Managing weather-related diversions through automated detection

Each year severe weather causes countless numbers of en-route commercial flights to divert from scheduled destinations to alternate airports. Such diversions represent a serious problem for the airlines in terms of both additional operating costs and customer dissatisfaction. The ability to anticipate weather-related diversions and minimize their impact on flight operations is critical to ensuring both passenger safety and airline profitability.

In a severe weather situation, the fact that one flight has been diverted often signals that more diversions will follow. Sonalysts' Diversion Alert™ software provides timely notification of diversion events and allows airline meteorologists and dispatchers to better manage their response to severe conditions. The system detects diversions by monitoring the FAA's Aircraft Situational Display data feed and combines that information with an extensive assortment of weather data (including Doppler radar, near real-time lightning detection, satellite imagery, and station reports). This synergy of weather and aviation information provides airlines with a powerful tool for responding to a challenging problem.