How JetBlue Airways Uses Microweather Forecasts in Daily Operations, Based on Novel Data Sources, New Nowcasting Models, and Products

Detecting and anticipating transient local weather conditions has long been a difficult challenge in commercial aviation. Traditionally, this problem has been tackled by augmenting existing weather observations with additional instrumentation to peek into blind spots near and around airports, such as placing dedicated doppler radars on site at major air traffic hubs or on board the aircraft which fly through their airspace. But critical operations decisions at airports are still heavily based on manual observation or a limited number (usually not more than one) of instrumentation packages.

JetBlue carries more than 40 million customers a year to 102 cities in the U.S., Caribbean, and Latin America with an average of 1,000 daily flights. Like most major airlines, one of the biggest challenges JetBlue faces is how to operate safely and efficiently in difficult weather conditions, particularly as it operates in the northeast, one of the most congested airspaces in the U.S. This challenge is made more difficult because of the gaps in traditional weather forecasting tools which can sometimes misread certain situations leading to unnecessary weather delays or cancellations that impact passengers. To address this challenge, JetBlue has looked to continually add new innovative weather solutions to their operations, with a special focus recently on solutions that help ground operations with decision support. They turned to ClimaCell to help them maximize the amount of data their teams have at their fingertips so that they can make the most informed decisions to emphasize safety and customer experience.

Towards this end, we present a novel weather observation system leveraging a ubiquitous component of modern infrastructure - the wireless networks which carry global telecommunications. Ambient weather conditions can deleteriously impact the performance of these networks and provide a unique way to passively sense the atmosphere. Furthermore, since this infrastructure is widely deployed in both the developed and developing worlds, it provides a means to improve observations of the atmosphere without investing in new remote sensing or instrumentation platforms.

Using a novel signal processing technology employing this telecommunications data, we present a high resolution (with < 1 minute latency in time and spatial resolution up to 300 meters) precipitation data product with applications to real-time detection, nowcasting, and historical re-analysis. This data product yields strong correlation with rain gauges (up to 90%) and outperforms local radar-derived precipitation estimates in many cases, both in terms of measuring the timing and intensity of rainfall.

In June 2017, JetBlue first started using ClimaCell’s HyperCast™ Aviation solution at its operations center in Boston’s Logan Airport (KBOS). From the start, the operations team members saw data that they hadn’t seen in other weather solutions. As part of the program, JetBlue also received meteorology consulting services which included email forecasts before big events and emails or text message alerts at the time that weather conditions hit a certain threshold.

This program also included live support from ClimaCell’s team of meteorologists, support that often helped to bring clarity to complicated weather situations that could have affected passengers. After testing ClimaCell’s solution for six months, JetBlue saw results that led to their decision to roll out the solution in all of its top ten airports:

Safety: First and foremost, the ClimaCell solution could lead to a safer workplace and safer travel for passengers. JetBlue uses ClimaCell’s lightning alerts to keep crew and passengers safe and ClimaCell’s precipitation and temperature data to help shape decisions on timing of take-offs or de-icing protocols.

Improved Decision Support: The JetBlue team has seen many cases when ClimaCell provided information that wasn’t available from other weather solutions. For example, one morning in February 2018, every major weather company was saying a snow storm over Logan Airport in Boston would end around 11:00 AM, while ClimaCell predicted it would end closer to 8:00 AM. This information saves the airline from having to make cancellations that can cost the it tens of thousands of dollars per cancellation and can disrupt the travel of loyal passengers.

Cost Savings: Overall, JetBlue estimates that ClimaCell has the potential to save them as much as $25K-$50K per month per hub during inclement weather months (summer and winter) by assisting with better operational decision-making at the top ten hubs. The data from ClimaCell could help reduce costs associated with unnecessary cancellations/delays, or from spending on other single-purpose weather solutions. In Q1 2018, JetBlue experienced 791 cancellations in Boston due to weather. ClimaCell is best positioned to help influence decisions within the six hour window of the flight time, which would potentially represent 75% of the cost savings, but also save passengers from having to make last-minute plan changes.

Customer Happiness: JetBlue relies on ClimaCell to help them limit the amount of time passengers have to spend waiting on the tarmac or at the gate due to weather conditions, and maximize the time they are moving towards their destination.

Finally, we show that new data sources can be used in conjunction with traditional observation and forecasting tools to develop improved nowcasting models and microweather products. These products could potentially augment decision-making throughout aviation operations, yielding early detection of hazards and allowing early mobilization of suitable responses.