Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

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Matt Thurber

Two new features are available to ForeFlight Dispatch customers: tracking of their own aircraft and fleets and customizable Trip Support. On Monday, ForeFlight unveiled a contrail-avoidance feature in collaboration with Breakthrough Energy.
These follow recent ForeFlight updates that added EASA compliance settings; landing factor recalculations prior to landing; takeoff and landing data card; missed approach climb gradient in runway analysis; alerts for traffic on the runway that will be used for landing or takeoff; frequencies and airspace alerts; traffic breadcrumbs; and the aeronautical map drawer that enables quick selection between VFR, IFR low, and IFR high layers.
Two versions of the flight tracking are available: standard in partnership with AirNav Systems and using ground ADS-B stations, and enhanced for worldwide and remote-area operations, which uses space-based ADS-B provided by Aireon with datalink support from Arinc. In Dispatch, users can view a flights list, a tracking map, and a details page. The flights list shows a progress bar for each flight, while the details page shows each flight’s data, such as altitude and speed. Weather overlays—including radar and current conditions—displayed by the tracking map can help operators minimize disruptions.
While ForeFlight users can view the internet traffic layer with FlightAware-provided information, said acting v-p of business aviation Kelsey Pittman, “this is more focused on your specific fleet, and you can track your own aircraft.” The tracking information for a particular flight can be shared with a non-Dispatch user.
The enhanced traffic service includes the ground-based ADS-B standard level, and pricing is an add-on subscription by tail number. ForeFlight can show blocked aircraft information, but only to the verified owner of that aircraft. Other aircraft can be tracked, but not their historical information or intentions.
Jeppesen’s International Trip Planning Services (ITPS) has been providing trip support for 30 years, but with both Jeppesen and ForeFlight being part of Boeing, the two companies are working more closely together. Now ITPS is more integrated with Dispatch, and planners can send items such as overflight permits, fuel requests, and slot bookings directly to pilots’ iPads.
Customers can select which ITPS features to use, from securing slots to fueling and ground handling services to full flight planning. Services can be paid for by line item invoicing or with customizable monthly subscriptions.
“It’s not that ForeFlight is getting into [trip planning],” said Pittman. “We’re leveraging a service that’s already in our organization. We identified a pain point where it was hard for customers to know when they needed to reach out for help or how to get that process started.” Now they can choose while using Dispatch what additional help they need and coordinate that with the ITPS team.
“It’s branded ForeFlight Trip Support, but it’s not that these are new services,” she added. “We have people who are tenured in this domain with years of expertise. They know what they’re doing.”
“ITPS—and now Trip Support—has never been a one-size-fits-all solution,” said Mike Bishop, director of flight support services at Boeing Global Services. “We recognize that some operators like to have control over most aspects of flight planning while only utilizing us for specific needs, while others have our team perform every aspect of flight planning from beginning to end. This tighter integration between ForeFlight and our experienced team will allow us to serve our customers better and provide them with a seamless flight planning experience from beginning to end.”

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