Latest Enhancement To Airtext Airborne Messaging System Links Charter And Repair Station Fleet Aircraft To Each Other And To Base

ATI Jets, a charter service and certified repair station in El Paso, Texas has announced that  it is installing Airtext’s FleetLink on its charter fleet of Learjets. ATI will utilize FAA Form 337s to equip each of its aircraft with the Airtext devices, wiring and antennas. It recently debuted FleetLink to provide a savvy data link to enable pilots to better manage their flight operations and reporting systems.  

Airtext expands the capabilities of the flight crew, by allowing the crew to request and receive international METARS and TAFS, send and receive messages airplane to airplane, and communicate from a dispatcher’s personal computer to a pilot or passenger. A dispatcher can illuminate a cockpit annunciator for pilot notification and track and coordinate multiple aircraft and crews simultaneously.  

“Airtext’s FleetLink is ideal for us,” said Lyle Byrum, Chief Executive Officer of ATI Jets.  “It’s extremely easy to install and use. We have a fleet of eight Learjets—two Model 60s, a Model 35 and five 55s—and we were able to simply replace outdated Iridium phones, do some basic tests and load analysis and get the installations signed off by our DER with logbook entries and we’re good to go.  It’s an extraordinarily practical and economical way to communicate and monitor our operations.

To facilitate ATI’s desire to “activate” the FleetLink every time the aircraft become airborne, Airtext designed FleetLink with an integrated GPS function that is integrated into the Flight Management System.  It detects when the airplanes reach flying velocity and generates an “airborne” message.  It monitors the progress of the flight until the speed is reduced to landing velocity, providing a full summary of each trip. It allows ATI to immediately collect data on hours and cycles flown and identify maintenance issues.  

“At this NBAA convention, we have rolled out a number of continued data link developments,” stated David Gray, founder and chief executive officer of Airtext.  “These are pilot-centric functions of the low cost data solution we previously introduced. Air-text offers passengers a ‘pay-as-you-go’ formula which has proven to be very useful and popular with flight departments.  Many who had previously been turned off by expensive subscription/hourly based solutions offered by other text and talk companies  have been pleased to discover that Airtext is a tremendous value with an impressive speed of delivery experience.”

(Source: Airtext media release)

FMI: airtext.aero