With a focus on gaining insights on safety, efficiency and a more informed flight experience, more and more commercial and business jet pilots are installing GE Aerospace's FlightPulse app as part of their EFB. The popularity of FlightPulse has climbed sharply over the past three years to 60,000 pilot users, with numbers expected to quickly swell to 70,000 as new customers such as NetJets are onboarded into the app.

FlightPulse is an app for pilots, informed by pilots, created by GE Aerospace's software as a service team. The app contains pre- and post-flight modules to inform a pilot's flight experience from pre-departure planning to landing. The user interface even contains a 3D animation module that closely matches a pilot's flight deck experience in the cockpit.

Andrew Coleman, president and general manager of GE Aerospace's software as a service, emphasises the opportunities for the app to support enhanced safety in the skies, stating: “FlightPulse has become one of those 'must have' apps, as more and more pilots recognise how insights from their own flight data can help them become better pilots. The app also pulls in anonymised safety data-sharing from across the industry to further inform the safety insights pilots can receive to help them fly safer.”

Coleman noted that FlightPulse is helping pilots analyse and improve their takeoffs, achieve more stable approaches and find optimal landing distances. All three are important factors for promoting flight safety.

“FlightPulse provides the insights that pilots care about most and that passengers are most attuned to when flying. From takeoff to final approaches and landing, the app is helping pilots benchmark their performance against important industry criteria and training guidance to improve their flight experience on all fronts.”

According to GE Aerospace, the number of commercial and business jet pilot FlightPulse users has increased 156% since 2022, and 29 airlines and 49 business jet operators are now using the app. An estimated 15-20% of airline pilots worldwide have installed the FlightPulse app.

As the number of FlightPulse users has grown, the level of pilot user engagement has become more robust as well. On any given day, around 9,000 pilots are actively using the app. Coleman says this shows that pilots are really embracing the app and the insights that can be gained.

“The soaring growth of FlightPulse is a strong indicator of how the aerospace industry has turned the corner on how we view data,” Coleman reveals. “The value of the insights, combined with the responsible measures we have taken to anonymise and safeguard data, is building trust and encouraging the industry to embrace the benefits to flight safety and overall operations that software platforms like FlightPulse are making possible.”