FOQA

Flight Operations Quality Assurance

What is FOQA?

FOQA is an acronym for Flight Operations Quality Assurance. It’s also known as Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) or Flight Data Analysis (FDA). While there are slight differences in how different nations may implement such programs, these terms can be used interchangeably.

A Flight Data Monitoring program is a program in which flight data is regularly downloaded from an aircraft flight recorder and analyzed for the purposes of improving operational safety and efficiency.

Whereas in the past, flight recorder data was used to investigate an accident after the fact, Flight Data Monitoring programs take a proactive approach to data analysis in order to prevent the accident in the first place.

However, the benefits of a Flight Data Monitoring program extend far beyond safety. In today’s data rich world, the information collected from a Flight Data Monitoring program can be used to improve fuel usage, maintenance, and other operational efficiencies.

While it may seem complicated, executing a Flight Data Monitoring program is quite straight forward. And if you use a third party service, such as Scaled Analytics, your service provider will take care of most of the work for you.

A screenshot from Sky Analyst FDM.

“A Program for obtaining and analyzing data recorded in flight to improve flight crew performance, air carrier training programs and operating procedures, air traffic control procedures, airport maintenance and design, and aircraft operations and design.”

– John H. Enders, Flight Safety Foundation Report

How does a FOQA program work?

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Download

Download flight data from a Flight Data Recorder (FDR) or a Quick Access Recorder (QAR).

Process

Process flight data in FOQA software such as Sky Analyst FDM.

Analyze

Analyze results through charts, tables, and reports.
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Action

Make actionable decisions.

FOQA Training

Learn more about FOQA in our free web series or sign up for a course.

Flight Data Monitoring

Sky Analyst FDM is a modern, cloud-based Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) and FOQA solution for event detection, reporting and detailed analysis.

Helicopter FDM

From medivac to off shore oil rig operations, the helicopter environment is quite specialized and requires a special Flight Data Monitoring program – Helicopter FDM or HFDM.

Corporate FOQA

We know that as corporate operators you have different Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) or Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) requirements than airlines.