Toulouse, France-based Skyconseil is offering EBACE Connect participants a free six-month trial of its Guidor software, which helps dispatchers and flight crew optimize flight paths to avoid hazardous weather and improve efficiency and situational awareness. Guidor is available for Apple iOS and Windows devices, although full functionality is currently possible only with iOS. However, the company does plan to add the full feature set to its Windows version.
According to Skyconseil, although worldwide aviation traffic decreased significantly during the Covid pandemic, projections call for traffic levels to resume climbing. This will make it difficult for the aviation industry to meet objectives for emissions reductions by 2050. At the same time, hazardous weather remains a serious threat and become increasingly challenging due to impacts from global warming.
To mitigate these problems, Skyconseil’s Guidor app is designed to help customers fly optimized trajectories and adjust flight plans dynamically to adapt to rapidly changing weather. Skyconseil has partnered with IBM’s Weather Company, aeronautical information management provider M-click, and connectivity expert Atmosphere to provide services to Guidor users.
The Guidor app helps pilots view detailed information about weather phenomena, including real-time turbulence, and it is updated automatically via onboard airborne connectivity systems. Aircraft position information is plotted on the Guidor moving map, delivered via external GPS connected to the iPad or from an aircraft interface device that is connected to the aircraft’s avionics.
Guidor shows both a moving-map display with the flight-planned route and weather overlays and also a vertical depiction to help pilots choose an optimum altitude. Users can slide back and forward in time to see how the weather changes in relation to the aircraft’s past or projected position. Built-in tools let users optimize the route by changing waypoints, altitude, and speed to see how that affects fuel consumption.
Airports are shown with color-coded graphics to indicate weather conditions, and Guidor shows a constantly updated dynamic list of airports with the flight time to each, in case a diversion becomes necessary. Users can also hand draw a "no-go" area on the map, and Guidor will automatically route around that restriction.
Guidor isn’t just for pilots; it can be deployed with ground-based decision-support personnel such as dispatchers. Companies can also use Guidor to track a fleet of aircraft.
Skyconseil estimates that flight operations that use Guidor can lower operating costs by an average of 1 percent and also reduce carbon emissions significantly. Guidor can be used anywhere in the world, according to Skyconseil.