Flight Traffic Mapping
North America has a sophisticated air traffic control system. It is a complex combination of electronics and people that helps guide planes from departure to destination. Beginning in the 1990s, data on the location of aircraft was made available to the airline industry. The Aircraft Situational Display to Industry (ASDI ) system conveys up-to-date information on flights to the airline industry and the public. The data has been available to the airline industry since 1991. The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association, the Helicopter Association International, and the National Air Transportation Association petitioned the FAA to make ASDI information available on a "need-to-know" basis. Subsequently, NBAA advocated the broad-scale dissemination of ASDI data. Three major venture capital companies provide ASDI information, FlightExplorer, FlightView, and FlyteComm. Each company maintains a website that provides free updated information to the public on flight status. FlyteTrax, a product of FlightComm, is a Windows-based program for displaying the geographic location of airborne IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) air traffic anywhere in the FAA air traffic system. Positions are reported for both commercial and general aviation traffic. The program can overlay air traffic with a wide selection of maps such as, geo-political boundaries, air traffic control center boundaries, high altitude jet routes, satellite cloud and radar imagery.

Flight Traffic Mapping

North America has a sophisticated air traffic control system. It is a complex combination of electronics and people that helps guide planes from departure to destination. Beginning in the 1990s, data on the location of aircraft was made available to the airline industry. The Aircraft Situational Display to Industry (ASDI ) system conveys up-to-date information on flights to the airline industry and the public. The data has been available to the airline industry since 1991. The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association, the Helicopter Association International, and the National Air Transportation Association petitioned the FAA to make ASDI information available on a "need-to-know" basis. Subsequently, NBAA advocated the broad-scale dissemination of ASDI data.

Three major venture capital companies provide ASDI information, FlightExplorer, FlightView, and FlyteComm. Each company maintains a website that provides free updated information to the public on flight status. FlyteTrax, a product of FlightComm, is a Windows-based program for displaying the geographic location of airborne IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) air traffic anywhere in the FAA air traffic system. Positions are reported for both commercial and general aviation traffic. The program can overlay air traffic with a wide selection of maps such as, geo-political boundaries, air traffic control center boundaries, high altitude jet routes, satellite cloud and radar imagery.