Maximising Profit and Efficiency With Spidertracks' Estimated Time of Arrival Feature

July 10, 2018

A key benefit of real-time GPS aircraft tracking is being able to manage your fleet in ways that make your business smarter and more efficient. When you know exactly where each one of your aircraft is at any given moment, you can eliminate overlap and inefficiencies in your scheduling and even decrease overall operational costs.

One of the standard features we offer our customers here at Spidertracks is Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA). ETA shows you exactly when your aircraft will arrive at a particular point — whether it’s their planned final destination or a different place en route. It provides unparalleled situational awareness for operators and allows them to easily make planning and scheduling adjustments on the fly.

So how does it actually work, and what does it offer your business in terms of benefits?

How ETA works

First, you’ll need to navigate to the Flying page in your Spidertracks account. Once you’re there, look to the panel on the left-hand side. You’ll see your points of interest and a bar that says ‘ETA.’

Click the ‘ETA’ bar, and then right-click on the map to drop a marker. The ETA box that pops up on the map will show the time of arrival and the distance to that destination, and the ETA bar in the left-side panel will tell you how many minutes the aircraft is from arriving at the point you’ve chosen.

To move the ETA location, just click and hold on the ETA box, and drag it wherever you’d like. To remove the ETA box, just click on the ETA bar in the left-side panel.

A quick note: if an aircraft isn’t active or moving, the ETA function won’t work.

The benefits of ETA

Being able to see exactly where your aircraft are and how far they are from a given point offers three main benefits to your aviation operation.

First, it can help you improve your customer service. Having visibility over arrival times and knowing whether or not your aircraft will be where you’ve said they will when you’ve said they will means you can effectively coordinate downstream services (cleaning, maintenance, refueling, etc.), advise customers of any delays in a timely manner, and ensure the utmost billing accuracy.

Second, it enhances pilot and crew safety. If one of your aircraft misses an ETA, you’ll know immediately. You can then take swift action to determine what’s happened and decide how to deal with it — whether that means implementing an emergency response or simply communicating with your pilot for details.

Third, ETA provides you with the ability to schedule your daily operations with an invaluable level of confidence and accuracy. You can maximise the time your aircraft are actually operating and making money, thereby increasing your overall operational efficiency and business profitability.

Give ETA a try today by taking a Spidertracks demo!

Have questions about ETA or just want to learn more about Spidertracks in general? Contact us here.

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