Chattanooga Airport
John NaylorChattanooga Airport travelers will soon be able to better track if their flights are on time, both while they're at the passenger terminal and online.
Airport officials plan to install a new system that will give "real time" data on the flight information display system that tracks airline departures and arrivals for passengers.
"It's a much better system, a much more robust system," said John Naylor, the airport's vice president of planning and development.
Currently, Naylor said, there are instances in which the system shows that a plane has already landed when it's still in the air.
"There will be times when it's completely wrong," he said.
Arpit Malaviya, who co-founded the Southern California-based aviation technology firm ProDIGIQ, said its system will use four sources of information to provide updated flight information.
"Everything is in real time," he said. "It can be updated in real time." Malaviya said airlines can make last-minute changes in their flights on the system.
In addition, the information that appears on the monitors in the passenger terminal will also show up on the airport's website, he said.
Malaviya said plans are to provide a map showing the flights as well.
"We'll do our own product," he said. "There will be flights coming in a certain color and flights out in a certain color."
Naylor said the new ProDIGIQ system also offers a baggage information display system, an added feature at the airport.
Additionally, the flight information display system will have space where the airport and ProDIGIQ can sell advertising, helping generate revenue for Lovell Field, he said.
Malaviya said the airport and his company will split revenues, the amount depending on who initiates the ad sale.
Naylor said the airport will spend about $25,750 on the new system, keeping the current monitors. There's also a three-year maintenance agreement.
"It will improve customer service and convenience by reducing staff work load," Naylor said, noting ProDIGIQ will provide software updates. "It will replace the current system which is not user friendly and requires continuous staff attention."
Malaviya said that he and his wife started the business in their garage. Now, the company is in about 60 airports in 38 states.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.