OpsControl 3.0: Strengthening Situational Awareness and Operational Control
Maintaining full situational awareness is critical for any OCC. Dispatchers must monitor live flights, react quickly to operational changes, and ensure compliance with evolving operational conditions. With OpsControl® 3.0, AIR SUPPORT introduces several new capabilities designed to strengthen real-time monitoring, improve dispatcher workflow, and support more informed operational decisions. The new version builds on OpsControl’s existing global flight tracking and flight watch capabilities, while introducing enhanced tracking sources, improved visualization, smarter notifications, and new operational planning tools.
Avoid Loss of Tracking with ACARS
One of the key enhancements in OpsControl 3.0 is support for ACARS-based tracking.
While many operators rely on satellite or terrestrial tracking sources, these signals can occasionally be interrupted or degraded. ACARS data, transmitted directly from the aircraft via the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, provides an additional and highly reliable source of flight information.
By integrating ACARS position reports into OpsControl, operators can:
- Reduce the risk of tracking gaps
- Receive position reports directly from the aircraft
- Monitor route deviations or diversions in near real time
ACARS data can be used alongside other tracking sources or configured as a backup layer, ensuring dispatchers maintain flight visibility even if other sources are temporarily unavailable.
Introducing the “What-If” Airport Suitability Check Tool
OpsControl has traditionally focused on live operational monitoring, but version 3.0 introduces a new planning capability through the What-If tool. The What-If tool allows dispatchers to perform an airport suitability check by analyzing potential routes between a departure airport, destination, and alternate airports. By entering key flight parameters such as departure time, estimated arrival time, and alternate options, dispatchers can analyze operational suitability based on factors such as weather conditions, NOTAMs (optional module), and airport restrictions.
This makes the tool valuable both for dispatch decision-making and automated dispatch workflows, helping operators evaluate operational options before a flight departs or when conditions change.
Smarter NOTAM Handling with Acknowledgement
NOTAM management is an essential but often repetitive task in the OCC environment.
OpsControl 3.0 introduces a new NOTAM acknowledgement feature that allows dispatchers to confirm that a NOTAM has been reviewed and addressed. Once a dispatcher acknowledges a NOTAM while working on a flight, the acknowledgement can optionally apply to all flights affected by that NOTAM for its entire validity period. This means other dispatchers working later shifts do not need to re-evaluate the same NOTAM if the operational action has already been determined. Operators can configure this behavior at account level, choosing whether NOTAM acknowledgement should apply only during the dispatcher’s shift or for the entire validity period of the NOTAM.
This feature helps reduce duplicated effort while ensuring that operational decisions remain clearly documented and traceable.
A New Map with Improved Performance and Operational Layers
OpsControl 3.0 also introduces a completely updated map interface.
The new map improves performance while providing dispatchers with greater flexibility through multiple operational layers. These layers allow users to visualize relevant information such as weather data, NOTAMs, and other operational elements directly within the flight monitoring view. Combined with the live flight list, the map now provides a clearer operational overview. Flights can be visually highlighted when attention is required, allowing dispatchers to quickly identify potential issues across the fleet. The improved map performance ensures smooth interaction even when monitoring large fleets or multiple operational layers simultaneously.
A Centralized Notification Center
Monitoring multiple flights requires the ability to quickly identify events that require attention.
OpsControl 3.0 introduces a new Notification Center, bringing together alerts, warnings, and informational messages into a single structured interface.
With the new notification center, dispatchers can:
- View notifications directly within the flight list
- Filter notifications by severity (information, warning, or alert)
- Search and sort notifications to focus on relevant operational events
Flights requiring attention are clearly highlighted both in the flight list and on the map, helping dispatchers prioritize tasks and maintain situational awareness across the operation.
It is also possible to configure how notifications appear in the user interface, choosing whether alerts should appear as pop-ups, dialogs, or within the notification tray.
Supporting Smarter, Faster Operational Decisions
Together, the new features in OpsControl 3.0 enhance both situational awareness and operational efficiency within the OCC.
By combining improved tracking reliability, clearer operational visualization, smarter notification management, and new planning tools, dispatch teams gain a stronger foundation for managing daily flight operations.