NASA is now testing a tablet-based “super-app” that it says will help airlines and other operators to save time and reduce fuel consumption by constantly working to help fine-tune the aircraft’s route and altitude. The Traffic Aware Planner application connects directly to the avionics information hub on the aircraft. “It reads the current position and altitude of the aircraft, its flight route, and other real-time information that defines the plane’s current situation,” said David Wing, project lead at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. “Then it automatically looks for a variety of route and/or altitude changes that could save fuel or flight time and displays those solutions directly to the flight crew.”
TAP also can access weather and airspace data, and can scan the ADS-B signals of nearby air traffic. Wing and his team have tested the software twice aboard a Piaggio P180 Avanti aircraft. “We used it to make a route-change request from air traffic control, which they granted,” said test pilot William Cotton. “We got a shortcut that saved four minutes off the flight time.” Even four minutes of flight time shaved off each leg of an airline trip would result in massive fuel and time savings, NASA said. Virgin America and Alaska Airlines now will use the app in real-world tests over the next three years.
