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December 8, 2016

CommutAir Leverages The Weather Company to Harness the Power of Big Data

ANDOVER, Mass., Dec. 8 — The Weather Company, an IBM (NYSE: IBM) Business, announced today it will be expanding its relationship with CommutAir, one of the fastest growing regional airlines in the United States. Following a significant increase in the size of its fleet, CommutAir will leverage enhanced flight planning and Predictive Airport Analytics solutions. The company will also further its use of The Weather Company’s Fusion global tracking and dispatch services. This modern flight system will provide the airline with the critical information it needs to make the best decisions for its crew, passengers, and business.

Processing over 100 terabytes of data a day, The Weather Company helps airlines face the challenge of integrating big data into daily operations for real-time decision making.

“By pairing historical operational airport data with superior weather forecasts, CommutAir will be able to intelligently predict arrival and departure capacities and procedures, allowing for improved operational efficiency – ultimately helping to save time, improve passenger safety, and reduce fuel consumption,” said Mark D. Miller, vice president and global sales leader, The Weather Company. “Flight planning and predictive analytics solutions help airlines like CommutAir understand disruptive situations and their impacts ahead of time. This allows them to make more informed decisions, helping minimize or even eliminate those impacts.”

As one of the main regional airlines operating on behalf of United Airlines as United Express, CommutAir recently upgraded its fleet by adding Embraer E145 jet operations to the company’s existing fleet of Bombardier turbo-prop aircraft. CommutAir will be adding 40 new jets in the next two years.

“As our airline executes its business plan to triple in size over the next couple of years we are deploying key technology solutions to ensure our team has the right tools to make efficient operational decisions as the complexity of our network expands,” said Radha Iyer, Chief Technology Officer at CommutAir.  “The Weather Company will be an essential partner in improving our visualization of airport congestion, taxi delays, and runway configurations, which is essential in our mission to deliver a world class travel experience for our customers, through optimized operational efficiencies.”

For more information on The Weather Company’s aviation solutions, visit: https://business.weather.com/industry-solutions/aviation.

About The Weather Company, an IBM Business

The Weather Company, an IBM Business, is the world’s largest private weather enterprise, helping people make informed decisions – and take action – in the face of weather. The company offers the most accurate, personalized and actionable weather data and insights to millions of consumers and thousands of businesses via Weather’s API, its business solutions division, and its own digital products from The Weather Channel (weather.com) and Weather Underground (wunderground.com).

The company delivers up to 26 billion forecasts daily. Its products include a top weather app on all major mobile platforms globally; the world’s largest network of personal weather stations; a top-20 U.S. website; the seventh most data-rich site in the world; one of the world’s largest IoT data platforms; and industry-leading business solutions.

About CommutAir

CommutAir, operating as United Express, was founded in 1989 and is majority owned by Champlain Enterprises Inc. Today, CommutAir operates more than 800 weekly flights to 30 + destinations, with Bombardier Q200/300 and Embraer ERJ145XR aircrafts, from bases in Newark, NJ and Dulles, DC. CommutAir’s 700 + employees are well known in the industry for fostering a family culture and a friendly work environment.  Visit our website at www.flycommutair.com.


Source: IBM

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