an aircraft's movements. However, when a selective unblocking is used, the aircraft movements remained blocked to the general public. An owner or operator can opt to do this for privacy or security reasons.[20]

FlightAware TV

FlightAware TV is a web-based aircraft situational display scaled for an HDTV. FlightAware TV can be customized to show a "fleet view" to monitor an entire fleet or in "airport" view to monitor airport activity such as departures and arrivals.[21]

FBO ToolBox

FBO ToolBox is a Web-based, market-analysis and flight-tracking application that allows FBO managers insight into their customers. Primary features include competitive fuel price analysis, airport traffic analysis, AMSTAT operator information, airport history reports, and top origins/destinations. A proprietary fuel-burn calculator estimates the number of gallons necessary to complete a filed flight plan, and can deliver FBO managers a picture of potential fuel sales on any given day.[22] In May 2012, FlightAware launched "FBO ToolBox Europe" for airport operators in Europe.[5]

Custom reports

Custom reports can be generated with a variety of parameters to aid aircraft owners, operators, airports, and business owners in planning decisions. For example, a historical report can be compiled to analyze air traffic frequency at a particular airport.[23]

Premium accounts

Premium user accounts allow members access to unlimited flight alerts, increased visibility of historical flight data, European weather, tail number data, full screen HDTV maps, fleet tracking, and the ability to view more flights per page. There are three levels of premium accounts that are available for a monthly fee.[24]

ADS-B
Mi-8 RF-23155 helicopter in the FlightAware receiver interface.

Automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast (ADS-B) is a technology for tracking aircraft. FlightAware operates a network of ADS-B receivers for tracking ADS-B equipped aircraft.[25] FlightAware offers that professional operators of existing ADS-B sites can connect their receivers to FlightAware and, in exchange, receive additional account features/privileges. As of November 2014, FlightAware's network consists of over 1,000 sites, predominately in Europe, North America, and Australia.[26]

FlightAware produces FlightFeeder, a small ADS-B receiver that receives and processes ADS-B data, then sends it to FlightAware over the Internet and also makes the data available locally. FlightAware provides this unit free of charge to individuals in areas where FlightAware's ADS-B network does not have sufficient coverage.[27] The company deploys 75-100 new FlightFeeders per month.[28]

As of October 31, 2020, FlightAware has 24,350 ADS-B sites in 192 countries, an increase of 4,651 sites since October 22, 2018.[29]

In September 2016, Aireon and FlightAware announced a partnership[30] to provide this global space-based ADS-B data to airlines for flight tracking of their fleets and, in response to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, for compliance with the ICAO Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System (GADSS) requirement for airlines to track their fleets.[31]

FlightXML

FlightAware has a flight tracking API called FlightXML for third parties to incorporate FlightAware data into their own applications. Functionality includes flight status, airline data, maps, and push call-backs. FlightXML's API can be accessed via Representational state transfer or Simple Object Access Protocol and the API can be accessed from any programming language that supports XML. FlightXML is charged on a per query basis and the more queries that a user account makes per month, the less the per-query fee is.[32][33]

Features such as push notifications allow an app to be noticed about flight plans, schedule changes, departures, arrivals, cancellations, diversions, and more. FlightXML users can also receive worldwide airline information such as gate assignments, gate times, seat information, aircraft tail number, codeshare details, and meal service information.[34]

Firehose

FlightAware has a live data feed called Firehose for third parties to incorporate live FlightAware positions around the world into their applications. Data is available as live snapshots or a streaming data feed.[35]

Other

ARINC partnered with FlightAware and uses the FlightAware web application for ARINC Direct business aircraft operators.[36]

SITA, Rockwell Collins, and IBM's The Weather Company partnered with FlightAware to use FlightAware's worldwide data in their products for airlines.[37][38]

See also

References
  1. "About FlightAware – Advertising" (Press release). Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  2. "About FlightAware ✈ FlightAware". FlightAware. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  3. "Feeder Statistics ✈ FlightAware". FlightAware. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  4. "About FlightAware". FlightAware. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
  5. "FlightAware.com Launches Next-Generation General Aviation Flight Tracking in Europe". Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  6. "Contact." FlightAware. Retrieved on March 30, 2018.
  7. "FlightAware History". Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  8. "Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: FlightAware". 37 Signals: Signal Vs Noise.
  9. "Clues About the Lost Malaysia Flight Found on Rooftop Antennas". Bloomberg.
  10. "FlightAware > About FlightAware > Contact Information". FlightAware. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
  11. "FlightAware > About FlightAware > Contact Information". FlightAware. Archived from the original on December 5, 2006. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
  12. Midtown Management District Land Use and Development Map (2006) Retrieved on June 4, 2019.
  13. "Daniel Baker, FlightAware CEO, Houston's Soaring Innovator (Video Interview)". CNBC. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
  14. "Brian Sullivan Takes Road Trip to Houston". CNBC. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
  15. Hunter, Marnie (April 8, 2008). "Flying tips for cranky passengers". CNN. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
  16. "AMD64 Technology Helps FlightAware's Airline Tracking Service 'Take-Off' To New Performance Heights". AMD. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
  17. "FlightAware > Pilot Resources". Retrieved March 29, 2012.
  18. "FlightAware Global". Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  19. "FlightAware.com Announces Worldwide Coverage for Business Aviation Flight Tracking". Retrieved October 28, 2012.
  20. "Selective Unblocking". Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  21. "FlightAware TV". Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  22. "FBO ToolBox". Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  23. "Commercial Services". Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  24. "Premium Accounts". Retrieved April 13, 2013.
  25. "ADS-B Flight Tracking". Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  26. "FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking Coverage". Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  27. "FlightFeeder - Network ADS-B Receiver". Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  28. "HOW FLIGHT TRACKING APPS WORK: VOLUNTEERS". Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  29. "FlightAware ADS-B Statistics". Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  30. "FlightAware and Aireon have partnered to revolutionize flight tracking with the first global space-based ADS-B constellation and flight tracking system". Retrieved September 21, 2016.
  31. "Update on GADSS-Related Global Aircraft Tracking Initiatives". Retrieved September 21, 2016.
  32. "FlightAware's latest API improvements – Australia, Airline Details, Push Alerts, JSON". Retrieved April 2, 2012.
  33. "FlightXML: Flight Tracking API". Retrieved April 2, 2012.
  34. "FlightAware's latest API improvements - Australia, Airline Details, Push Alerts, JSON". Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  35. "Live ADS-B Flight Data Feed (Worldwide)". Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  36. "ARINC Direct Partners With FlightAware To Offer Live Flight Tracking For Business Aviation Operations". Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  37. "Rockwell Collins, SITA Roll Out New Tracking Options For Airlines". Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  38. "IBM's The Weather Company integrates FlightAware global flight tracking data to boost situational awareness, critical decision-making". Retrieved March 30, 2018.
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