June 2004

Flight Ops International is now handling two carriers Polar flights bound for Asia. Singapore being the newest airline, will be beating a path across the North Pole and down through the heart of China on its way to Singapore's Changi Airport (WSSS). June 28th, the soon to be famous day, will inaugurate the worlds longest flight. This flight is seconded only to Singapore Airlines own LAX to SIN route started just 7 months before. Newark Liberty International Airport, home to the world’s first towered field, first paved runway, and first night lighting, now will be the destination for the worlds longest flight by time and distance. These new routes mean a lot of quick learning and a lot of trailblazing. We are proud to be a part of this historical flight.

Landing and Hold Short Operations may become more efficient at major airports across America. Chicago O'Hara, the nation’s largest airport (by landings) will attempt to reduce separation of aircraft from 10,000 feet to 5,000 feet on the ground. The goal is to recreate a more capable airport which can land more aircraft than ever imagined. If successful, many Category X airports will mimic this ground breaking practice. We congratulate ORD for its innovation and look forward to sharing news of its progress with the Flight Ops International at Chicago.

May 2004

Unfortunately, we have not kept our readers abreast to the current projects we are involving ourselves with at FOI. Do not fear we have kept ourselves busy. As January gave way to the short month of February we found ourselves in the midst of training. Chiefly, our focus came to bear on the increasing number of interns from Flight Safety International. Staying on top of the progress and curriculum of these fine junior dispatchers was a pleasure. March ended with the JFK Dispatchers and Operations Managers Group meeting where we said goodbye to our good friend Mr. S.T. Shek. Shek, a longtime Lufthansa dispatcher, was the Chairman of this assembly and has passed on the reigns to Mr. Mauri J. Leppala, manager of Finnair. Simply put, this quarterly meeting is the finest representation of networking and problem solving at JFK International Airport. April we geared up the computer systems at JFK with a new version of SitaTEX, which involved networking all of our hardware. Now, this May, we look forward to training on Singapore’s A340-500 series aircraft. This aircraft will be making the long haul from Newark, New Jersey to Singapore, Singapore. Amazing stuff! Also, we offer a warm welcome to the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University interns that have become a tradition at the JFK station. For the next 16 weeks these college students will be working as international operational dispatchers for the finest airlines on the planet. Here’s to a busy and productive summer. Cheers all!

Not to let the cat out of the bag, but the Port Authority of JFK has recently sneaked a few nightly Notam’s about the WAAS system we’ve heard so much about. Soon, we hope to see some precision GPS approaches.

January 20, 2004

An amazing new online system brought about by Mr. Gerlett from Delta is now being utilized by our Flight Ops Management staff. Coordinating with Air Traffic Control, Port Authority, and Air Carriers at JFK is now measurably easier. This 24 hour 7 day a week service is updated by fellow IROPSnet users which creates a clearer picture of what delays are present and why those delays exist. Keeping each other in the loop and receiving input from peers is the definition of meaningful communication. Flight Ops International is very pleased to have been granted access to this wonderful operational tool and we are looking forward to bringing the benefits to our clientele. More coming soon in the January Newsletter.

October 29, 2003

A quiet sonic boom? How quiet and how sonic will take some time to figure out, but Dryden research analysts and scientists are putting their nose to the grindstone on an old problem once again.

Dryden Test Facility broke the sound barrier when it was unbreakable. Now they wish to silence the disquiet. With an innovated new movable nose cone, test aircraft will try to soften the sound waves emanating from impacted air.

Yes, investors and industry leaders predict this sort of technology will be implemented on all supersonic or near supersonic aircraft.

We will of course keep you all updated on this emerging technology.

September 8, 2003

Today, keeping current with the world of aviation means understanding current ILS/PRM approaches. While still in its infancy, this exciting new program’s goal seeks to solve an old problem of simultaneous approaches to parallel runways under poor weather conditions. FOI will use this month to teach all staff the current process of ILS/PRM approaches. Look for more in the upcoming newsletter.

August 8, 2003

The first meeting of the ICAO NAT Air Traffic Management Group (ATFM) has created some new buzzwords and created some real optimism about the outlook of airline’s scheduled flights. The new buzzwords are of course, "NavCanada" and "Traffic Density Analyzer". NavCanada will be an interactive forum for airlines to collaborate with track planners and Air Traffic Management. The object? To create a daily track schedule and receive the airlines comments about these tracks BEFORE they come out. Very exciting. We will work towards a further reduction in arrival and departure delays, thus suiting the customers and the airlines. The TDA will be a 3-D depiction of traffic volumes and flows online. This depiction will be available online for the use of pilots controllers and dispatchers. For our airlines who wish to find out more contact RomeD@navcanada.ca

Flight Ops International is already a part of this new innovation and we are looking forward to being a part of this wonderful new service.