This guide provides a detailed walkthrough of the new software designed to streamline the management of your private aircraft crew and fleet. We'll cover personnel data, crew qualifications, scheduling, aircraft maintenance, and more, all within a unified system.

Part 1: Crew Management

This section focuses on the features and functionalities for managing your flight personnel.

1. Navigating the People Section: Your Crew Hub

The People Module also includes Passengers and Users to be outlined in a separate guide

To begin managing your crew, navigate to the "People" section of the application.

• Filtering for Crew: You can easily filter this section to view only "Crew Members," providing a focused list of your flight personnel.
• Accessing Crew Member Profiles: Selecting a crew member from the list opens their individual profile, containing comprehensive data.

2. Understanding Crew Member Data

Within a crew member's profile, you'll find various tabs and sections. We'll focus on the crew-specific information:

• Crew Activities:
• This section allows you to log and track all crew-related activities beyond flight duties.
• You can create a customized list of activity types (e.g., Standby, Positioning, Training, Meetings), categorized for easy organization.
• For each activity, you can specify:
• Begin and End Dates.
• Whether the activity accrues duty time.
• Specific details relevant to the activity type (e.g., Departure/Arrival Airports for positioning, Aircraft Model for training, Locations for standby).
• A list of assigned persons, allowing you to assign multiple crew members to a single activity, avoiding duplication.
• Briefing Functionality: You can brief crew members on these activities, sending notifications to their mobile app. Crew members can then acknowledge receipt of the briefing.
• Certificates:
• This is your central repository for tracking all of a crew member's certifications.
• Record details such as:
• Certificate Type (e.g., ATP, Commercial, Instructor).
• Certificate Number.
• Aircraft Category, Class, and Type Ratings.
• The system allows for an unlimited number of certificates per crew member.
• Assignments: Defining Crew Qualifications
• This crucial section allows you to configure which aircraft a crew member can fly, their eligible crew positions, and the regulations they can operate under.
• Qualifications-Based System (Improved from Legacy Systems): Instead of directly assigning aircraft and positions, you define qualifications in the system configuration.
• Defining Qualifications (System Configuration):
• Navigate to the "System Config" area.
• Within the qualifications section, you can create new qualifications.
• For each qualification, you specify:
• The Aircraft Model (e.g., G450).
• A Qualification Name (for easy identification).
• One or more Crew Positions the holder of this qualification can fill (e.g., PIC, SIC).
• The relevant Regulations (e.g., FAA Part 135, Part 91).
• Assigning Qualifications (Personnel Section):
• Back in the crew member's profile, within the "Assignments" section, you assign them to existing qualifications from the list you created.
• This approach offers significant advantages:
• Centralized Management: Define a qualification once, and it applies to all crew members assigned to it.
• Simplified Updates: Modifying a qualification automatically updates it for all associated crew members.
• Crew Requirements Integration: You can link qualifications to groups of training requirements, ensuring crew members with specific qualifications are automatically assigned the necessary training items.
• Qualification Overview: For each qualification, you can view a list of all crew members currently holding that qualification.
• Training and Suspension Status: You can mark crew members as "In Training" (allowing data entry but preventing flight assignments) or "Suspended."
• Legality:
• This section automatically calculates and displays crucial legality data based on the configured regulations.
• Currency Data: Tracks requirements like takeoffs and landings (day/night), instrument approaches, and their expiration dates within specified periods.
• Flight and Duty Time Limitations: Shows accumulated flight and duty time within defined periods, the maximum allowed, and the units (e.g., quarterly, annually).
• Rest Period Data: Displays the number of rest periods taken within a specified period and the required number.

3. Configuring Regulations (System Configuration)

The data in the "Legality" section is driven by the regulations configured within the "System Config" area.

• Defining Regulations: You can create and manage various regulations as needed.
• Currency Requirements: For each regulation and crew position, you can define the specific currency requirements (e.g., takeoffs, landings, instrument approaches, flight time) and their required frequency.
• Duty Period Setup: Configure maximum duty time, flight time, time aloft, and required rest periods before, embedded within, and after duty, based on the number of pilots.
• Flight Duty Time Limitations: Define flight duty time limitations within specific periods (e.g., hours per quarter, hours per year), specifying whether it's flight time or duty time.
• Rest Period Configuration: Set the required quantity and duration of rest periods within defined timeframes.

4. Managing Crew Requirements (Training)

This section, formerly known as "Training Items," allows you to manage all required training and qualifications for your crew.

• Requirements List: View all the training and qualification items for a crew member, including due dates, grace periods, completion dates, and associated details.
• Completion History: Each item has a dropdown showing the history of completions, including dates, levels, status, aircraft type (if applicable), and instructor.
• Document Attachment: You can attach relevant documents to each requirement.
• Integration (Future): Integration with flight safety and CAE is planned for the future.
• Color-Coding: Items are visually coded to indicate their status (e.g., expired, in grace period).
• Qualifications and Requirement Groups:
• Define Qualifications: As discussed earlier, qualifications are central to managing requirements.
• Requirement Groups: You can create groups of related training items (e.g., Company Dispatch Pilot).
• Linking Groups to Qualifications: Assign specific requirement groups to qualifications. Crew members with that qualification will automatically be assigned all the items within those groups.
• Defining Individual Items: This is where you define the specifics of each training or qualification item:
• Name.
• Legality Restriction: Whether it's flight-restrictive or assignment-restrictive.
• Required In: Category, Class, Type Rating, or Model.
• Airport Specific Training: Designate if training is required for specific airports.
• Periodicity: How often the item is required (days, months, years).
• Due Date Logic: First/end of month, day before/after.
• Grace Periods: Before and after the due date.
• Streamlined Setup: Define a training item once (e.g., Simulator) and specify if it's required by Type Rating. The system will then automatically apply this requirement to every type rating the crew member holds. This eliminates the need to duplicate items for each aircraft type.
• Alternate Requirements: You can define alternate requirements (e.g., a Part 135 training fulfilling a Part 91 requirement). Completing the alternate item will automatically satisfy the original requirement.
• Item and Group Relationships: Easily view which groups an item belongs to and all the items within a specific group.

5. Utilizing the Logbook

The logbook feature allows for comprehensive tracking of a crew member's flight experience.¹

• Initial Time Entry: Easily enter a crew member's initial flight time totals across various categories (e.g., Total Time, PIC, SIC, Night, Instrument) and aircraft types/models.
• Real-time Totals: Based on flight logs, the system automatically calculates and displays real-time running totals for each category, class, type, and model the crew member flies.
• Flight Log Integration: The logbook is populated by entries generated from flight logs within the system.
• Manual Log Entries: You can manually add logbook entries for simulator sessions or off-fleet flying, including details like date, position, aircraft model, times (PIC, SIC, etc.), takeoffs, landings, approaches, and more.

6. Managing Crew Schedules

The schedule view provides a visual representation of crew assignments and availability.

• Timeline/Gantt View: Displays crew members on the left and their schedules across a customizable timeline (12 hours to one month).
• Crew Rotations (New Feature):
• Allows you to set up repeating on-duty and off-duty patterns for pilots (e.g., 7 days on, 7 days off).
• You can customize the rotation intervals.
• Individual days within a rotation can be adjusted (e.g., marking an off-day as "Willing to Work").
• You can create custom statuses to track various daily states.
• Crew Activities Display: Shows scheduled crew activities (e.g., standby, training) directly on the timeline. Clicking on an activity provides detailed information and editing options.
• Flight Assignments and Duty Periods:
• Displays flight assignments for each crew member, mirroring the aircraft schedule view.
• Clicking on a flight reveals the full trip sheet information.
• Brief Status: Indicates whether a crew member has been briefed and if they have acknowledged the brief.
• Duty Period Visualization: A blue bar represents the calculated duty period. A dashed line indicates the maximum allowable duty time. Green bars before and after represent required rest periods.
• Duty Period Details: Clicking on the duty period bar provides a pop-up with detailed information, including duty time, flight time, rest time, limitations based on regulations, and the associated regulations.
• Duty periods are generated automatically based on activities and flight assignments that accrue duty time. The system will highlight potential duty time violations.

7. Integrating Crew Data with Trip Management

When managing specific trips, the software seamlessly integrates crew information.

• Accessing Crew Information within a Trip: While viewing or editing a trip, you can easily navigate to the "Crew" section.
• Crew Summary: A top-level summary shows the assigned crew positions for each leg of the trip.
• Detailed Crew Assignment: Expanding the crew section displays all assigned crew members. You can sort by leg or by crew member.
• Adding Crew Members: Easily add crew members to a flight. The system allows for an unlimited number of crew members per flight.
• Position and Crew Member Selection: Change the assigned position or crew member using dropdown lists that are filtered to show only qualified personnel for that aircraft and position.
• Brief Status: The brief status for each crew member on the trip is clearly visible.
• Passport and Visa Information: Record passport and visa details, with the flexibility to specify different documents for different legs of a trip if needed. You can also edit passport information for all legs simultaneously if it's the same.

8. Ensuring Crew Legality During Trip Planning

The software actively monitors crew legality during trip planning.

• Alert Section: The alert section at the top of the trip page will display any warnings or violations related to the assigned crew, including issues with training records, passports, visas, currency, and duty time.
• Crew Currency and Regulations Sections within the Trip: Dedicated sections within the trip view provide a snapshot of the crew's currency and the applicable regulations for that specific trip.

9. Crew Briefing Workflow

Briefing crew members is a streamlined process.

• Messaging Section: Navigate to the messaging section and select "Crew Brief."
• Email Integration: This will open an email draft addressed to the assigned crew members (if email addresses are on file).
• Mobile App Notification: More importantly, crew members receive a push notification in their dedicated mobile application, allowing them to view the brief and acknowledge it.

Part 2: Aircraft Management

This section details the features and functionalities for managing your aircraft fleet.

1. Accessing Aircraft Profiles

Similar to crew members, you can access detailed information for each aircraft in your fleet.

• Navigation: From the main schedule view, you can click on an aircraft to open its profile in a new browser tab, allowing you to keep the schedule open for reference.

2. Understanding Aircraft Data

An aircraft's profile contains several key sections for managing its operational aspects:

• Missions:
• Defines the types of trips an aircraft is authorized to fly (e.g., Cargo, Medevac, Commercial, Private).
• You can create your own mission types and configure:
• The regulation applicable to that mission.
• The number of pilots required.
• When creating a trip, selecting a mission type will filter the available aircraft to only those authorized for that mission, preventing the selection of unsuitable aircraft (e.g., a private-only aircraft for a charter).
• Aircraft Events:
• Allows you to log and track various events related to an aircraft.
• Pre-defined categories include Maintenance, Reserved, and Note, with the ability to create your own types within each.
• For each event, you can record:
• Begin and End Dates.
• Airport.
• Description.
• Assigned Personnel (e.g., maintenance technicians).
• Maintenance Events: For maintenance events, you can mark them as "Completed." The system considers an aircraft in maintenance (and potentially unavailable for flights) until this status is set, even if the end date has passed.
• Reservation Events: Track when an aircraft is reserved (e.g., by the owner), including travel plans or the requestor.
• Integration with Scheduling: Maintenance and reservation events are displayed on the schedule, providing a clear overview of aircraft availability.
• Override Functionality for Maintenance: The system can be configured to issue a legality warning when scheduling a flight with an aircraft in maintenance. You can control whether these warnings can be overridden with a documented reason and by whom, or if the override is strictly prohibited (e.g., for AOG aircraft).
• Maintenance List (Do List):
• A centralized list for tracking all maintenance requirements, both manual entries and those imported from maintenance tracking systems.
• Integration: Currently integrates with Track Saw and CAMP, with FlightDocs integration planned next. More integrations will be added based on user needs.
• Information Recorded: Includes event type (Maintenance, MEL, CDL, NEF), components (airframe, engine), engine number, ATA code, chapter, position, task number, part number, serial number, description, alert type (hard stop, overrideable warning, information), last done date, next due date, grace period, interval (days, months, years, hours, cycles), and end-of-month due indicators.
• MEL/CDL/NEF Specifics: For these items, the UI adapts to include fields for MEL category, number, deferral date (the system will calculate the due date based on category), clear date, and any flight restrictions.
• Timeline Display: Maintenance items are visually represented on the aircraft timeline in the schedule view and contribute to alerts within trip planning.
• Logbook:
• Tracks the operational history of the aircraft.
• Flight Logs: Displays a record of every flight, including date, itinerary, status, hours, and cycles.
• Inconsistency Detection: Highlights any inconsistencies between consecutive flight logs (e.g., missing flights or mismatched airports).
• Airframe, Engines, and Components: Sections to record initial times or update totals after maintenance or component changes (e.g., total hours, total cycles, total landings for the airframe and similar data for engines, propellers, thrust reversers). You can view flight log entries specific to an engine or component.
• Reporting: This data is also available in reports generated by the integrated Power BI system.
• Maintenance Buffers and Overrides:
• Allows you to define various warning limits (buffers) for upcoming maintenance based on days, hours, or cycles. These buffers can be color-coded on the schedule to provide visual cues as maintenance approaches.
• Buffers can be set at the system level or for individual aircraft.
• Maintenance Override: A specific feature allows authorized personnel to override maintenance buffers within defined limits (hours, days, or cycles) to release flights when operationally necessary, with a record of the override.
• Summary:
• Provides a consolidated overview of the aircraft's status, including total hours (and Hobbs if applicable), next due hours, remaining hours, total cycles, due cycles, remaining cycles, due date, and remaining days for all configured components (airframe, engines, APU, etc.).
• This summary data is used in reports and to generate alerts within trip planning.
• Configuration:
• This section allows you to select the maintenance tracking system used for the aircraft (e.g., CAMP, Track Saw).
• You can also configure whether flight log data from the FMS should be automatically synced with the maintenance system at the aircraft level.

3. Managing MELs and CDLs

The software provides a straightforward process for logging and managing Minimum Equipment Lists (MELs) and Configuration Deviation Lists (CDLs).

• Adding New Items: You can add new MELs or CDLs directly from the aircraft schedule view by selecting "New Maintenance Item."

• Type Selection: Choose "CDL" or "MEL" as the type. The user interface will dynamically adjust to display the relevant fields.
• Data Entry: Enter details such as category, MEL/CDL number, deferral date (the system will calculate the due date based on the category), hours and cycles (if applicable), and any flight restrictions.
• Tracking and Status: Once entered, the MEL/CDL will appear on the schedule (with customizable colors based on type) and can be easily viewed and edited. When the item is resolved, you can enter the "Clear Date."

4. Integrating with Engine and APU Programs

The software is designed to integrate with various external systems, including engine and APU program providers.

• API Integration: If the engine OEM (e.g., GE, Rolls Royce) or APU program company has an API that allows for data transfer, the software can be configured to push engine hours and cycle data to their systems. This setup would be similar to the existing integrations with maintenance tracking systems, requiring the input of credentials and configuration details.
• Reporting and Scheduling: If an API integration is not available, you can utilize the reporting capabilities of the integrated Power BI system. You can schedule reports to automatically generate the required data (in formats like Excel, PDF, or CSV) and email it to the program providers at specified intervals (e.g., monthly, weekly).

Part 3: Trip Management and System-Wide Features

This section details how trips are managed and highlights key system-wide features that enhance operational control and communication.

1. Trip Creation and Overview

• Initiating a New Trip: The trip section is where you begin building a new flight itinerary, specifying the customer, trip type, and mission type. You can create your own custom trip types.
• Related Persons: Associate various individuals with the trip, such as travel planners, requesters, and authorizers.
• Multiple Quotes: Generate and manage multiple quotes for a single trip request, allowing for comparisons based on aircraft, routing, or dates.

2. Itinerary Management

• Flight Legs: Define the individual flight segments of a trip.
• Editing Capabilities: The system allows for easy modification of the itinerary, including inserting new legs, adding stops, splitting flights, reordering, and deleting segments. You can edit all flight legs at once.

3. Integrations and Flight Operations

• Weight and Balance: Includes a section for weight and balance calculations.
• Flight Planning: Integration with flight planning systems is crucial. The initial integration is with ForeFlight, with plans for others like PPS based on user needs.
• Flight Tracking: The system has built-in flight tracking capabilities, leveraging data from Flight Radar 24.
• Fuel Management: Integration with fueler links is available, and an internal fuel management program is under development.
• API Integration: The system offers API integration for both Part 91 and Part 135 operations.

4. Flight Details

• Detailed Attributes: For each flight leg, you can specify detailed attributes beyond departure/arrival, such as alternates, cruise speed, and scheduling by UTC or local time.

5. Pricing and Fees

• Automated Pricing: Pricing is dynamically generated based on configured pricing rules for each leg of the trip.
• Quoting and Invoicing: The system can generate pricing information within the trip, eliminating the need for a separate quote in some cases. It also facilitates invoice generation based on quotes, scheduled flights, or actual flight times.

6. Crew and Passenger Management within Trips

• Crew Assignment: Assign crew members to each leg of the trip. The system uses a list format, allowing for any number of crew members and automatically suggests required crew based on the trip type.
• Crew Brief Status: Track whether crew briefs have been sent and acknowledged directly within the trip view.
• Passenger Details: Add passenger information, including status (confirmed, standby), boarding status, seat requirements, passport and visa details, and passenger-specific notes.

7. Services

• Service Requests: Manage various service requests associated with the trip (e.g., FBOs, hotels, ground transportation, catering).
• Customizable Types: Define your own service types to match your operational needs.
• Detailed Information: Each service request can be expanded to include specific details relevant to the service type (e.g., car type and addresses for transportation).

8. Notes and Post-Flight Data

• Trip Notes: Add an unlimited number of general notes to the trip.
• Flight Log Data: Post-flight data entered by crew members via the mobile app is displayed here for review and verification.

9. Verification and Audit

• Flight Log Verification: The system highlights potential discrepancies or missing data in flight logs. A verification process ensures accuracy before updating aircraft and crew logs and maintenance systems.
• Audit Logs: Every change made within the system, including trip modifications, is tracked in an audit log, showing who made the change and when.

10. Messaging and Communication

• Integrated Messaging: Combines email integration (with Microsoft 365) and Power BI for document generation.
• Email Functionality: Send itineraries to crew and passengers, handling requests, quotes, and invoices directly from within the trip.
• Email History: A history of all emails related to a specific trip, including replies, is stored within the trip, eliminating the need to search through a general inbox.

11. Alerts and Legality Checking

• Real-time Monitoring: The system constantly monitors and regenerates alerts related to feasibility and legality (crew, airports, regulations, runway lengths, duty periods, etc.) in real time as you work on the trip.
• Warning Levels: Alerts are categorized into four types:
• Information: Notes for reminders.
• Warnings: Important but not legality-blocking issues.
• Violations: Prevent trip release but can be overridden with a documented reason.
• Hard Stops: Cannot be overridden and prevent trip release.

12. Roles and Permissions

• Customizable Roles: Define various user roles (e.g., administrator, pilot, dispatcher, salesperson).
• Granular Permissions: Configure detailed permissions for each role, controlling access to different sections of the system (trips, legs, crew, passengers, pricing, etc.) and actions (view, add, edit, delete). The user interface adapts based on individual permissions, hiding sections the user cannot access.

13. User Management and Integration

• Authentication: Supports login with Google accounts and other methods.
• Microsoft 365 Integration: Fully integrated, allowing emails sent from the system to be routed through and appear in the user's 365 account. User synchronization from 365 is a feature that has been discussed but may not be implemented yet.

14. System Implementation and Support

• Data Migration: Data import from existing systems (e.g., MySQL databases) is possible but requires the data to be provided in a readable format and involves building a custom import script, which can take several weeks.
• Training: Training timelines depend on the complexity of the setup and the number of users but can generally be completed within a week per user group once the system is configured.
• Implementation Timeline: Full implementation, including configuration, customization, and data migration, can take several months. Running parallel operations with the old and new systems is recommended during onboarding.
• Support: 24-hour technical support is available for emergencies and issue resolution.

15. Phased Implementation

• Step-by-Step Approach: A phased implementation is possible, starting with specific modules like quoting and gradually migrating to other features.

This comprehensive guide should now provide a complete overview of the software's capabilities for managing both crew and aircraft operations. Please let us know if you have any further questions.