ForeFlight is an

electronic flight bag An electronic flight bag (EFB) is an electronic information management device that helps flight crews perform flight management tasks more easily and efficiently with less paper providing the reference material often found in the pilot's carry-o ...

for

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

and

iPadOS iPadOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple for its iPad line of tablet computers. It was given a name distinct from iOS, the operating system used by Apple's iPhones to reflect the diverging features of the two product lines, suc ...

devices designed to assist pilots and corporate flight departments with flight planning. It includes information about facilities such as

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

s, NAVAIDs, and

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

facilities. It also aids pilots in tasks including flight planning, weather monitoring, and document management, as well as an electronic logbook to help pilots record flight time. The United States, Canada, and Europe are supported regions. The company was founded in 2007 and has since been purchased by

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

Overview

The app provides airport information such as chart supplement entries, taxi diagrams, instrument approach plates, departure and

arrival Arrival(s) or The Arrival(s) may refer to: Film * ''The Arrival'' (1991 film), an American science fiction horror film * ''The Arrival'' (1996 film), an American-Mexican science fiction horror film * ''Arrival'' (film), a 2016 American science ...

procedures, and both temporary and permanent

NOTAM A NOTAM (ICAO & FAA: Notice to Airmen, CAA: Notice to Aviation or, for the FAA from 2021 to 2025, Notice to Air Missions) is a notice filed with an aviation authority to alert aircraft pilots of potential hazards along a flight route or at a loca ...

s. It also provides weather reports and forecasts for the airport or, if no reports are available, nearby airports. It also makes it possible to search for airports, procedure diagrams, or regulatory aspects of these procedures. The app also supports a wide range of

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

and

business aviation Business aircraft are aircraft typically used by companies and corporations to transport people or goods related to the needs of said businesses. Most business aircraft are general aviation aircraft variants of propeller aircraft, piston or ...

aircraft to allow pilots to assess performance in both hypothetical and real-time conditions. Examples include calculating weight and balance figures and runway performance. ForeFlight Runway Analysis, a subfeature of the app, allows pilots to judge runway length and weather conditions to determine necessary takeoff and landing distances. ForeFlight provides access to maps and navigation charts. The app supports flight planning features including letting pilots select routes based on

IFR In aviation, instrument flight rules (IFR) is one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other is visual flight rules (VFR). The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ''Instrument Fly ...

waypoints or using waypoints, checkpoints, or geographic features for VFR flight. Pilots can factor instrument departure, arrival, and approach procedures into their route as well as traffic pattern entries to airports. ForeFlight will calculate metrics such as distance, time en route and to each waypoint, true and magnetic courses, and fuel burn considering current weather conditions and aircraft profiles entered by the user. ForeFlight also makes it possible to receive pre-departure clearances through the app. Enroute weather is also available in the app. Official current reports and forecast information from the National Weather Service is provided in both textual and graphical formats. The app provides approved weather briefings. The briefings include information relative to a pilot's flight and are timestamped and stored. The aircraft tail number is also recorded to ensure that the briefing is considered legally valid. ForeFlight also displays information about

airspace Airspace is the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere. It is not the same as outer space which is t ...

and special use airspace. It displays information about the locations, operating hours, dimensions, and more of uncontrolled and controlled airspaces, airspaces designated for airports, and special airspaces such as Temporary Flight Restrictions.

History

In 2016, the app helped to develop a self-service flight planning system for drones to allow schedulers, dispatchers, and flight crews to plan each aspect of flight. The app began offering to Jeppesen Charts in 2017 during a partnership with Boeing, who purchased ForeFlight in 2019. In the 2020s, ForeFlight began rapidly expanding its business aviation offerings, adding new supported aircraft and trying to convince flight departments to change to their software. The company also manages a service called ForeFlight Dispatch to encourage collaborative flight planning. In November 2022, the app faced a "cyber incident" that caused the outage of its NOTAM system. The app was unable to add new NOTAMs to its system. ForeFlight is partnered with flight tracking service

FlightAware FlightAware is an American multi-national technology company that provides real-time, historical, and predictive flight tracking data and products. it is the world's largest flight tracking platform, with a network of over 32,000 ADS-B gro ...

to provide real-time flight tracking and automatically display the filed routes of aircraft on IFR flight plans. This service is provided over Wi-Fi, and pilots in-flight need external ADS-B receivers to see traffic. In 2024, ForeFlight developed an app for the Apple Vision Pro to allow users to explore airports in three dimensions.

References

{{Reflist Boeing Avionics Flight planning

Overview

History

See also

References