Ian Sheppard has acted as Editor International Show Editions for AIN since June 2013. Based in the Redhill, England, Ian reports for the various AIN publications as well as providing support to International Editor Charles Alcock in covering international air shows (such as Farnborough, Paris, Singapore and Dubai), and the EBACE and MEBA business aviation events. His central role is to cover Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Prior to becoming more involved with AIN in mid-2011 (initially as deputy international editor), Ian worked for various aviation publications through his company, First Aerospace Media. This included being part of the AIN team covering daily news at international air shows.
Ian has worked for publications such as Flight International (technical reporter, 1997-8) and Aerospace International (editor, 1999-2000). He was publications manager at Airclaims (Ascend) between 2000 and 2004 before forming First Aerospace Media. Since mid-2009 Ian has also been managing editor of Regional International, the journal of the European Regions Airline Association (ERA).
Ian hasis working towards a European commercial pilot licence, having held an FAA private pilot license in 1991, and instructor rating. He also has a degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Bath, England, and a graduate diploma in law from Kingston University, and is a graduate of the legal practice course (College of Law, Guildford).

Editor

Ian Sheppard

Sweden’s Schedaero, a subsidiary of charter booking engine provider Avinode, has made a new iOS app available to all Schedaero following “extensive beta testing and successful integrations with selected members.” The app helps users to streamline flight operations—from accepting new missions&nbsp;and checking crew and passenger information&nbsp;to completing flight and duty logging, while also including information on airports and FBOs.

 


Johan Sjöberg, executive vice president of Schedaero, said the company will showcase the app during its official launch at NBAA-BACE. He told AIN it has been very well received by the 300 or so pilots who have beta-tested it, leading to release of the first version in the run-up to the industry’s largest gathering in Las Vegas. The company had no plans to release an Android version as “most pilots are happy with iOS.”

 


He said the latest feature to be added was flight logging, noting that more&nbsp;features would be added “in the coming months,” including duty logging and expense reporting. “Both of these will be added by the end of the year,” Sjöberg added. In fact, he revealed Schedaero had already “done more than 430 releases already…we do continuous development” in what he describes as a “very sophisticated development process.” Many of the changes have been the result of pilot feedback.

 


The app represents the next step in the digital transformation of flight operations in business aviation, according to the company. For example, Sjöberg said flight logs need entering only once and then this information immediately allows the system to update aircraft records, enabling any notifications to be returned. Use of the app is part of a Schedaero subscription and many operators have a company license based on the number of aircraft in their fleet, he said. A total of around 3,000 pilots have access to the app through their company subscriptions.

 


Sjöberg pointed out that Schedaero goes beyond use by business aviation into airlines and air-taxi operators, as well as larger flight schools. This is beyond the charter database of its parent company, Avinode, which alone has 800 or more operators—and “up in the thousands” of operators worldwide, potentially.

 


He said it was “cool to see” operators adopting the app in their operations “straight away”—something that surprised Schedaero. However, the operators could see the advantages immediately and particularly liked the push notifications. “People are always surprised it does so much,” he said, suggesting “everyone at NBAA should come by our stand to see as so much has changed in Schedaero,” in addition to the new app.

 


He concluded by saying larger operators are showing interest in the API capabilities and some have already integrated it into their own systems. However, he was keen to stress that the app is not a flight planning tool and will not become one, though through its API others can incorporate Schedaero with flight planning tools in their own systems.

Schedaero To Roll Out Flight Crew App at NBAA-BACE

Avinode subsidiary Schedaero says new iOS crew app allows direct entry by pilots, and push notifications including pilot and aircaft status.

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