OEMs Advance Flight Management System Technology

A new generation of flight management systems with expanded connectivity and software design will enter service within the next few years.

Gary Goz, director of navigation and guidance at GE Aerospace, says that flight management system (FMS) connectivity falls into two areas. The first, connected FMS, creates a secure connection between the FMS and the pilot’s electronic flight bag (EFB) application of choice, allowing data to be exchanged between the two.

“Connected FMS can be implemented either through a wired or wireless connection using an aircraft interface device, such as our SmartDMS aircraft health management system,” Goz explains. “While connected FMS is particularly well suited for our TrueCourseTM FMS architecture, it has also been demonstrated with our legacy [Boeing] 737 FMS, and is an option for all our legacy platforms, both civil and military.” The EFB provider, he adds, integrates their application using GE Aerospace’s software development kit.

The second type of connectivity is what Goz terms cloud FMS. In that regard, he says, GE Aerospace has demonstrated the “use case” by deploying the FMS software in a cloud environment and exchanging data with its digital twin.

“This technology has the potential to bring more connectivity between the FMS and ground-based systems used by air traffic control (ATC) and airline operation centers (AOC),” he says. “The differentiator that cloud FMS provides is the ability for the FMS to share data with the receiver, such as modified flight plans, remaining fuel and weight as examples. This kind of information paired with the digital twin/cloud FMS can allow ATC or AOC to perform various ‘what-if’ scenarios to accommodate other traffic, fleet needs and emergencies with much better results than can be achieved today.”

MORE CONNECTED CONNECTIVITY

Honeywell is also pursuing enhanced FMS connectivity for “improved operational efficiency,” says Mike Harshberger, director of offering management for avionics at Honeywell Aerospace Technologies.

“Honeywell is working on solutions for cockpit EFB connectivity for improved fuel and inflight time efficiency, as well as simplified vehicle operations along with connectivity to our Flight Management Engine—our FMS software—which is hosted on cloud- or ground-based servers,” Harshberger explains. “The additional computing power available outside the onboard flight management computer enables faster and more extensive calculations on route improvements and other potential changes to the flight plan than could be accomplished otherwise.”

Harshberger says Honeywell is developing its Next-Generation Flight Management System (nFMS) specifically for the Airbus A320, A330 and A350. “With nFMS, connectivity is the new functionality, while existing FMS functionalities of climb/descent profiles and performance predictions are undergoing updates and improvements,” he says. The connected nFMS is slated to enter service this decade.

Universal Avionics CEO Dror Yahav reports that his company is further enhancing digital connectivity wireless capabilities with its Solid State Data Transfer Unit+ (SSDTU+), an upgrade from the SSDTU.

Certified this year, SSDTU+ provides cloud-connected applications, which allow for automated database updates, real-time reporting and support for virtual systems, reducing reliance on dedicated hardware and enhancing scalability. Fleet analytics tools enable predictive maintenance, fuel efficiency monitoring and smarter operational planning.

“After each flight, specific post-flight analytics are made available, automatically synced from the FMS to the cloud and accessed via the UA FlightPartner and FlightReview apps,” Yahav explains. “These tools analyze post-flight data to identify trends, anomalies and potential issues before they impact operations.”

He adds that proactive maintenance is further supported by integrating the connected FMS apps with flight data recorder services to enable data-driven decisions, enhance aircraft reliability, reduce downtime and optimize performance across the fleet.

“By connecting to external iPad devices, cloud-based apps like UA FlightPartner are enabled to upload flight plans, sync performance data and even analyze post-flight metrics,” he says. “The iPad becomes an extension of the avionics suite, enhancing planning, briefing and decision-making for both pilots and maintenance teams. In a nutshell, FMS innovation is shifting toward software-driven, cloud-enabled and intelligent systems that reduce cockpit complexity, optimize performance and streamline operations.”

AI APPLICATIONS

Artificial intelligence (AI) may appear in FMS design, although to what degree has yet to be determined. Sergio von Borries, vice president of Boeing business at Thales, expects AI to play an increasingly key role in the design and operation of FMS.

“One key area is route optimization,” he says. “For example, AI-powered algorithms, whether through the pilot’s EFB or on-ground applications, can help evaluate many different optimization criteria, such as fuel reduction, contrail avoidance, CO₂ and non-CO₂ emissions, and time of arrival.”

Von Borries says Thales applied this approach while developing FlytOptim, which leverages algorithms from PureFlyt, the OEM’s next-generation connected FMS, to help pilots optimize their vertical flight trajectory using real-time weather and aircraft data. This resulted in a 2% reduction of fuel consumption, he says. Thales is projecting that PureFlyt will enter service by the end of 2026.

“When flight-tested by Corsair, this solution helped pilots avoid more than 300 [metric tons] of CO₂ and will now be deployed across all of that airline’s flights,” von Borries says.

Goz at GE Aerospace holds a different view. “AI, in essence, is a nondeterministic process that does not marry well with the deterministic requirements of a high-design-assurance, certified system such as the FMS,” he says. “For the foreseeable future, AI—especially in the commercial airspace—will likely only play a peripheral role.”

Still, Goz stresses that AI can provide guidance. “A pilot in the loop can use that guidance to program the FMS,” he says. “The FMS could even ingest the output of the AI with the pilot’s review and acceptance of the output.”

As an example, Goz explains that an AI system can be designed to pick the most efficient route between an origin and a destination, using multiple factors—such as winds, weather and altitude, paired with an understanding of the aircraft’s performance capabilities—to determine optimal routes for fuel, noise and time.

“The route can be validated using the FMS software along with other data, such as terrain databases, to ensure a safe and valid route, which can then be presented to the pilot for acceptance and execution in the FMS,” Goz says. “This type of scenario provides an overall benefit to the operation of the aircraft while maintaining the same level of safety and keeping the pilot in control.”

He adds that another closely related factor, crew workload reduction, is an “area of importance” that is being examined across the industry. “The FMS is one of the most complex systems on the aircraft and requires hours of training as part of the pilot certification process,” Goz says. “Making the FMS more intuitive and easier to interact with will ease the burden on the pilot—both in training and in day-to-day operations. Future innovations we are looking at will follow this train of thought.”

SOFTWARE-DEFINED ARCHITECTURE

“The shift toward software-defined architecture supports faster innovation cycles, reduces downtime and ensures FMS platforms can adapt to evolving airspace and mission needs,” Universal Avionics’ Yahav says. “Future flight management systems are increasingly being designed to scale and evolve through software-level upgrades rather than hardware replacements.”

He adds that while Universal’s current FMS relies on traditional line replaceable units and connected systems to manage upgrades, a connected FMS through the SSDTU+ streamlines the upgrade process by enabling seamless database updates and automatic logging of flight data for analytics and optimization.

Goz says GE Aerospace has built its latest FMS as a hardware-agnostic software application, which will help with software changes. In addition, he stresses that it is built as a product first and targeted at an aircraft platform second.

“This allows changes to be made to the software base, rolled out and tested across deployed platforms, allowing for much quicker deployment than previous FMS instantiations,” Goz says. “Older versions of FMS software were typically cloned from prior instantiations and developed along their own baselines. This required an update to be implemented across multiple instantiations, greatly increasing the time to deploy changes across multiple platforms.”