The Allplane Podcast #50 - Airlines & the Weather, with Victor de los Santos (SITA)

This four part series has been done in collaboration with SITA for Aircraft, a technology company that, among other things, helps airlines fly more efficiently through its suite of software products for airlines.

If you have ever flown through an area of turbulence or an active storm you are already aware of how much of a hazard weather can be. At the very least, foul weather can mean a miserable journey and, in some cases, extra fuel and maintenance costs for airlines.

This is a topic we have dealt with in this podcast before, although we had not spoken, so far about the weather. And, while weather forecasting has become increasingly more accurate, in an aviation context, adding additional layers of information and analytical tools delivering actionable recommendations can make all the difference.

Today’s guest is Victor de los Santos, product manager for eWAS Pilot, a SITA for Aircraft technology that helps pilots and airlines optimize their flight plans to cope with all sort of weather conditions, even those that can be trickier to monitor, such as high altitude ice crystals.

Victor is an experienced engineer that knows this space inside out, so this conversation really helped me understand better how airlines and pilots prepare for different weather events, which tools they have at their disposal and how this translates into a smoother ride for passengers.

Listen to this episode for a masterclass on weather and aviation!