Weather induced flight delays cost the aviation industry billions of dollars annually and they need to stop. For every flight delay or cancellation that occurs there is a flow on effect to thousands of passengers across an airlines’ network.
The question we want to know is ‘what if we had better forecasting?’
Imagine if you could forecast when and where weather would hit to keep passengers in the comfort of the terminal instead of having to sit in a holding pattern mid air or detour to another airport because you’re out of fuel. Imagine if passengers could stay in their homes or hotels because airlines could reliably predict the delay?
On the flip side, what if we had better forecasting that allowed airlines to redistribute their fleet and cancel less flights. For example if an airline can predict weather better they could perhaps combine two flights (if a larger aircraft was available) minimizing the delay or need to accommodate hundreds of passengers. So often flights are delayed or cancelled because they ‘expect weather’ but what if the airline and airport knew more about the weather system and could allow an additional 10 or so flights to take off safety?
The team at Meteomatics are working to minimize the effects of weather on the industry through their development of new drone technology and associated computer modeling.
AirlineRatings caught up with Meteomatics Meteorologist and Aviation Team Lead, Brad Guay, to discuss such a solution.
‘Currently most weather modeling is done through weather balloons which are costly ($400-600USD per release) and have a negative impact on the environment. A drone on the other hand gives instant data to a computer model from all altitudes meaning airlines and airports are able to increase their operational time because they know exactly when and where to expect weather. Weather can change very quickly or so real time data is crucial to maximize efficiency. Currently no technologies measure vertical profiles of the mid and lower atmosphere on a regular basis. Mobile weather drones change all of this and are crucial for an airport.’
With more people flying than ever before the impact of flight delays from weather is reaching unsustainable costs. Brad continues, ‘We cant solve weather but we can maximize the efficiency for airlines and manage weather risk with more modern technology’.
It’s a ‘no brainer’ that this exciting technology needs to become the industry standard and quickly so what are the next steps? Validation, regulation, certification and lastly integration into airline and airport systems. Easy right?
The work currently being conducted by Meteomatics is extremely interesting and you can read more about their solutions for the aviation industry here.
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