LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

OUR LATEST DEVELOPMENTS FOR THE REACH AERO PLATFORM

29 March 2022

Alert Notifications

The NEW Alert Notification Module is a powerful and flexible system that unifies all outgoing alerts and notifications for the SkyNet Reach portal. This system will replace the current Arrival Alert and Alarm Recipient systems, with existing rules and destinations transferred over to the new module. The system is built upon a user-defined address book with custom rule sets conditional by associated trigger actions. Notifications can be designed for SMS and/or e-mail single or continuous reuse.

Rules

Rules are separated into two broad permission categories: Rules that a User can create and own, and some rules are owned by Admins or other Users but that you are a recipient of. You may, however, choose to unsubscribe from these rules by opening the rule context menu and selecting “Unsubscribe”, and the rule will then be taken off your list.

Alerts

The Alert Information section defines the core features of the rule. What event should trigger this notification, which aircraft are included, and when should it be sent relative to that event. It also contains options for controlling whether other users can edit this event, a label to identify the event, and whether the event should be resent if changes are made after the notification time.

Outgoing Notifications

By default, the outgoing notification includes only the event type, time, label, and aircraft name, with times in UTC. Extra information, including current aircraft location, additional time zones, or flight manifest, can be added to the outgoing notification.

Filters

The Filter Options section can be used to customize the scope of the rule by adding additional restrictions to the outgoing alert. Here you can set up conditions based on various parameters such as departure/arrival points, flight categories, numbers, or other flight information fields. Every condition added in this section will need to be passed before an event is processed and dispatched.

notification-filter-options

Destinations

The Destinations section controls who receives the notifications. From here, you can add yourself or other REACH users, Address Book contacts, or groups. You can also define custom destinations specific to each rule. When the rule is activated, these destinations will receive e-mail / SMS alerts as specified.

26 October 2021

Airport Local Times

This new feature allows the user to choose how to view schedule information within Flight Control. This feature can be activated either through your User Profile Preferences page, or the toggle button on Flight Control.

When active, this option will cause departure and arrival times to be displayed in the local time zone of the airport, rather than your local time. This will allow you to clearly see when a flight will arrive or depart, regardless of where you are in the world.

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Profile

The profile window has been updated to include the ability to set your preferred system preferences. From the User Profile page, you can now set your preferred method for viewing schedule information, as well as the type of map you prefer to use throughout the system.

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Internet Explorer – End of Support

In line with Microsoft’s decision to remove support for Internet Explorer for mapping services, SkyNet have also discontinued support for all versions of Internet Explorer.  Continued use of this browser may result in poor performance, graphical errors or stability issues.

Please upgrade to a modern, supported browser such as Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Apple Safari.

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Flight Records – Engine Data

SkyNet have implemented several improvements to the Flight Records module and its handling of Engine Data.  A new column, Engine Block, has been added, which shows either the total engine run time in minutes, or Running, if the engine did not switch off at the end of the flight.

SkyNet have also implemented several back-end performance enhancements to improve your overall experience.

13 September 2021

Flight Data Analytics and Performance – (BETA)

SkyNet is pleased to announce the launch of FDAP (Flight Data Analytics and Performance) system this service is still in continuing development and undergoing system testing. Many new data performance parameters will be available depending on the model and version of ADS-B Out equipment used on each aircraft. Performance data may be collected at up to 1 second increments and stored for review of each complete leg flown.

Currently the FDAP system automatically analyses completed flights for excessive descent, speed and altitude changes and flags any abnormal behaviours against the flight.

These values can be enabled or disabled on a per aircraft basis via the Edit Aircraft option in the Administration module.

The FDAP system is accessible via the Flight Records module using the Map Link/FDAP button.  It provides a summary of the peak values found during each individual flight, as well as a table of each exceedance detected, and how long the exceedance occurred for.

All available data from the flight record is also provided at the top of the mapping section.

Additionally, by selecting any individual marker on the map display, extended positional detail can be viewed in the right-hand panel, providing the most comprehensive report on the exact state of your aircraft at that moment possible.

To assist with detailed analysis, the raw data for the flight can also be downloaded, either as a CSV, or KML file to analyse any specific area of the complete flight.

Flight Records

The Flight Records module has also been upgraded with new Time Selections fields and Use UTC options available for use.

Time Selection

The new Time selection fields now allow you to add times to your search, giving you more control over what flights to display.

Use UTC

The Use UTC option updates the search and data display to use the UTC time for flight events instead of your local time zone.

Column Selection

We have included new fields that are available for selection in the ‘Show/Hide Columns we have also re-ordered the display to a logical start and end of flight making it easier to review any flight segment.

NEW ETI / ATI fields

Flight Control has added two new fields to provide quick and easy flight time assessment of any scheduled flight route or a completed flight segment. Estimated Time Interval is shown in the Current Scheduled Flights area and Actual Time Interval is displayed in the Flights Terminated column for quick reference.

25 August 2021

SkyNet REACH Day of Operations Ecosystem Partnerships – Never before has there been such deep data automation

SkyNet Aviation has released significant developments, upgrades and enhancements during the past 12 months and is now aligning these updates with new terminology and embracing the full capabilities of the SkyNet REACH Ecosystem Partnerships.

The Ecosystem enables the live dynamic integration of your aircraft flight data including, location, flight times, schedules, cycles, block time, crew and passenger manifest into typical static applications, including Dispatch, Crewing, Reservations, and Engineering MRO and Weather watch services to bring them alive.

Coupled with SkyNet REACH’s rich Scheduling and detailed Dashboards designed for deep analytics and advanced flight records, the Ecosystem provides real-time intelligence and decision support.

More Partnerships will be added so each customer can design their unique requirements. The current available Ecosystem Partnerships are available for immediate connection and integration with SkyNet REACH Day of Operations.

Please review the new Menu Dashboard layout and note the external Partnership links; these will take you to the relevant home page, or if you are an Ecosystem customer, ask how this can be linked to your provider account to enable data sharing.

If you are not sure how to participate or enrol in SkyNet’s Ecosystem program, enquire today and start automating data into all your compliance applications.

Updates/Rebranding

As part of our continuous improvement process, modules across the entire SkyNet REACH platform have been rebranded and made easier to access:

Flight Monitoring becomes Flight Control

Reporting becomes Analytics

Reporting History becomes Flight Fusion Analysis, and is now available from the Main Menu as well as the Analytics module

The Turnaround Report is now available from the Main Menu as well as the Analytics module.  The Analytics module (formally Reporting) has also had a facelift, and now provides access to more analytics than ever before.

30 July 2021

Curfew Report

What is it?

If your fleet operates out of airports that carry curfews on landings, the Curfew Detection System will raise a flag against any landing which violates that curfew.

How does it work?

Regardless of whether the curfew applies for a few days, on just a single runway, or the entire airport, as soon as your aircraft lands, the Curfew Detection System will identify whether it has violated a curfew.

If a curfew violation is detected, a report is generated and made available through the Flight Records module

The full Curfew Violation report is available by pressing the Curfew button.

This report will provide you with a complete picture of the flight leading up to the landing, including:

  • Which runway the landing occurred on,
  • the weather forecasts and observations at the time of the landing,
  • the approach path of the aircraft, including heading speed and altitude in the 15 minutes prior to landing.

08 July 2021

Weather Information

SkyNet is pleased to announce that the Flight Monitoring System has been upgraded to provide the latest weather imagery from our partners at DTN, as well as much more.

All new Weather Panel

The Weather panel has been updated to provided extended METAR and TAF information. Australian customers in particular can now enjoy extended regional coverage thanks to DTNs Australian arm, WeatherZone.

As well, for the first time NOTAM data is available through the same interface, providing everything you need in one easy to access panel.

Coupled with the latest imagery along the route, it has never been easier to see the weather affecting your fleet.

Updated Flight Information Panels

Reaching this information has also never been easier, in addition to the existing link on the airport info window, the Flights commenced and Current Scheduled Flights panels now provide direct links to the weather for both the arrival and destination ports in a single click.

25 June 2021

Weather Dashboard

SkyNet is pleased to announce the BETA release of the updated Weather Dashboard. This system replaces the current Weather Forecast panel and provides additional tools and information to assist with flight information.

Map Interface

The Weather Dashboard now provides a map interface that allows you to view the latest radar, observation and forecast imagery provided by DTN, directly overlayed on your fleet of aircraft. Up to 12 layers can be displayed simultaneously, allowing you to build a complete picture of conditions anywhere on the planet, in real-time, customised to your exact needs.

All weather imagery can also be animated to show developing trends. Want to see that weather front approaching? Load the last few hours of data and press play!

Please be aware that this feature is still experimental, and may be subject to change.

Panel Interface

Users can see a detailed summary of your fleet. You will be able to see each aircrafts’ current location and view details about the take-off and landing airports the aircraft will be using.

When viewing an airport, you will be able to view all of the key weather data available, fully decoded METARs TAFS, and NOTAMs will be available to view.

Upcoming schedules can also be viewed from this dashboard. Selecting a scheduled flight will provide you with the full weather details for both points in the flight, as well as highlight the direct path between the points on the map interface, allowing you to identify which, if any, weather systems may impact the flight.

04 May 2021

We are excited to announce that REACH Aero now natively supports warning and emergency level transponder codes.

Fleet Aircraft

In the event that an aircraft in your fleet squawks one of these codes, an alarm will be generated and displayed for users monitoring via either Flight Monitoring or through the Google Earth KML feed. This process works similarly to pilot-activated duress alarms.

The supported transponder codes are:

  • 7600 – Radio failure / lost communications – Warning Level
  • 7500 – Aircraft Hijacking – Critical Level
  • 7700 – Emergency – Critical Level

 

To accommodate this update, we have made a minor adjustment to the icon colour schemes used in Flight Monitoring.

Previously an aircraft went into an amber/warning state if it was in-flight and more than 6 minutes had gone by without receiving a fresh position report, and then into the red/critical state after 12 minutes.

After the update, the warning threshold state of 6 minutes will remain, however, the critical threshold will be removed and an aircraft will only go red when there is an active, known emergency on board as determined by either the pilot activated duress or receipt of an emergency level transponder code for the aircraft.

 

Green

Warning

Critical

Previous

Status Normal

>6 minutes without a position report

>12 minutes without a position report

OR

Pilot activated duress

Post-Update

Status Normal

>6 minutes without a position report

OR

Warning level transponder code

Pilot activated duress

OR

Emergency level transponder code

Note: Transponder codes are received via the ADS-B network, so will be non-functional for aircraft operating without an ADS-B transponder or aircraft operating outside ADS-B coverage.

To learn more about the coverage of your fleet, the Flight Monitoring page has an ADS-B heatmap overlay which provides a visual representation of the coverage obtained for your aircraft based on the last 10 days of your aircraft’s flights.

Note: Should the ADS-B heatmap coverage not be available for any chosen route, please contact SkyNet for enquiries on how to increase the coverage for specific areas.

Other Aircraft

  • To complement the transponder changes, the Flight Monitoring traffic layer will be updated to show the emergency statuses of any unrelated aircraft in the area. Aircraft on this layer is typically represented by a white icon, however, if the aircraft squawks one of the warning or emergency transponder codes, then the icon will change to the relevant amber or red and begin to flash.

AU Maintenance Codes

In addition to the warning and emergency transponder codes, we will also start listening for the 2100 code for ground testing by aircraft maintenance staff in Australia. Position reports and other data received under this squawk will be filtered out of the primary data feeds to ensure testing can be performed without causing confusion for flight operations or interfering with the system.

08 April 2021

Improved Taxi Monitoring

Changes in our data processing have improved on-ground taxi times for airports with significant ADSB ground coverage. Block times are now determined by on-ground movement reports, with airport-specific estimates used where ground reporting is insufficient. IO-based engine events remain separately tracked.

FIDS Upgrade

The FIDS board now displays a variety of pre and post-flight aircraft statuses. Taxiing aircraft or those with recently completed flights will now display below the IN FLIGHT entries. To accommodate the increased range of status the colouring of aircraft status has been reworked into a primary and accent system as below.

Flight Records

Flight Records has been updated to match the improved taxi monitoring with new columns for separating taxi blocks from IO-based engine events. The table now features a direct map link to the full flight reporting history, with all ground reports highlighted in a darker shade.

Manifest Distribution Upgrade

We have made some improvements to the automated manifest distribution system. Now when you create or edit a flight via the Flight Editor, you can specify when you would like the manifest to be distributed via the Manifest Distribution Settings link in the header bar.

Clicking this link will open the Manifest Distribution Settings Overrides dialog, from which you can specify the distribution settings to use for this selected flight. Changing the settings here will not affect other flights.

When you have selected your desired settings, press the “Save” button in the bottom to close the dialog and return to the Flight Editor. Pressing the green “Save” button in the Flight Editor will then commit your changes.

New flights will always use your company-wide default distribution setting, which can be updated as desired by your system administrator or by contacting SkyNet Support.

21 January 2021

Flight Schedules

We are excited to announce the release of the successor to the Schedule Manager module, the Flight Schedules and Flight Editor pages. These new tools are focused around simplifying and assisting data entry to make the process of adding and updating schedules as fast and fluid as possible.

With the new modules we have moved away from single, individually editable flight sectors towards grouping multiple sectors together into a ‘flight route’ which can be created and edited as a single entity. 

The new Flight Schedules page gives you the controls to:

  • View the full list of all upcoming flight schedules
  • Filter this data to quickly find specific sectors via an array of filter options
  • Easily jump to the schedules for a specified aircraft or date
  • Links to the Flight Editor pages for creating and editing flight routes
  • Transfer sectors between aircraft
  • Cancel sectors
  • Activate or deactivate scheduled sectors

 

Flight Editor

The new Flight Editor page is where you can create or edit a flight route, which consists of one or more sector schedules. From this page you can:

  • Add, edit or remove a sector to/from the flight route
  • Assign crew to sectors
  • Assign passengers to sectors

The Flight Editor module is separated into four distinct sections: flight information, sectors, crew and passengers.

Flight Information

The Flight Information sector contains the information that is shared across all the sectors in the flight route, such as the flight reference, flight category and contract.

It also contains the controls to:

  • Manage manifest distribution via the “Send Manifests” checkbox
  • Toggle the use of Passenger Standard Weights or Passenger Specific Weights
  • Change the Flight Confirmed status
  • Manage the Repeat tool (available for new flight routes only)

 

Sectors

The Sectors section lists all of the scheduled sectors in the flight route. From here you can view and edit the sector specific information such as aircraft, flight number, departure and arrival points and times.

Crew

The crew section can be used to add, change and remove crew from individual sectors.

SkyNet offer an integration service into crew rostering third party applications such as Avinet’s Air Maestro software. If you subscribe to a third-party crewing system and wish to explore integration possibilities with the SkyNet system, don’t hesitate to get in contact with the team.

For integrated systems, these crew selections will be populated by data fetched directly from your company’s third-party system. For non-integrated systems, this crew information can be manually entered and controlled with the Manage Crew system.

Passengers

The SkyNet Passenger system can support integrations with dedicated third-party reservations systems or can operate independently, on its own. Please contact SkyNet for more information if you are interested in integrating your third-party system.

 

Scheduling Assists

Rolldown Rules

The aircraft and flight number fields in the Sectors section, as well as crew additions, edits and removals in the Crew section follow the rolldown rules.

Departure and Arrival Times

To make scheduling flights quick and easy, the following rules are applied automatically to unlocked departure and arrival times:

  • Departure times are set to the previous leg’s arrival time +30 minutes for turnaround
  • Arrival times are set to the departure time plus the estimated time interval (ETI) of the sector

 

Route Template Manager

To match the changes to scheduling we are also rolling out some feature upgrades to the Route Template Manager, which introduce the concept of a flight profile.

A flight profile is attached to a route and contains a flight number and departure and arrival time for each of the route’s sectors. A route can have multiple profiles, each of which can be setup for various times of the day with various flight numbers as desired.

The goal of this new feature is to compliment the new ‘Create from Template’ system in scheduling. With your common routes and profiles setup in Route Template Manager, you will be able to quickly and easily create new schedules.

28 October 2020

Reporting History

The Reporting History module has received an update! In addition to the existing options, you can now view the flight history for an aircraft in Google Earth as well.

By using the Download KML option, the flight data will open directly in Google Earth, allowing you to view it in any dimension.

Please note, you will require the Google Earth Pro app on your PC for this function to work. Get it here for free.

15 October 2020

Flight Information Data System

The FIDS environment has been updated to provide greater detail for your flights. The Actual Departure time now reflects the time the aircraft begin its taxi. The actual take off time is also now shown in a separate column, giving you a clearer picture of these key flight events, and more accuracy in departure delay statistics.

Improvements have also been made to the ETA calculation algorithm to provide even more accurate arrival estimates. In addition, SkyNet will be commencing a program to further enhance the ETA algorithm to allow for mid-flight delays, such as holding, or ATC instructions.

14 September 2020

Security Updates Including Profile Page & Forgot My Password

We have designed a new process to expand the user login security and included with this update a new function to enable ‘Forgot My Password” reset system. To facilitate this system, we have introduced a two-factor authentication process including a Profile Page which you can access from the Main Dashboard via the drop-down list in the header bar.

The Profile Page provides controls to edit your basic account details such as name and password, as well as an option to set up and register an email and mobile number with SkyNet.

screenshot of profile page

To register for the Forgot My Password system we require a verified email and/or mobile number on your account. Submit these details into the Profile Page and then press the Verify button and follow the prompts.

The Forgot My Password system can be accessed on your company’s SkyNet login page. If required, you can click on this link and follow the prompts to get a new temporary password sent out to one of your verified points of contact.

Two Factor Authentication Security Upgrades

To compliment the release of the ‘Forgot My Password’ system, we have deployed new security upgrades on the REACH service to both improve your user experience of the system and provide better protection against malicious attempts to gain un-authorised access.

01 July 2020

Route Template Manager

A route template can be used to streamline the process of creating flight schedules. The template contains an ordered list of arrival and departure destinations and can be applied to the Schedule Manager to pre-fill these sections of the form.

The Route Template Manager is a place where you can manage these templates and can be accessed via the link on the main dashboard or through the Schedule Manager.

route template manager