Are you tracking flight times, cycles, and load manifests on paper? Are you entering flight scheduling information on spreadsheets? Maybe you’re using multiple platforms to achieve your scheduling and reporting goals. Whatever your current system entails, transferring information by hand onto a paper copy is inefficient and increases the risk of human error. An error made on paper or an excel spreadsheet, no matter how small, can wreak big havoc if it’s not caught immediately. Not to mention the fact that it’s probably frustrating your team and dampening company morale. There is a better way.
For your employees and for your bottom line, modern flight scheduling software is a must for smoother operations and more uptime. It can provide schedulers and dispatchers with real-time data and resource availability.
The top 5 benefits of corporate flight scheduling software
- Enhanced communications
- Eliminate schedule conflicts and discrepancies
- Reduce labor and expenses
- Eliminate duplication of efforts
- Gain comprehensive reporting
1. Enhanced communications with flight crew
Many aviation operators, when preparing calendars and schedules for flights, are building trips manually with details like passenger and crew information and compiling those details into an email to send out to the flight crew. Does that sound familiar? If so, how do you know if everyone got the email? Are you tracking people down who didn’t send back a reply?
A great flight scheduling software program connects your crew seamlessly and early, notifying crew about trips immediately on their phones, eliminating the need to track people down, make unnecessary calls, and send numerous emails. Over the course of just one month, that is a huge time savings. For crew, it allows for early notice on what the day holds and allows people to get ahead of pre-trip tasks with briefing details easily accessible on their phones. Additionally, the software can provide your team with one shared up-to-date calendar view, eliminating multiple sources for the same information.
2. Automatic alerts for schedule conflicts and discrepancies
Look for a software solution with automatic feasibility alerting and/or schedule conflicts in the flight logs feature. This dramatically reduces human error, but also notifies your team immediately if a flight cannot be serviced. The software can generate clean formats that are easy-to-read and are error-free. A great software solution will also communicate trip specifics to passengers directly, updating itineraries in real time and automatically sending them to passengers with no need to recreate them or redistribute them.
3. Streamlined flight scheduling process for reduction of labor and cost
Whether you’re an operator with a few or multiple locations, a web-based platform with a single source of truth will be incredibly beneficial and can be tailored to your team with a professional dashboard that is user-friendly. Your team will be more efficient when able to conveniently complete flight logs from a mobile or desktop device and instantly upload all flight operations data into one streamlined program and sync it directly to your company maintenance platform — solving two problems with one integrated platform. Integrating flight scheduling and maintenance operations is a game changer.
4. Elimination of duplication of efforts with linked schedule views
With linked schedule views, all stakeholders involved in the flight planning and scheduling process can access the same information in real time, avoiding the need to manually update multiple schedules. This not only saves time and effort, but also ensures that everyone involved is working with accurate and up-to-date information. By eliminating duplication of efforts, the scheduling process becomes more efficient, streamlined, and less prone to errors, resulting in increased productivity and ultimately, providing a better experience for all parties involved.
5. Comprehensive reporting capabilities
A robust, real-time system is essential for compliance and record keeping. Keeping explicitly accurate records with state-of-the-art technology that is easily accessible will save time, money, and stress.
Does it feel like your data is being held hostage? In today’s modern environment, your team should have immediate access to your data to run as efficiently as possible. Flight teams should be able to track flights and schedules in real-time to prevent the need for data re-entry and increase accessibility and efficiency across the board. An error made on paper or on an excel spreadsheet, at the end of a long day, no matter how small, can result in having to tear up the entire day’s trip log and start all over again to generate an error-free report.
What should business operators look for in a flight scheduling software solution?
A modern, mobile application will eliminate paperwork and give your team real-time access to data anywhere, anytime. It will help you make educated decisions about scheduling in an instant because information is accessible and current, reflecting any changes in real time. In addition to our top must-haves, it’s worth mentioning a few other critical elements that make up a comprehensive flight scheduling software solution.
- Mobile capabilities - A solution that is mobile and easily accessible from a smartphone or tablet. Look for offline capability since an internet connection is never guaranteed and the ability to snap pictures of receipts and or discrepancies that can be attached to Flight Log or Non-Routine.
- Uniquely designed - A great system is designed specifically for your company and your needs. There are a lot of solutions in the marketplace that are not aviation-specific, and that type of functionality is crucial. A great system is uniquely designed for your corporate flight department with your needs in mind.
- Integrated - Look for a software solution that integrates all of your departments and eliminates technological silos.
- 24/7/365 support - The company behind your software should provide support around the clock -- 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Any time software is involved, your team may have questions. Look for a partner that offers a strong customer service culture to give your team a strong level of support around the clock.
- Always evolving - Look for a flight scheduling software partner that is continually updating its offering to make their system better and integrating those updates for you.
Summary
When you’re coordinating multiple flights per day with multiple aircraft and crew, there is a lot of information being disseminated to several different departments. Between crew members, pilots, maintenance technicians, and passengers, there are a lot of details to track with little room for mistakes. A great flight scheduling software program can help your team work smarter, not harder. Finding the perfect program for your team that is modern and customized will not only reduce costs, but it can also help attract and retain top talent, improve reporting accuracy and eliminate digital silos between departments. The ultimate goal is to get more uptime. Contact us today and see the platform in action!
