Cellular Connectivity Advances Flight Data Monitoring Technology.

Based in Auckland, New Zealand, Spidertracks is the leading provider of satellite aircraft tracking, fleet management and communication solutions for thousands of private and light commercial aircraft across the world.  

Safety lies at the heart of Spidertracks’ guiding mission to enable fixed and rotary-wing operators to always locate their aircraft. Spidertracks equipment serves small commercial and private aircraft operators in more than 130 countries and is used in a variety of challenging environments from performing wildlife inspection operations in Africa’s plains, to search and rescue missions in mountainous terrain, all the way through to fighting rampant forest fires in the US. 

Spidertracks sought to address the hardware and data monitoring challenges they knew the industry faced. Downloading the data from a flight requires the user to keep SD cards handy and cables on stand-by, which is not always easy with the average size of a cockpit, nor a good use of time waiting for data to download.  

“The same barriers exist today in-flight data monitoring that existed in tracking when we started. The boxes are $20,000 and it’s a 30 hour install. Even the higher end operators that we speak to can’t justify rolling that out across their fleet. Putting the hardware into the aircraft can be a significant cost – not just the purchase price, but the installation”, Spidertracks COO, Steven Whitaker says. 

Spidertracks wanted to offer a cost-effective virtual flight data monitoring solution that any aircraft operator could use, from light aircraft operators to the largest aviation-based tourism companies in the world.  

Spidertracks had a vision to overcome these challenges and promote the widespread adoption of flight data insights to drive higher levels of safety.  

The Spider X idea was born: a simple, affordable plug-and-play solution delivering rich, actionable insights on where aircraft were and when, and most importantly how they were being operated and flown. 

In addition to satellite communications (SATCOM), Spidertracks had decided to use cellular connectivity and knew it was critical to find the right provider – a previous supplier had failed to deliver adequate technical support. They wanted a partner who would be a good cultural fit for their business, offering support every step of the way throughout their IoT journey. With a recommendation from Amazon Web Services (AWS), Spidertracks approached Eseye to fill that role.