Boeing-owned electronic flight bag and flight planning app developer ForeFlight has purchased CloudAhoy, a flight data analytics provider. CloudAhoy began offering post-flight debriefing services in 2011 and has expanded into more detailed analytics based on flight data and more recently launched flight operations quality assurance (FOQA) analysis.
In its early days, CloudAhoy, founded by Chuck and Tani Shavit, uniquely gave pilots a way to review flights based on recorded GPS data. As aircraft became equipped with sophisticated avionics, more flight data became available, and analytics software such as CloudAhoy’s delivered increasingly refined post-flight analyses at a reasonable cost. Now CloudAhoy’s FOQA service is making flight data monitoring capabilities such as FOQA available to far more pilots and operators at a fraction of the cost of traditional analytics companies that pioneered FOQA.
The ForeFlight app’s track log can automatically record flight data, and even the smallest aircraft can use ForeFlight’s Sentry series ADS-B receivers to capture attitude and heading reference system (AHRS) data to refine the track log recording. Other equipment can tap into aircraft databases to download AHRS and air data to feed analytics programs such as CloudAhoy.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but the deal is “an example of Boeing’s larger strategy to continue building capabilities that will support customer needs today and into the future,” according to Brad Surak, v-p of digital aviation solutions, Boeing Global Services.
CloudAhoy’s current pricing is $65/year for the standard version and $150/year for the pro version, which includes the CFI Assistant scoring system, instrument approach profiles, and other advanced features. When CloudAhoy announced its FOQA service last year, the anticipated cost was about $2,000/year per aircraft.
“We are excited to become part of ForeFlight and Boeing, and for the opportunity to have a growing impact on aviation safety,” said CloudAhoy CEO Chuck Shavit. “We have known the ForeFlight team for many years and share a passion for aviation and the customer.”