The International Air Transport Association is collaborating with the Weather Company to provide enhanced turbulence-related weather data to airlines.
According to a statement from IATA, the association is expanding the transmission of its turbulence aware data for use within industry-leading aviation solutions by The Weather Company, which serves most North American commercial airlines and many others globally.
”With this enhancement, the participating airline can now access Eddy Dissipation Rate turbulence data directly through Fusion and Pilotbrief tools by The Weather Company,” it said.
It stated that IATA Turbulence Aware would be enabled as an additional data layer within those tools, allowing pilots, dispatchers, and flight planners to have needed turbulence observations integrated directly into their mission-critical applications in one place rather than relying on multiple screens.
“Combining IATA Turbulence Aware observations with forecasts from The Weather Company, the world’s most accurate forecaster, aims to better mitigate the impacts of weather and turbulence for contributing airlines globally,” IATA noted.
It emphasised that accessing real-time, accurate turbulence information enabled pilots and dispatchers to choose optimal flight paths, avoid turbulence and fly at optimum levels to maximise fuel efficiency and thereby reduce CO2 emissions.
IATA Turbulence Aware was launched in 2018 to help airlines mitigate the impact of turbulence, which is a leading cause of passenger and crew injuries, and higher fuel costs each year.
The platform pools anonymised EDR turbulence data from thousands of flights operated by participating airlines.
EDR is the official ICAO and WMO atmospheric turbulence intensity metric.
The Head of Aviation for The Weather Company, Ravi Vanmali, said, “As the weather grows more impactful due to a changing climate, it is critical now more than ever for aviation leaders to incorporate accurate, real-time, globally scaled weather data and insights within decisions.
“Reliable weather data and forecasts, combined with human expertise, can help airlines and pilots plan around inclement weather and turbulence, improve crew and passenger safety, and mitigate impact to the bottom line.”
Also, IATA’s Senior Vice President of Commercial Products & Services, Frederic Leger, said, “We aim to make access to turbulence-related data as simple as possible. By collaborating with The Weather Company, IATA Turbulence Aware data will be available to pilots and dispatchers through existing flight deck and flight planning applications and tools, enhancing the decision-making process in turbulence mitigation and avoidance.”
He stressed that managing turbulence was expected to remain challenging, as climate change continues to impact weather patterns.
According to the association, Turbulence Aware would have implications for both the safety and efficiency of flight, noting that it provides a significant improvement in turbulence reporting and avoiding excess fuel consumption.
“With 21 airlines and over 2,000 aircraft contributing data daily, the IATA Turbulence Aware Platform generated over 380 million turbulence observations in 2023. This data has improved the travel experience for over 700 million passengers,” it added.