Kittyhawk Launches Flight Deck for Real-Time Drone Operations

The comprehensive platform for secure, scalable, and dynamic commercial drone applications

Kittyhawk, the leader in drone operations software, is today announcing Flight Deck: a new feature that brings in-flight controls and functionality in real time to the Kittyhawk platform. Every day, thousands of pilots rely on Kittyhawk for everything from pre-flight planning and checklists to post-flight logging and intelligence. Kittyhawk’s Flight Deck removes the need for switching between apps during an operation, while also connecting the pilot and his aircraft to real-time airspace alerts and real-time coordination with headquarters.

For commercial pilots, Flight Deck removes significant overhead by acting as a single mobile application that solves for every need in the field. It also automates the tedious task of flight logging. For chief pilots and fleet managers at headquarters, Flight Deck brings visibility and control to operations that are happening in real time.

“A core product theme at Kittyhawk is how we can help our customers foster a culture of safety,” says Josh Ziering, Co-Founder and Chief Pilot of Kittyhawk. “Flight Deck fundamentally changes how a commercial drone operations function.”

Thanks to improving technology and increasing clarity in FAA regulations, more and more companies are finding the confidence to expand drone use in their businesses.

The next question that Kittyhawk helps businesses answer is, how do we move from a handful of pilots to hundreds?

“As corporations start to roll out their drone operations, they are increasingly looking to consolidate hardware and software vendors,” says Colin Snow, CEO and Founder of Skylogic Research, LLC. “Platforms that can provide an entire workflow and integrate into existing operations become more and more valuable for large-scale UAV teams. Kittyhawk’s strong product offering puts it in a great place to leverage this market trend.”

With more companies adopting drones into their workflows, there is a high demand for safe, scaleable flight management and operations platforms. More flights means more data for drone operators — but the value of that data diminishes over time.

“Once a company starts operating at scale,” says Jon Hegranes, CEO and Co-Founder of Kittyhawk, “they realize the importance of real-time data. What happened last month or last week is fine for a report, but real-time telemetry and coordination with current flights is a necessity for any serious commercial operator.”

Kittyhawk is the only real-time flight operations and management solution on the market. The launch of Flight Deck brings the ability for pilots to interact dynamically with the airspace in real time. Flight Deck is integrated with the AirMap platform, allowing drone operators to improve their situational awareness with real-time traffic alerts, share their live telemetry with airports and others in the airspace, and understand and comply with airspace rules, requirements, and temporary restrictions.

“The innovators at Kittyhawk understand the critical importance of real-time situational awareness and effortless decision-making about where it is safe to fly,” said Ben Marcus, CEO of AirMap. “We’re proud that the AirMap platform can contribute to this sophisticated, end-to-end tool for commercial drone operators and enterprise users.”

Kittyhawk’s comprehensive platform links what’s happening in the air to mission plans, fleet data, and company-set alerts in real-time. These alerts ensure that information is always relevant and actionable. Furthermore, Kittyhawk’s cross-platform availability and cloud-scale data management backend make it both user-friendly and dependable. The team remains as product-driven as ever, rapidly building out technical features to match the fast-paced industry.

“Kittyhawk is indispensable for all our flight operations,” said Joshua Pruitt, Chief Pilot for Abroadened Horizon. “With Flight Deck we now have a hyper accurate and real-time air map with detailed forecasting in addition to tracking and documenting all of our flight records, managing our fleet maintenance schedules, and sharing checklists with other platform users”.

Kittyhawk has already been validated by high-profile customers like Shell, Intel, and CNN. And because security is of the utmost importance for large-scale operators, Kittyhawk prides itself on its data integrity and usability at scale. The platform stores all data domestically, which means sensitive media and telemetry data is not sent to any foreign companies or countries. Perhaps most importantly, Kittyhawk is customer-centric and rapidly develops its platform based on industry events and customer feedback.

The Kittyhawk platform currently serves customers ranging from individual drone pilots to the largest commercial teams in operation today. The newly released Flight Deck functionality is free and unlimited for anyone with a DJI drone, with more features and hardware partners coming soon.

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