Flight Planning Ease Included in Collins’ New Platform

All your flight planning apps combined for ease of access 

Technology is continuously making our jobs more accessible and more manageable. For example, remember how we used to file our flight plans? I would get out my cheat sheet and call the Flight Service Station so I could read my information to the aviation specialist on the other end of the line – equipment on board, route of flight, alternate, and this was after I had listened to a 20-minute weather briefing. It was so time-consuming that I used to file while driving to the airport. Additionally, if I wanted to know where the other aircraft in the fleet were, I had to call our dispatcher, and if I wanted to know my schedule for the next day, it was another call to schedule. Now, we can get that information and more from our phones and laptops, but it still requires moving from one app to another – not the easiest way to get information.  

Collins Aerospace is changing all the flipping back and forth between app hassle. They have created a business unit to develop new products utilizing technology from all Collins’ expertise areas. The team is called Connected Aviation Solutions (CAS), and their first product for business aviation is Izon.  

Izon (pronounced “Eyes on”) includes: 

• The ArincDirect flight planning tool, 
• Flight tracking capabilities of the recently acquired Flight Aware, and 
• Scheduling benefits. 

The platform is compatible with all electronic devices, including phones, tablets, and laptops.  

Fleet size doesn’t matter for Izon – companies can customize it for a wide range of operations. The platform is perfect for flight crewmembers, schedulers, fleet managers, dispatchers, and anyone who needs to know where the fleet is in real-time. For example, pilots can now access information about aircraft location, crew rosters, or crew/aircraft availability in real-time through one user-friendly portal. Even better, last-minute changes because of weather delays, mechanical issues, or customer requests can be seen throughout the company, immediately alerting those who need to know.  

All of this information in one place sounds great to me. There are ways to combine a flight plan with weather forecasts and FBO information, but Izon takes it one step farther with tracking and scheduling. They also can add apps from partner companies when appropriate. Izon promises to be user-friendly. I can’t wait to try it out!