Story ID: 113June18
Flight Key Aims To Simplify Communication
By: Samantha Cartaino
Caption: Flight Key is a web-based platform that connects flight departments, charter operators, crews, brokers, and passengers so they can communicate in one place
Word Count: 501
Communication is key when it comes to aviation, but it can easily become fractured when conveying messages among multiple parties. Web-based platform Flight Key focuses on connecting flight departments, charter operators, crews, brokers, and passengers so they can communicate and collaborate in one location. The iOS- and Android-friendly platform is designed for managing, planning, scheduling, and monitoring flight operations worldwide and in real time.

Sometimes, communication throughout the entire flight process can be tiresome. “There’s a huge disconnect in the communication that happens from the time that the flight is booked until the time the plane lands at its destination, the crew completes their jobs, and the passengers get on their way,” Len Tambasco, Flight Key’s worldwide sales representative, told AIN. “It’s very redundant. There are so many text messages, phone calls, emails. ‘Where’s my crew?’ ‘How’s the weather?’ Our whole purpose behind the design is to eliminate all of those phone calls.”

Flight Key allows the user to compile the basic details of a new flight and then invite participants to follow along. These participants can include the operator, ground transportation, catering, executive assistants, aircraft brokers, the passengers themselves, and more. Participants can easily communicate with one another through a live chat feature in the platform.

Users can assign each participant a different task that shows up in the platform for everyone to see. For example, a user can assign the catering provider to order items. Once catering has completed the order, they can indicate it has been completed in the platform and all of the participants will see the order has been completed with a timestamp. Ultimately, this kind of communication can eliminate paper trip sheets.

This platform is also customizable for different situations. “We’ve been working with maintenance facilities to set up maintenance templates, emergency response, and even a natural disaster entity that watches out for oil spills,” Tambasco told AIN. “We’ve worked on regular medevacs, your typical charter, and cargo. The system can be customized for basically anything that has to do with an airplane to some extent.”

Flight Key is available through two types of subscriptions. The first is unlimited use based on fleet size. The smallest subscription is the Bronze status, which costs $300 a month for a fleet of between one and five aircraft. The largest subscription is the Platinum status, which is $950 a month for a fleet of 30 or more. The other type of subscription is single use. A single use of the platform is $20 for one time while 20 flights is a one-time payment of $350 and 50 flights is a one-time payment of $750.

Looking forward, Tambasco hopes to evolve the platform to incorporate more features. “Eventually there will be other features that make the crew's life easier, whether it be voice activation, less physical interaction, possibly the introduction of Smart Watch,” he told AIN. “Our vision is to focus on efficiency and simplify communications.”