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Spidertracks: A true game-changer

Vertical Mag | April 20, 2023

Estimated reading time 6 minutes, 15 seconds.

Very few brands are as prevalent and respected in aviation as Spidertracks, and its contributions to the safety and productivity of aircraft owners and operators since its inception 15 years ago is nothing short of remarkable.

It was not much more than a decade ago when aircraft tracking was feasible only for the top-tier of the industry. Spidertracks came to market with fresh thinking and a delightfully simple product that broke down these barriers and revolutionized the sector.

Today, aircraft tracking has industry-wide adoption, and the benefits of increased safety and operational efficiencies have seen Spidertracks become the de facto standard choice. As the industry now embarks upon a digital transformation era, Spidertracks is again leading the charge.

“Our vision is to build a connected and automated software platform that manages the end-to-end workflows in a typical general aviation business. A one-stop shop, if you like, for operations and safety,” said Dave Blackwell, CEO of Spidertracks.

Spidertracks sees a real opportunity to close what’s been a traditional gap between safety benefits and return on investment by leveraging its flight data insights to drive an automated and integrated software solutions platform for a general aviation business.

“The amount of paper-based, manual processes in an aviation business today is mind-boggling — this will be a real game-changer,” Blackwell said.

The foundations began in 2020 with the release of Spider X — a virtual flight data recorder, which is now installed in thousands of aircraft worldwide. This lightweight device has been thoughtfully designed, specifically with aviators in mind and the changing and evolving industry needs.

Spider X gathers high-resolution global positioning system (GPS) and attitude and heading reference system (AHRS) data from the aircraft and transmits it seamlessly back to the Spidertracks platform, which is then rendered on web-based and mobile applications. An exciting new release enables the integration of this data with other software vendors, marking the beginning of the platform evolution.

“We’re in a unique position, offering an integrated hardware and software solution,” said Sarah Sinclair, product owner at Spidertracks. “We have the ability to capture valuable data upfront and share it with selected software providers, building connected operations. We receive a lot of feedback on the need for operational insights — our customers want to understand not only how safely their aircraft are being flown, but also how efficiently.”

Sinclair said that by uploading flight data from Spiders automatically and providing a simple way to view and share that data with other software platforms, Spidertracks can eliminate the wait time and manual overhead that currently exists.

“Currently, operators have to wait for flight data to become available and then manually enter it into different software platforms,” Sinclair said. “From planning, scheduling, flying, and crew duty times to SMS [Safety Management System] and managing all maintenance and training, it will streamline every process in an aviation business. This will make a massive difference in operational efficiency.”

Spidertracks estimates between one-quarter to one-third of operational expenditures in global commercial general aviation exists because of inefficiencies in the industry.

“Our customers are facing increasing pressure to improve both safety and operational controls in their businesses, and the need for purpose-built, end-to-end solutions has never been greater than it is today,” Blackwell remarked.

General aviation has a fragmented vendor base with many legacy tech suppliers and underdeveloped solutions. With the impending mandate for SMS and a drive for digitization across the industry in general, operators need to be better positioned for success in this environment. “We’ve got a key position in the market where we are monitoring thousands of aircraft performing critical missions,” Blackwell said. “This lays the foundation for us to continue building on the data already gathered by the Spidertracks product suite to expand our offering to a full-service, one-stop integrated platform.”

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