IATA and The Weather Company Collaborate to Provide Enhanced Turbulence-Related Weather Data to Airlines

22 February 2024  – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is expanding the transmission of its Turbulence Aware data for use within industry-leading aviation solutions by The Weather Company, which serves a majority of North American commercial airlines and many others globally. With this enhancement, participating airlines can now access Eddy Dissipation Rate (EDR) turbulence data directly through Fusion™ and Pilotbrief® tools by The Weather Company. IATA Turbulence Aware will be enabled as an additional data layer within these tools, allowing pilots, dispatchers and flight planners to have needed turbulence observations integrated directly into their mission critical applications in one place rather than relying on multiple screens.

Turbulence can impact crew and passenger safety, route planning, arrival and departure times, customer satisfaction, equipment maintenance and more. Combining IATA Turbulence Aware observations with forecasts from The Weather Company, the world’s most accurate forecaster[1], aims to better mitigate the impacts of weather and turbulence for contributing airlines globally.

Accessing real-time, accurate turbulence information enables pilots and dispatchers to choose optimal flight paths, avoid turbulence and fly at optimum levels to maximize fuel efficiency and thereby reduce CO2 emissions. IATA Turbulence Aware was launched in 2018 to help airlines mitigate the impact of turbulence, which is a leading cause of passenger and crew injuries and higher fuel costs each year. The platform pools anonymized EDR turbulence data from thousands of flights operated by participating airlines. EDR is the official ICAO and WMO atmospheric turbulence intensity metric.

“As weather grows more impactful due to a changing climate, it’s critical now more than ever for aviation leaders to incorporate accurate, real-time, globally scaled weather data and insights within decisions,” said Ravi Vanmali, head of aviation for The Weather Company. “Reliable weather data and forecasts, combined with human expertise, can help airlines and pilots plan around inclement weather and turbulence, improve crew and passenger safety, and mitigate impact to the bottom line.”

“It is our aim to make access to turbulence-related data as simple as possible. By collaborating with The Weather Company, IATA Turbulence Aware data will be available to pilots and dispatchers through existing flight deck and flight planning applications and tools, enhancing the decision-making process in turbulence mitigation and avoidance”, said Frederic Leger, IATA’s Senior Vice President Commercial Products & Services.

Managing turbulence is expected to remain challenging, as climate change continues to impact weather patterns. This has implications for both safety and efficiency of flight. Turbulence Aware provides a significant improvement in turbulence reporting and avoiding excess fuel consumption.
At present, 21 airlines participate in the IATA Turbulence Aware Platform with more than 2,000 aircraft providing data daily. In 2023, a total of over 380 million turbulence observations was generated. Thanks to the data provided by Turbulence Aware, over 700 million passengers* have enjoyed a safer and more comfortable travel experience.