New Web Application Enhances NBAA Air Traffic Services Process

Feb. 24, 2014

Listen to an NBAA Flight Plan podcast about the new NBAA ATS web-based application.

A new web-based application developed by NBAA has proven to be a tremendous boon in the effort to streamline the process of exchanging information between NBAA Air Traffic Services (ATS) and its subscribers.

Based on the floor of the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center near Washington, DC, ATS is an advocate for all of business aviation. On a premium subscription basis, ATS also offers NBAA Members resources to help negotiate some of the toughest, most delay-prone areas of the national airspace system. ATS monitors both the airspace and the flights submitted by subscribers, and then helps operators avoid problems and delays with routing and timing suggestions.

Now, with the advent of a new web-based application, those services are easier to use than ever before, according to NBAA Air Traffic Management Specialist Jim McClay.

“Ever since we started ATS in 2001, the process of getting flight schedules from subscribers has been a manual one,” McClay said. “They sent us a spreadsheet with their flight data and we manually assimilated that spreadsheet into a master document at the beginning of each day. That was pretty time-consuming for both subscribers and ATS specialists.”

The new system enables subscribers to either email their flight plans or post them to an NBAA web page, then use that page to review and even edit their submissions.

“There’s now more than one way to submit flights to us, and subscribers can make changes to their itineraries without having to resend the entire schedule,” McClay said.

The new web application also introduces a new, easier-to-digest format for the expect departure clearance time (EDCT) alerts sent by ATS, which are messages that notify subscribers of FAA EDCTs that could affect their flights. The result: a great improvement for ATS that puts the organization’s specialists back where McClay said they belong.

“By using this new system, we’re able to be more responsive to subscribers in sending EDCT alerts and other flight notifications. That frees us up to get more involved in national airspace system planning,” McClay noted. That benefits both ATS subscribers and NBAA’s wider membership, he said.

For more information on Air Traffic Services, or to become an ATS subscriber, go to www.nbaa.org/about/contact-nbaa/air-traffic-services. Those with questions may email NBAA’s Manager of Air Traffic Services Ernie Stellings at estellings@nbaa.org.