How being your own customer elevates product enhancement and validation

Many of the senior management at Satcom Direct hold a pilot’s license, have flown commercial, corporate or military missions, and still enjoy flying regularly. As a business with a global network of 15 locations and customers around the world, we use our small fleet to deliver the familiar benefits of executive aviation to our senior management needing to efficiently progress the business and support customers across the globe.

We are genuine aviators and as such understand the industry’s needs and changing demands. SD’s flight department supports business travel, and also trials and validates the effectiveness and functionality of new products.

We work closely with our flight ops team to develop solutions from the ground up. In fact, the flight department has been integral to the evolution of product development for our business. It initiated the concept of SD Pro and is now fully reliant on the platform for its operations.

SD Pro

SD Pro communicates accurate, comprehensive data for all phases of flight to the entire team. Throughout the mission, from scheduling to post flight administration, critical information is visible in real time from the centralised platform. The SD Flight Department optimises SD Pro to safely and securely facilitate all its flight operations.

Fundamental to the centralised flight operations are the recently enhanced PreFlight and PostFlight modules in SD Pro, enabling all members of the flight department to manage all phases of flight from a single, synchronised dashboard. The detailed scheduling and automated digital flight log capabilities improve efficiencies across the entire flight operation by optimising workflows and simplifying communication.

SD PreFlight now generates crew profiles, aircraft operational status, and fleet availability helping the scheduler to make informed decisions for each mission. The system’s integration with third party vendors enables the filing of a flight plan within the intuitive graphic interface. Once submitted, alerts are automatically sent to relevant crewmembers for up to the minute changes. The SD PostFlight module autonomously and accurately populates the flight log with aircraft and engine times and cycles, with accuracy to the minute. The open architecture system shares this information with third party maintenance providers and OEM engine warranty programs, if desired.

SD PostFlight

Our pilots like the way the automated data feeds SD PostFlight as it is accurate, efficient, and timely as it allows aircrew to log flights immediately after landing. No pilot calculations are required, and the data is easily submitted via our SD Crew App. The result is that SD Pro gives our flight department increased visibility, which results in more efficient aircraft maintenance scheduling.

For the SD Flight Department, and more importantly for SD customers, the cohesive suite of SD Pro modules streamlines operating procedures and enables the user to efficiently manage its assets in a dynamic aviation landscape. SD is committed to innovating products and systems that optimize workflows and simplify communications across all parts of the flight operation, to effectively define new standards for business aviation flight management. We are dedicated to meeting the specific needs of global business aviation operators by enhancing flight operations and efficiency because as aviators, we truly understand how important this is.

BlueSky Business Aviation News | 14th May 2020 | Issue #557