FAA’s Wilbur To Improve Flight Delay Data Efficiencies

The FAA is implementing a new system, dubbed Wilbur, to identify inefficiencies across the National Airspace System (NAS) and modernize how flight delay data is used. In a memorandum released by the U.S. DOT late last week, the FAA outlined its plan to further implement Wilbur, a data solution introduced in 2022, to automate processes for collecting, validating, and improving data reliability and timeliness.

According to the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization’s Office of Performance Analysis (AJR-G), Wilbur will allow agency users to combine several data systems to access flight data in near-real time. An FAA audit of NAS operations between February 2025 and this month found that “reliance on manual entry, inconsistent reporting of delay causes, and manual data validation reduced the data’s reliability.”

As mandated by the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, the FAA assessed the capabilities of its official flight activity and delay data source, OpsNet. Despite numerous upgrades over 25 years, OpsNet “remained an obsolete system that inhibited FAA from fully understanding NAS operations and delays,” according to the memorandum.

To address these shortfalls, Wilbur will automate three major processes: extraction, transformation, and loading. First, the system is used to extract flight activity and delay data from multiple sources into a single integrated dataset. Then the data is transformed through multiple validation and standardization procedures. Finally, the dataset is loaded into one source, maintained in the NAS data warehouse, where it remains available to AJR-G for retrieval and reporting, the FAA said.

Additional data sources, such as Terminal Flight Data Manager, will further enhance AJR-G’s breadth of flight data. According to the FAA, Wilbur will also leverage updated data architecture and cloud-based solutions to provide data to all FAA users in near-real time.

In 2024, the FAA originally estimated that Wilbur would be fully implemented by 2029 with full funding. In FY 2024 and FY 2025, the initiative received partial funding. In FY 2026, the initiative received a total of $22.7 million, accelerating its implementation with an “optimistic” completion by 2028, according to the agency.