APiJET, a pioneer in real-time aircraft data analytics, today announced that it has become the first to obtain a commercial license to offer Traffic Aware Strategic Aircrew Requests (TASAR) NASA technology. On April 26, 2019, APiJET announced its development partnership with Alaska Airlines based upon TASAR technology that had been the focus of a NASA trial over the past few years. On November 12, 2019, NASA and APiJET finalized the first commercial agreement enabling APiJET to offer solutions based upon TASAR technology.

“We are pleased that APiJET is the first company to commercialize NASA’s TASAR technology and will bring it to market. With its flight optimization capabilities validated by NASA in an operational trial with Alaska Airlines, aircraft operators across the board can now benefit from this innovative new technology in their cockpits. TASAR is also ripe for further growth with the potential to add more data sources and derivative functionality to enhance its operational benefits,” said David Wing, TASAR Principal Investigator, NASA Langley Research Center.

TASAR has many similarities to the popular Waze-app but is intended for the cockpit and complex operating environments faced by pilots and airlines every day. TASAR algorithms identify fuel and time saving flight trajectories and provides recommendations to pilots through an Electronic Flight Bag app. These recommendations factor in multiple real-time data feeds, including traffic, resulting in the more efficient flight trajectories saving fuel and time, yielding an estimated savings of $14.97M/year for Alaska Airlines¹

“This license is a great example of how our mission work benefits the nation and the world. The Technology Transfer Program’s Patent Portfolio is making these kinds of technologies more accessible to companies than ever before. It’s great to look up in the sky and see NASA technology at work reducing emissions and making air travel more affordable,” said Jesse Midgett, technology transfer specialist at NASA Langley.

“I am particularly proud of the work done jointly between APiJET, NASA and Alaska Airlines over the last 15 months to move the TASAR experience from a proof-of-concept towards a production-ready system.” said Stephen Elop, CEO of APiJET. “This has involved the development of new in-cockpit application capability, the development of new data feeds to/from the airplane, aircraft integration, the incorporation of Aviation Partners’ proprietary aircraft performance models and numerous other elements. The journey from concept to production-ready has positioned us for successful 2020 airline deployments”, added Elop.

APiJET is marketing this new offering under the name Digital Winglets™ with NASA TASAR inside.

APiJET gets part of its name from being associated with Aviation Partners, Inc., the Seattle-based company, led by aviation pioneer Joe Clark, that successfully developed Blended and Split Scimitar Winglets™ which have led to over 10 billion gallons in fuel savings to date. In 2018, Aviation Partners created a joint venture with iJET Technologies which had been driving for operational efficiencies with its Smart Aircraft™ System. APiJET’s extensive real-time aircraft data experience combined with Aviation Partner’s, Inc. aircraft performance background results in the perfect combination for advancing the NASA TASAR technology into this new offering.