Tuesday, August 30, 2011

3 Key Challenges to ‘Open’ Airline Messaging

We’re often asked: “What makes AvFinity unique among aviation messaging companies?”

We think three qualities stand out that make us stand out in an industry that has long been offered limited choices.

1. We simplify things: Our communications experts have spent years deconstructing the aviation messaging system in order to better understand its legacy roots and how it functions through today’s cutting edge technologies. As a result of those efforts, we have developed software technology that enables each airline to control its own communications.

2. We transfer knowledge: After deconstructing the legacy messaging system, our communications experts transfer all the know-how on dealing with legacy architectures, disparate systems, multiple protocols and vast arrays of formats into a single box. We call it the AvFinity Integrated Router Solution (AIRS™) and it is a powerful Cisco manufactured router that plugs into a system and goes to work immediately. Its optimal environment is when it communicates between disparate systems. But it handles communications between similar systems with ease.

3. We promote collaboration: Our airline clients are anxious to share their new ideas about how to use AIRS with subsidiaries, code-share partners, GDSs, government agencies and much more. We encourage and assist that collaboration. And we’re proud to say that our clients have developed many really unique concepts like SMS alerts for APIS that were just on wish lists a few years ago.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Breaking the lock-in of legacy airline messaging

At a recent IT Summit held in Brussels, Jaan Albrecht, CEO of the STAR Alliance, highlighted one of the aviation industry’s major problems: Type B - a legacy messaging protocol. What became obvious from his message is that airlines need to escape from the lock-in to this type of legacy messaging.

Every day, airlines seek to improve and modernize their communications and messaging systems. The most appropriate way forward is to migrate from legacy proprietary systems and toward adoption of open, standard and more flexible technologies.

AvFinity is the first data communications company in aviation history that puts airlines in control of flight-critical and other communications. Our software technology is proven and unique in the industry as a solution that provides airlines with efficient communications that they control.

Instead of sheltering old messaging protocols, we simplify the communications environment by making airlines specialists of their own messaging using standard IP-based systems architectures.

Instead of legacy lock-ins, we promote continuous knowledge transfer, so our technology serves as a platform to provide open messaging systems.

And instead of encouraging ‘silo’ mentalities among airlines about their communications, we promote collaboration around communities.

After all, that’s what successful airline communication will be about in the future. Why not start today?

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

AFTN/NADIN X.25 connections are down for maintenance, but AvFinity is still filing flight plans via CMHP for our clients!
Helping a Canadian helicopter pilot create an APIS Navigator account to file a last minute manifest to USCBP. He self-registered and is ready to file in less than an hour.