Boeing buys ForeFlight

[Scott Dyer HPN/NY]

Just announced today, probably for the fit with Jepp. Hope they don’t kill the golden goose.

[A. Niemyer]

It’s Boeing; these days, if they can’t eff it up for GA, no one can. They bought Jeppesen a while back. After Garmin screwed Jeppesen by bringing out their own competitive chart system for their EFB after signing an exclusive contract for Jeppesen charts, Jeppesen, with the very strong encouragement of all their CAB’s, became a provider to ForeFlight, recognizing they had become the 800# gorilla in GA EFB’s. (A proprietary DOD version of FF is all over military cockpits theses days).

Under Boeing, Jeppesen was All-Windows, with only one, very clunky, iOS-compatible app, and their FlightStar planning system was never going to done as an OSX-compatible system. So this signals that Boeing-Jeppesen finally recognizes the primacy, for good or bad, of iOS platforms in GA and their unofficial use on the commercial level.

Of course most GA folks are not sanguine and they expect that Boeing-FF will intentionally price itself out of the GA niche, leaving it to Garmin and the innovative Aerovie and WeatherSpork apps.

Best,
Andy

[Gary_Risley]

It will be interesting to see how long the entrepreneurial spirit can survive a large corporate, engineer-driven, culture. I understand the owners taking the money, but it was their constant innovation and customer service that made ForeFlight the success it is today. I am curious how Garmin is going to respond because the Garmin Pilot app always seemed to be chasing FF. Seattle Avionics already has social media promotions regarding its FlyQ software going for GA pilots declaring "Come on over, the water's fine!"

[Terry Carraway]

It will be interesting to see how long the entrepreneurial spirit can survive a large corporate, BEAN COUNTER-driven, culture. I understand the owners taking the money, but it was their constant innovation and customer service that made ForeFlight the success it is today. I am curious how Garmin is going to respond because the Garmin Pilot app always seemed to be chasing FF. Seattle Avionics already has social media promotions regarding its FlyQ software going for GA pilots declaring "Come on over, the water's fine!"

Too many MBAs without any real world experience running things.

[John O'Shaughnessy [FCM]]

It will be interesting to see how long the entrepreneurial spirit can survive a large corporate, engineer-driven, culture. I understand the owners taking the money, but it was their constant innovation and customer service that made ForeFlight the success it is today. I am curious how Garmin is going to respond because the Garmin Pilot app always seemed to be chasing FF. Seattle Avionics already has social media promotions regarding its FlyQ software going for GA pilots declaring "Come on over, the water's fine!"

Well said! I can't argue with Tyson and Jason cashing out, but yeah, I figure momentum will give us another two good years with ForeFlight before it suffers and drowns under its own weight.

And hopefully Jeppesen won't touch a thing. Dealing with Jeppesen years ago with their FlightStar product, and later, with GPS subscriptions was a horror show. They never could figure how to successfully move beyond taking orders over the phone, practically. ForeFlight, being "born on the web" was much better that the retail and customer service side of things.