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The salient point of this podcast episode centers on the innovative advancements in turbulence detection and management provided by Skypath, as articulated by its Chief Product Officer, Guy. Throughout our dialogue, we explore Guy's fascinating journey from flying fighter jets to developing software solutions that enhance aviation safety. The conversation delves into the critical role of data in improving real-time turbulence reporting, which significantly contributes to passenger and crew safety. Additionally, we discuss the evolution of Skypath from a basic turbulence data app to a comprehensive platform that integrates multiple data sources, thereby ensuring a safer flight experience. This episode offers a profound insight into how technology is reshaping the aviation landscape, ultimately aiming to enhance the quality of flight and ensure the well-being of all aboard.

Episode 331 of the pilot the Pilot Podcast takes off now.

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To learn more, visit sporties.com sxmoffer My name is Guy.

I'm the Chief product officer at SkyPath.

In my background I flew F15, I flew F16, so I'm a pilot in the background and today I bring both my passion for aviation and product into Skypath AV Nation.

What is going on?

And welcome back to the Pilot the Pilot Podcast.

We are back with some more podcasts.

I do apologize for the lack of podcasts for the last couple weeks.

I can explain more in a couple weeks but just be on the lookout for that.

AV Nation this is a great episode.

It is a Skypath episode with a guy who is their cpo.

It was a lot of fun to talk with him.

It was really cool to hear his story, how he grew up wanting to be a pilot and how he started flying fighter jets and basically how he made the transition and figured out his love for software and what he can do with that software and how he got the skypath.

We also talk about Skypath in depth.

We talk about where the data comes from, where the data goes, how they get the data, machine learning and most importantly we talk about how it's A tool for safety.

It's a tool for your safety toolkit and letting you make the best decision possible.

It's a great episode, one that I'm very excited to share.

Please subscribe to Pilot the Pilot on Instagram.

You can go ahead to YouTube.

This will be on there as well.

Share the podcast with everyone you know.

As I always say, you never know, maybe they'll become a pilot.

But AV Nation, I hope you have a great day.

Without any further ado, here's Guy from Skypath.

Hey, Guy, how you doing?

Great.

How are you?

Pleasure to be here.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

Shout out to Noga.

Shout out to Maya, everyone getting this all put together.

So we are here to share your story and to talk a little about an amazing app called Skypath.

I've done an episode with Maya, so if no one's listened to the pilot podcast before, this is the first one you got.

You're in for a treat.

And then you can also go check out the Maya one after this to really understand what Skypath is all about.

But today we are here to talk about Guy and Skypath.

And I want to start with you.

I'm always very interested to see how people outside the United States find love for aviation, become pilots, kind of find the aviation bug, because obviously I'm in the United States, you know, what you're used to is kind of similar stories, similar kind of paths, progression to get to where they are with a couple differences here and there.

But for you, what was it that got you into aviation?

What got you wanting to fly?

Yes.

No, that's a great question.

I do have in my family some background.

So my father was a pilot, my uncle was a pilot.

So it was around.

Right.

And outside of the US and specifically in Israel, it revolves around military.

Usually you can start earlier, but I started there.

And once I got the exams to go to the flight academy, I was very curious and intrigued to learn more.

And I think once I started, and it's hard, right?

The flight academy is hard and challenging throughout the years, but I think as years went by, I was more and more into it and it was a great experience.

Both challenging as well as rewarding.

I think so, yeah.

I think that's shortly how.

How I got into it.

What age were you when you first got into it?

I mean, you mentioned your dad, but was it kind of like as early as you can remember?

Like, I want to be like my dad, I want to go fly airplanes.

Or was there a specific moment or a lot of people say when they Watch Top Gun for the first time.

They're like, hey, I want to be a fighter pilot.

So I did watch Top Gun, and I had it, you know, again, I had it in the family, so it was definitely there.

But I think that what changed is that when I started.

So when I started flying, I think that's the.

The point where I said, okay, that's.

That's amazing, and I want to keep doing it.

Yeah.

I mean, it's hard not to.

I have a similar.

I'm not a fighter pilot, but aviation was my family.

My grandpa, my dad were both pilots.

I played sports my whole life.

I made it what we call Division 1, collegiate level here.

So I made it to the Division 1.

My first couple of days there, I saw the other quarterbacks in the room and I was like, all right, you guys are way faster than me.

Stronger arms, taller, stronger everything.

I was like, oh, man, I need to figure out what I'm going to do with my life.

And then I took my first flight.

And similar to what you were saying, it just felt right.

Like, I was like, all right, this is actually what I need to do.

And I noticed that, like, my love for sports kind of shifted toward flying, and I just wanted to fly and I just wanted to focus on my career.

Obviously still love playing sports, but I wanted to go ahead and make this happen.

So it's crazy when people say it's, like, kind of cliche, but, like, you just, you know, when the bug hits, like, it just hits you and there's nothing you can do to get it out.

Like, you just gotta go full force and go do it.

Yeah, yeah.

Did your dad.

Was there any general aviation in your life at all?

Was it any going up at 172s?

Did you have that experience growing up, or was it just the Academy?

Was your first go at flying?

No, it was actually the Academy that.

That's the first time.

Yes.

So I just knew about it and.

And I was familiar with it from.

But yes, the first time was starting with the small ones during the academy, up to the big ones once I finished successfully.

Perfect.

And then what was the application process like?

And was there a time where you were like, there's no way they're going to select me.

Like, there's no way they're going to select me.

So the statistics are not in your favor to begin with, really?

There are so many candidates, and I was fortunate enough to, you know, to get into the exams, and then I think it was just a step by step.

So, you know, you're doing your best and you're saying, yeah, I will, probably won't finish because the statistics are again, it's hard.

But then you're passing one test and you're passing another test and then you started the flight academy and then a half a year goes by in a year and another one and then at the end you're saying, and you're coming into understanding that it's, you're going to finish this and it's a big, it's a major milestone.

Then once, once you're done, you're, you will continue the service.

I continue the service for nine more years.

So the flight academy was three years and then nine more years of, you know, the day to day job as well as flying different aircraft and doing different positions.

So it's a very big, I would say commitment as well as, I would say also it's, it's an amazing opportunity and an honor, you know, to also serve and do something significant.

And both, I would say the passion, but also eventually you're doing something operational.

So there's a big impact there within this service.

I was fortunate as well enough to also start working on the software of the aircraft and started to think about how can, you know, what are the problems there?

And, and how can you improve things in, in the aircraft?

So that, that was the first angle I would say into product management.

I always had passion for, for physics as well, since my childhood and I enjoyed just dissembling things and building things.

So I guess that was the first touch point into as well as when I also fell in love with product and solving big problems and how it's best to solve it.

So that was part of the experience that I think was very exciting to see it in both sides.

So you know, envision the challenges or the aches and the problems that you're encountering the day to day and then you have the ability to actually think how can we solve it better, maybe improve the software worked on the software of the aircraft of the F15 that I flew on the head of display.

So improvements like that, it was, it was amazing to see the, the impact there.

A few years later.

Once you saw what you worked on operationally, what would you say as someone.

Who has never flown before coming into the Academy?

What was the most challenging part for you in the academy?

Was it the academics?

Was it the flying?

Was it getting into maneuvers?

Kind of talk a little bit about that.

Sure.

So I think in general it's psychologically challenging.

I would say there's a lot of competition and There are many candidates and you just need to be and at least be the best version of yourself, right?

So you might not fit and that's okay.

It doesn't mean you're not good.

You might be good at something else.

And I think they're looking for a few specific, I would say skill sets.

But the main challenge is that it's packed with things you need to learn fast, you need to adapt, you need to be a team player.

The academy is, is I would say stressed.

So as, and you're young, right?

You're 18 years old and then going into, into this path and, and it's stressful and you have a lot of challenges that you never encountered in an environment that, that is new and you still need to, I would say to deliver and in this kind of situation.

So I think that the combination of things, of both learning new things, both the flying as well as the academy, as well as the more military standard navigation and everything.

So a lot of things are packed into pretty.

It sounds a lot, but it's not.

They put a lot into these three years and you're always eventually keeping scores and you understand that you're always being tested and you still need to be in this environment that the best version of yourself.

So it's hard.

I like how you said the best version of yourself because I feel like in competition, even not inside of your career, but just living your life, it's always try to compete with yourself, try to be the best that you can be.

When you start comparing yourself to others, that's when things can unravel very, very fast.

Because there's always going to be whether you're the best right now, there's always going to be someone younger, someone better looking, someone better than you, some more faster.

That's what I learned when I was playing football.

But like you can take that through your whole life, just focus on yourself, do the best that you can be and just continue to get better day in and day out.

And it's going to, it should be good enough.

My light died.

But it will be good enough for what you.

If you put in the effort and if you can go to sleep at night knowing that you tried your hardest, you're going to be able to have a good career and look back and be happy on what you achieved.

I agree.

And it's hard to, to I guess get this insight when you're young, right?

So it's, it's challenging throughout this.

You still look at, on the side, on the right and left and say, I need to be number one.

And I have to.

But I think over time you understand, you know, your strength, what you're good at, what you're not so good at, and maybe that's okay.

Right.

But, but it's a very competitive landscape then the flight academy and everything after that.

And I think that's the main challenge to, to keep your head up and, and finish it and finish it successfully and, and, and trying to be the best.

Yeah, well, it's kind of like a science for, for them picking who can be a fighter pilot.

Because one, you have to perform.

They need people to perform.

So eventually you have to do it.

You have to be able to pass a checkride.

You have to be able to pass, but they're going to push you to as far as they can push you without pushing you over the edge to breaking you.

That's kind of the main point, what I've seen in all training and being able to do that in a good environment where they can foster kind of creativity and you focusing on what you're doing sometime.

From what I've heard, I'm not in the military, but military can show a little bit of tough love every once in a while, so the screaming can motivate you too as well, but not necessarily always a thing anymore, which is kind of interesting to hear.

But yeah, it's kind of like a science for them.

They're figuring out they're trying to get the best out of you and they have a lot of money invested in you.

So I think another thing, whenever someone's going through training, they want you to pass like they do not want you to fail.

One, they're going to lose a lot of money, which a lot of times governments and are really worried and companies are worried about.

But two, they want you to do well.

They want you to be here.

They chose you for a reason and they believe in you.

So believe in yourself.

Yeah, yeah, I agree.

Yeah.

As you are transitioning, kind of figuring out that like, hey, like, I'm really good at this product stuff too.

You know, it's like I got a passion for this too.

What was kind of your pathway to where you are now?

So as we opened up the podcast, we talked about how you work for skypath, how what was the in between of you figuring out that you liked dealing with software?

And I don't know if headhunting is the right word or if it was like a LinkedIn message or how did it work out to where you got today?

Yes.

No, that's a great question.

And I Think it started during my, as I mentioned, with the opportunity to look at the software and the hardware of the aircraft I was flying and the ability to specify, to think about a problem and to solve it.

I think it started there.

Then I started an MBA and I met an amazing founder that I joined his company afterwards as a product manager.

So I had again, it was, I would say it was luck that we met but I grabbed this opportunity when I had the chance to join this company because there were two amazing founders, exceptional team Liad and Umbri Dynamic Yield this company.

I learned how to build exceptional software there.

For four years.

The company was acquired by McDonald's and then MasterCard later on.

Amazing people, amazing talent.

And I continued to, you know, my path and to continue to fall in love with product management and the ability to look at problems and how is the best to solve them.

To delight the users and bring great products to life, but also serve the business and the needs and make an impact.

So then what happened is that through friends and airline connections I got this opportunity to join Skypas at an early stage.

And when I heard about this opportunity and the problem and what they were doing, it felt like that's what I need to do.

So bringing both my passion of aviation and product and continue to build this amazing product of Skypath.

So that's, I would say the path that I went through and then getting into, into Skypath.

So I'm here for more than than four years already leading the product.

Yes.

And enjoying every day still.

Yeah, I mean it's a great problem to solve.

You said you liked being a problem solver.

And I always tell people this when, when people ask about flying and then like turbulence, I'm like, you know, the pilots don't enjoy the turbulence either.

It's not like we're going into the turbulence like riding a horse and having a cowboy hat on.

It's not like we don't want the turbulence as much as you don't want the turbulence turbulence.

So it's like we need something to help out here.

So seeing that there was someone working on something like that, that's a problem for, I mean, millions and millions of people.

We say that because passengers in the back, not just the pilots.

Because skypath can be used for business, it can be used for ga, it can be used for airlines and everything in between.

But talk about seeing this problem solving opportunity in front of you.

Was it something that you're like, oh my gosh, this is perfect aviation meets turbulence detection and I can help people.

Was this Kind of like a match made in heaven for you and you jumped at the opportunity.

Exactly.

I mean it was exactly like that because you know, it was, I was familiar with this problem and ride quality or turbulence is getting worse.

So there is in fact worsening in the turbulence and more and more turbulence over time.

And that's the number one injuries, effect or reason.

And it impacts billions of lives every year, both passengers and crew.

And when I heard about this problem, which is pretty simple, like Waze or Google Maps, crowdsourcing concepts using the iPad only, a software only solution to collect and display in real time where there is turbulence.

It was simple enough to understand and to talk about.

Very smart behind the scenes, but smart enough also to get the insight and the data and to help the pilots and the entire ecosystem.

And it's a real problem.

Right?

It's physics, it's meteorologic, it impacts lives, it impacts really the everyday of the airline operations.

So I think that the combination of both aviation a real problem that is a real pain that was not solved, I would say good enough until recently.

It was a moment that I knew that I had to take it and join this amazing team and just to continue.

And since then we've evolved a lot at this moment.

And again I'm here for more than four years and every day I wake up in the morning, I'm happy and still challenging, but it's rewarding and I think it's.

I'm happy that I made the decision.

In your four years being at Skypath, how have you seen a change?

I mean has technology helped out?

Whether it's chips and iPads, has it been software designed by your team?

Just general ideas of how you can improve this data and how you can get this data to the pilots real time.

Talk a little bit about what skypath was when you first arrived and where skypath is now and then future if you want to.

I don't know if you want to spill any special tea or anything but like just kind of where, where it was, where it is and kind of what the, the main goal and providing just a safe option for pilots, for dispatchers, for passengers.

Yes.

So when I joined I would describe it like that.

So it was a, an iPad software for pilots sense and display data where there is turbulence in real time.

And we started there and we upgraded into several paths.

So from the data perspective we had so much data already.

As we grew and added additional users, additional airlines using the product, there was an opportunity to harness the technology of machine learning, the evolving compute power as well as the data sets that we had.

And we built our own machine learning prediction model of turbulence.

So we were not only dependent on where there was an aircraft to report where there isn't, where there isn't.

We utilized the vast amount of data that we have today.

We already have 9 billion reports a year.

But we did it two years ago when we had a lot of data already and we built it from the ground up.

And we took weather parameters and more complex physics parameters and joined them with the data of where there actually was.

So that's unique of both building the model and validating that it works.

And we see an amazing accuracy.

And now we bring 100% coverage at all flight levels, complemented and joined by where there is and where there isn't in real time.

So a mesh layer in this sense.

We then continued add additional data sources, for example, pilot reports, EDR reports from the aircraft.

We took the box of the ADSP and from the vertical rate we derive turbulence today and we are able to show and increase the coverage significantly.

And then we took the challenge of data overflow.

Right.

So we have so many, so much data already.

How do you package it in a way that is still actionable?

Still we want to keep it simple.

This signature hexagons of color coded between yellow and orange and red.

And saying to the pilots or to the dispatchers, in 10 or 15 minutes there's moderate turbulence.

You can take action, you can try to avoid it or you can tell the seatbelt sign and just get everyone seated and safe.

Right.

But there are so many data sources behind it.

So we brought the two levels here.

So the first of all is just get your attention of the hazard ahead.

But if you want to dive deeper, you can and tap on it and learn which data sources led to the decision.

Because pilots do want to know where this information came from.

Trying to balance between a complete black box, but also have some kind of transparency and user control and building the trust around the data that we bring.

So that's a challenge, but I think we solved it very well.

And we also.

Sorry, no, keep going, keep going.

Yeah, I would just describe one more thing around the ecosystem.

So we started with the pilots and we added a dispatchers web application to provide both flight following and flight planning where the capability to debrief.

So we get these kind of questions from airlines.

We had an incident last week and or yesterday or three days ago and we want to learn better what happened.

So we bring the capability to go back in time and understand the full story of A flight, what information was available, what the flight actually experienced and ideally to learn and to try and better understand could have.

We have done something better to try and avoid it.

And we added a layer as well for flight attendants.

So to communicate within the cockpit and the cabin discreetly even before the public announcement.

Again, not to overwhelm the passengers and for the anxious passengers trying in a bit, manage the cabin.

So.

And we have a few things ahead that I'll talk about, of course, but that's eventually where we evolved from the crowdsourcing concept into predictions into additional data sources and expanded the ecosystem from pilots to dispatchers to flight attendants, et cetera.

So I would say a revolution from turbulence information to.

Right.

Quality meshed data into the first in market end to end turbulence mitigation platform for the airlines as well as for business aviation.

Absolutely.

I think it's just, it's so important to have another kind of tool in your safety belt.

Right.

Or in your toolkit just to have more information.

As a pilot, having all the information you can, you know, it's like you want to see what the trends are, you want to see what other airplanes are seeing.

And it's cool because you can tap on it and you can see how long ago that was detected because obviously it was an hour ago, you know, maybe the turn and there's not been no new reports then.

It might be okay now.

So you have so much information at your hands.

You can see the type airplane, you can see who it was and you can go in there and just.

I love the color codedness too, is so, it's so easy to read and just be like, oh, all right, yeah, let's, let's turn right, go that way, let's get away from there.

And one thing that we talked, we talked about turbulence and how it's getting worse.

What's hard for a lot of people and even like new pilots or pilots in general is like, we all can associate turbulence with thunderstorms.

Like that makes sense to us.

Right.

But when we're just flying in clear blue sky and all of a sudden you're just getting bounced around, it's like, all right, why is this happening?

So having the ability to kind of understand like, hey, okay, it's nice outside, but yeah, there's still the jet streams doing something weird.

And we might not have the ability to see it, but the app is detecting it through the previous aircraft that went in there.

So, you know, and like you said, you can throw the seatbelt sign on, the cabin crew can communicate with each other or if your dispatch is on the app, they can be like hey, a cars message or if they can message the app be like hey, there's some turbulence ahead.

We actually are recommending you go toward this point and then you can all make it work.

And it's a collaborative effort between a whole team to focus on the safety of the flight.

Yes.

And it's great that you mentioned that.

It's even more than that.

It's even not only an aircraft that went through it.

The prediction or the predictive model knows also how to predict clear turbulence, whether it comes from the trims mountain waves.

So it also knows how to predict convection or convective turbulence.

But that's easier for you as you mentioned to know or maybe use the radar.

But I think the really terrifying area or the I would say the challenge for the existing forecast is the clear air turbulence.

And this is something we do very well and I think in general I'm very proud and we're very proud with the impact.

So we do see a reduction on injuries.

With one of our major airlines we saw 40 to 50% reduction of injuries before sky path implementation and after.

So it really brings a real impact.

And we are continuously working on both the data improvements as I mentioned, but also how we can provide you with the best tools out there for the pilot, for the dispatchers, for the flight attendants, for communicating with the passengers and trying to really be the only tool you need or the must have platform.

Absolutely.

And I think we're getting there.

I think you can't avoid the fact that ride quality is getting worse and it's top of mind today with airlines and with the pilots.

And I believe it's going into a must have a tool to both mitigate that but also to bring the best service.

I think that and you know, it's based on the research and what we learn and understand is that passengers expect both a safe flight, they count on you.

Right.

But also they expect a great service and there is kind of trade off.

I don't think you can turn on the seatbelt sign for the entire flight.

Right.

Because passengers won't accept it.

So I think that the airline or the pilots who will win eventually or the competitive edge here will be bringing the safest flight but also the best service.

So sitting you down in communicating in 10 minutes there's going to be turbulence and it's going to last for five minutes and then it will stop.

And this is something that I'm flying a lot in in the United States, you know, visiting the airlines and the partners and we sometimes hear that and we know where it comes from and when.

When it happens so well and so granular.

It feels safe.

Right?

It feels like a great.

That the crew got.

Got you covered and I know there's a lot of anxious passengers and yeah, that's what we're trying to do.

We're trying to help the airlines communicate it better, you know, and both provide the safest flight, but also the best service.

And to increase the NPS scores and to increase the satisfaction and the loyalty of the passengers, I would choose an airline that uses these best tools for this aspect.

So I think it's going there and that's what we're hearing, that it just becomes a must have and, and we're very proud with what we've done, but we're definitely continuing to work and we have some exciting things ahead.

The idea of turbulence detection isn't necessarily a new thing.

Everyone kind of hasn't, like, how can we detect this?

You guys actually solved it.

And skypath is able to do that.

Do you think that's possible because of where technology is today?

Like say if there wasn't an iPad or with the accelerometers with the chips that they had right now, what would skypath look like?

Is it dependent on this or do you think there's a way to detect this without say, an iPad or the technology we have right now?

Yeah, no, that's a great question.

And I think the main.

So there.

And we see today, right, you know, with generative AI and so technology unlocks new ways to solve problems.

So the problem of turbulence was there for a long time and there were different solutions.

I'll give you one, one example, an implementation of an algorithm on the aircraft.

The problem was that it requires an actual implementation on the aircraft.

But I think that the fact that the iPad got into the cockpit, that was a, a technical upgrade.

I would say that brought additional innovation into the aviation industry and I think it's a great one because we were able and we are able to sense tubulence using it.

But I think there could be additional things that can be done with the iPad.

And we see great apps using the Apple hardware and definitely the machine learning and the compute power that can enter the world.

Improved forecast, it will improve the ability to predict.

So definitely I would say that the technology here in skypath that started using the sensor, but today's Karpath is more than that.

Right?

It's a, it's a data company that is based on all the data that we have but we're able to already take additional sources and being you know the, the one place to come for right quality data.

So not only the hyper but additional data sources, the predictions, the interface that we bring to the pilots, to the dispatchers, to the flight attendants.

So it evolved from a real problem with the new technology but continues to innovate and based on new technologies but also just delightful interfaces.

So I think these are the main things that I think I appreciate it.

I think that the team is doing here an amazing job and yeah I think that's the evolution and we have so many things that we're still working on.

I'll give you just a few around data, bringing additional data sources and improving the prediction model around the consolidation.

So we have the one layer that consolidated different data sources.

So always working on improving the algorithm there and a few things that will release soon is the new web interface we worked and we're going to soon launch a completely new web app for dispatchers, for safety and risk teams.

Everything that I mentioned around flight planning, flight following, the ability to brief analytics and bi as well predictive insights.

So things we are working on based on the data that we have but bringing the best in class data into the hands of each and every stakeholder in the aviation to manage the day to day from the tactical perspective but also from strategic perspective.

So many, I would say many exciting things that are coming very soon and later this year.

Sweet.

So hopefully we can talk about it more on the next chapter.

Justin here.

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That's allworthairline.com pilotopilot and now back to today's episode.

I do have like a slightly nerdy question about the data itself.

So like say I'm at three seven zero I get turbulence, the app picks it up.

How does that like where does the data go?

So the app is connected to say my iPad's connected to wi Fi.

Does that get sent to a server and then gets re uploaded or is that something that is shared in like a cloud server?

Kind of talk about like where that information go.

Like it comes from the iPad and gets to every other iPad.

But how does it get there?

Right?

This seems magic to the pilot itself, but what's the process of the data getting to where it needs to go?

So the pilot, the cabin crew, the dispatch can see that information?

Sure.

So it starts in the iPad.

We have a pattern algorithm that tracks the turbulence and knows how to filter noise.

Already on the iPad side, looking into when the pilot is moving the iPad from the mount and putting it back, we pause the recording if they're doing emails, which they shouldn't, but.

But we know that and we know how to filter it out.

So that's one part.

The second piece is if you're connected, it goes in real time into the server.

The server also looks into additional noise filtering.

We normalize the paragraph type, as you mentioned.

So Whether it's a 737 or 787 or Neighbors 350, the data comes in differently and also displayed automatically to the user pair the aircraft type, so they don't need to think, wait, that was a 73 that went through this area I will probably experience differently.

No, so it does it automatically, it goes through the servers and then distributed to the entire ecosystem, to all the apps and to the integrated apps and to the web app automatically.

And it happens, I would say in a few tens of seconds.

So under a minute, all the data is normalized, filtered and distributed.

There could be cases where you're offline and then first you can download information before you're flying.

And it's super relevant both to predictions as well as the data that is available.

And the data is still collected, but will be sent to the server after you land when you're reconnected.

So that also happens automatically.

And there are a few additional things, you know, with, with the cabin crew or the flight attendants.

It connects also through the servers and being distributed.

But yes, there are many moving parts, but we're trying to keep it as simple and intuitive as possible to the pilots and to the users.

Do you know how many data points you get in a certain flight?

Is there like an average like you get?

I'd imagine the amount of data you can receive from a one hour flight is just mind boggling and like a number that probably we can't even comprehend and like visualize.

But is there kind of an average you get on a one hour flight or two hour flight?

Do you have that kind of information?

Yes.

So we are also very, very, I would say, tentative to the concerns around network bandwidth.

Right.

So there could be concerns around.

So how much data comes in and comes out, because summary lines and some, you know, when you're connected, it might cost you.

So we are doing a complete optimization in regards to that.

Only sending updates.

So the reports that are going down are very light.

The data that comes in, you can narrow it down to only your flight path, and then only the updates are being sent to you.

So it could be hundreds of kilobytes or a few megabytes per an entire flight.

So you can choose, basically, if you want to see the entire world because you're curious and you don't mind around the network and then it's not that heavy megabytes, but you can also narrow it down only to your route and then it goes down dramatically.

So we're also keeping that in mind, trying to balance between the vast amount of data that we have and share, but also making sure that you get and you are able to control, I would say that the amount of network.

If you're concerned with that aspect, it's super interesting.

As a pilot who's using an application, we don't think about everything you're talking about right now.

All I see is the beautiful app that looks good and is easy to read, but you don't see the hours and days of work, then the coding and everything.

Everything is that someone probably ripping their hair out trying to figure out how to get this color, just the right color and make sure it's not the wrong color, red for severe turbulence.

But it's really interesting to learn behind the scenes of applications, how things are put together, how you can get a machine to learn this, how you can harvest the data and keep it in a way where it's not going to overwhelm any systems or overwhelm anything as well, to keep costs down.

Because that's not something you think about as a pilot.

You just think about, I need to make the information.

But as an airline CEO or as a cfo, you're like, all right, what's the cost?

What's the cost?

All right, I need to make sure it's as cheap as possible.

You know, there's just things that pilots don't mean.

Maybe some pilots do, but me, I don't always think about that, which I think is really cool.

And I appreciate you coming on to share that and talking about what's in the future and what it can be.

And I would imagine the harder.

I mean, I'm going to ask you what the hardest part for you has been.

But the hardest part in the beginning was you needed the data.

Right.

Like you have this amazing app to like now we need the airlines to give us the data so we can continue to improve this app itself.

So I, I would imagine once you just had the first couple flights and the data started coming in, you're like, oh my gosh, it's working.

This is amazing.

Yeah.

Yes, exactly.

So it's like a network effect, right.

When you have more data and, and pilots in, in airlines see the value they're joining.

Yeah.

And then once the prediction came in, we didn't have any, I would say, any additional barriers with the coverage.

And now we have more and more data sources and basically global coverage.

So yes, now the challenge is the data overflow and how to bring only what's relevant in.

Something that's actionable, intuitive and simple, but also get the best right quality data out there with all these kind of constraints and limitations.

They say the online and offline and sharing.

Even between iPads, we're doing peer optimization sharing.

If there are two iPads in the cockpit, there is an option to share the data and only download it once.

So a few things around this aspect.

So yeah, I would say that that's the initial challenge we had and now there are other challenges around how to simplify everything and make sure it's intuitive and bringing additional insights and additional, even more strategic decision making tools and just continue to work and help the operations, help the day to day pilots and mitigate it, bring the best data to reduce the injuries, improve safety and bring the best service they can.

Absolutely.

So, yeah, my last question for you, and this may be the answer, it's a two part question.

The answer may be the same.

What, in your four years here, what has been kind of the most difficult?

Or like just like I cannot get this, like my, how do I get this to show up right?

How do I fix this situation?

How do I fix this problem?

So what's been the most difficult part of the application or presentation to show the pilots about turbulence?

And then what's been the most like satisfying?

Like I, I finally did it, like maybe something that it could be like choosing the right color or it could be something maybe not as impactful to what a pilot might see, but as impactful in what you all see.

The main challenge is to, I think it's the same for every software, right.

So there's so many things we want to do, so many requests that we get on a daily basis and keeping this kind of, I would say North Star of where we're headed and what is the highest impact of what we can do to touch the, and make sure that we solve the major problems and really help the industry.

And that's a day to day challenge.

But we're trying our best to do that.

And I think in this sense, in this matter, I think what I'm super proud we did is two things.

One, that we were able to derive additional data source from the ADSP vertical rate, something that took us long time to do.

We utilized our iPad algorithm and all the data we had to correlate and get it out and significantly increase the coverage and bring much more observations than ever.

And we're the first in market to do so.

And it's a groundbreaking update that we managed to do and broke it down to the market recently.

And the second piece is the consolidation of the different data sources.

So taking the Skypath observations, the EDR data, the Skypath ADSB vertical rate and the Pyrops and Skype was now casting predictions and how to combine it together into a single layer that is both actionable as well as easy to understand but still provide you with the right balance of observability and ability to understand what's behind that decision.

And not having a complete black box.

That took us a while to, you know, to find the right balance.

With the airlines that we're working with, with the partners with our team, it was a very big effort to find that right spot.

Right.

And we're very proud with that.

So I think these are the two main things and in addition of course to everything we did so far with the predict and our models.

So.

Yeah.

And so many things we're still working on.

So I had to pick something.

I lied.

This is now the last question.

Something popped up in my head.

But this will end on this one right here.

Let's just say we're in the elevator.

I'm a CEO of an airline.

Your luck was just perfect.

You've been trying to get a hold of me forever.

What is a good elevator pitch?

If you have one like a two minute pitch like hey, I'm guy from skypath.

This is why I think you need skypath.

What would you say?

I would say ride quality is getting worse, forecasts are not adequate and SkyPath is the number one data source to bring you actionable insights and is proven to reduce injury is to improve the service, to improve the NPS scores and the loyalty and it's just a must have.

You just can't continue with your day to day without taking it Otherwise you lose your competitive edge.

That was.

I would, that's what I would say to anyone today.

Yeah.

Oh God, thank you so much.

You just, you know, will just lose the advantage over time.

Oh, 100%.

I truly believe it.

And that's the situation today.

Yeah.

Perfect answer.

I love it guy.

Thank you so much for coming to the podcast.

I appreciate your time.

Like you said, chapter two, we'll get no go, we'll coordinate it and we'll have you back on because it's a lot of fun to talk to you and I feel like we could just talk forever about just how the app works because I think that's super interesting.

I also think it's really interesting that from what I've heard, and I don't know if you actively call it this, but you mentioned Waze and, and some people have heard it say it's Waze for kind of airplanes.

But Waze was also originally an Israeli company as well, which it's kind of interesting that two similar concepts of crowdsourcing and data sharing.

So you guys are doing something great over there.

So you have that down packed and you're making a great app and I truly see the need for it.

And your elevator pitch is spot on.

So you're doing a great job.

And shout out to the team and I I hope that continue to to do an amazing stuff and continue to help make everything safer.

Whether it's from the start of the flight of flight planning, to the dispatcher, to the flight attendants or to the pilots making real time decisions and just improving safety.

So thank you all for making that making our lives easier.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

It was a pleasure to to be here.

That's a wrap on today's episode.

Thank you so much for listening.

I hope you're having a great day.

Guy was great to come on.

Great to talk about Skypath and always love talking with innovative companies to hear what they have to say and just to see innovation come into aviation and try to make aviation better.

So thank you for listening to this.

I truly appreciate it.

Check out Skypath and everything we talked about in this episode and also go listen to Maya's episode, she's the CEO of SkyPath.

To hear some awesome things from her as well.

AV Nation I hope you're having a great day and as always happy flying.

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