The Airline Tech Podcast: How GOscore optimizes airline ground operations using satellite data

Every airline wants to improve on-time performance while keeping aircraft in the air for longer.

In this episode, Garth Lund speaks with Eli Masinter, founder of GOscore, about using ADS-B satellite data to measure how long aircraft spend on the ground, and how airlines and airports compare.

Why ground time matters

An aircraft earns money only when it is flying. Airlines have long tracked turnaround time, but total ground time also includes taxiing in and out, which airport congestion can lengthen.

What you'll hear

• Why Eli argues turnaround time is the wrong measure, and what GOscore measures instead
• How United and Southwest compare on ground time
• Why some airlines pad schedules by around 20 minutes, and what better data could change
• Which parts of ground time airlines can influence, and what is still dependent on airport infrastructure

What it means for airlines

Airlines can use ground time data to benchmark their own performance against competitors and to see which airports in their network keep aircraft on the ground the longest.

Runway and gate breakdowns, which GOscore is developing, will show how particular runway or gate usage affects ground time, so airlines can take action to use the most efficient infrastructure, or anticipate delays if they are allocated a particular gate.

Check out GOscore for yourself.

Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.