Story ID: 
Swiss pilot launches charter ops software
By: Charles Alcock
Caption: Swiss business aircraft pilot Stefano Costi has launched a new operations-management system that he claims will offer the most integrated and intuitive sof
Word Count: 412
Swiss business aircraft pilot Stefano Costi has launched a new operations-management system that he claims will offer the most integrated and intuitive software available today. Costi’s firm, Business Jet Associates, developed the system, called Bizflight, with Swiss software house Travico. The software package, which relies on Windows architecture, can assist private, corporate and executive charter operators in making the best use of aircraft and crew resources while adhering to training and maintenance requirements, among other regulations.

A User-friendly System
An online demonstration of the system for AIN showed Bizflight to be a very user-friendly and flexible system. Scheduling a series of charter flights–managing aircraft and crew availability–was simple after only a few minutes’ guidance.
In addition, Bizflight draws on well organized databases for the operator’s fleet, customers and employees. For example, the fleet database contains full details about each aircraft.
The software can flag important aircraft information, such as pending overhaul dates, so the scheduler does not encounter any unforeseen dispatch issues. Similarly, the crew database can remind the user about important crew information, such as a pilot’s next medical examination or recurrent training appointment. It can also store and produce licensing and registration documents. The customer database can maintain a detailed list of client preferences, such as aircraft type and catering.
The program, which includes operations checklists and “to do” lists, can create templates for sending quotes to customers, with standard formatting currently available in any language, and deliver data required for accounting purposes.
Bizflight uses an “integrated route finder” to calculate optimum routings, taking into account factors such as historical wind data. The databases include access to Ac-u-Kwik’s airport and FBO information service and can flag high- and low-yield airport options (based on landing and handling fees), as well as preferred service providers.
Bizflight also features an interface with Air Charter Guide’s Charter X online charter availability. The new software is also compatible with the Avinode charter database.Costi and his team are developing a text interface to the SITA aeronautical communications system, which will be available soon. He intends to add a full aircraft maintenance supervision module by next March, and an interface for flight-planning systems and aircraft performance and weight-and-balance log functions are also in the works.
Bizflight (www.bizflight.net) is priced at around $12,000 (€10,000), which includes all available system enhancements.