Flight Options Improves Efficiency and Fleet Readiness with Paperless Cockpit Technology

Flight Options, Inc., the first fractional jet provider to equip its fleet with paperless cockpit technology has seen improvements in efficiency and fleet readiness

CLEVELAND, OH (September 18, 2001) -- Flight Options, Inc., the first fractional jet provider to equip its fleet with paperless cockpit technology has seen improvements in efficiency and fleet readiness.  The JeppView Flight Guide System serves as a central location for flight information such as flight planning, enroute moving maps and Jeppesen instrument Terminal Charts for approach, departure, arrival and airports.

Flight Options has worked with Jeppesen to expand the functionality of the system to include aircraft performance calculation features, electronic maintenance and operation manuals, as well as aircraft wiring diagrams.  These additions allow for convenient maintenance at multiple facilities.

By installing JeppView Flight Guide Systems Flight Options benefits include:  improved fleet readiness; enhanced safety; reduced pilot workload; and, the return of cabinet volume, previously used for books of charts, to benefit owner amenities.  In addition, an electronic aircraft dispatch and maintenance release (501 form) is installed on the pen-based system.  This electronic form allows a digital signature to be entered which expedites the approval process.
 
In the cockpit, the pilots see the benefits of the system as well.  Joe Salata, Chief Pilot, Flight Options, commented, “Since each aircraft carries two monitors, both pilots can view approaches at the same time, or, one pilot can go through a checklist while the other prepares the approach information.  Also, chart update time is reduced to a mere five minute CD download as opposed to the long process of updating the paper charts.  And, most importantly, the flight guide system provides quality assurance of the most recent information of routes.”

Flight Options, Inc. began its pre-owned fractional program in October 1998 and announced its 700th customer in June 2001, making it the fastest growing fractional jet program.  The company operates with an emphasis in bringing pre-owned jets to the fractional ownership market.  Flight Options offers fractional shares in its fleet of 88 aircraft, which includes the CitationJet, Citation II, Beechjet 400A, Citation V, Citation III, Hawker 800, Falcon 50, Challenger 601 and Gulfstream IV."