Welcome to our little group! We’re a membership organization for the people at the pointy end of international flight operations: pilots, flight dispatchers, schedulers, and controllers. If you have a callsign, answer the phone with “Ops”, or know a NOTAM from a NOTOC, then this is for you.
Welcome to OPSGROUP!
What happens in OPSGROUP? There are 8000 of us, and every day we share new information on changes and risks that members have reported. Members get a simple little Daily Brief, live Ops Alerts, and all kinds of awesome tools to help navigate the jungle of international ops.
1
Hurricane approaching the Bahamas – reroute your flight.
2
No fuel at your tech stop in Kazakhstan!
3
New rules on the North Atlantic!
4
New airspace risk in Somalia … avoid
What’s behind the electrified fence? Your worst nightmares. New rules you didn’t know about. 100 page rule documents. Risky overflight countries. Ramp checks. CAA inspectors. Unscrupulous handlers. An overnight at the Holiday Inn Teterboro. You get the picture.
But with the right mindset, the flight ops jungle can also be an adventure – so we like doing things with a little humour and fun. We host regular Ops Chats, where the group discusses what’s happening this week. In Slack, you can ask questions or get help with that weird permit, or see if anyone else understands the latest Russian AIP change. Safe Airspace will show you which routes and countries to currently avoid.
The list of member tools is long: Permit Helper, Route Report & Map, personal Dashboard, George the Ops Bot. When the feds make life tough, we simplify the rules. We write very simple guides for members, like “My First North Atlantic Flight is Tomorrow“.
We would love to welcome you: Apply for OPSGROUP membership today.
Our mission:
Make aviation human-friendly for us all.
Aviation is slipping into a void, where the system is more powerful than the humans that run it, and has left our needs behind. In Opsgroup, we connect, we share radically, we speak plainly, we help each other, and we fight when we need to.
1
We’re still smarter than any AI. Machines are good at pattern matching, but nothing beats humans connecting.
2
Speak plainly. Simple language means we all understand.
3
See something, say something. Tell other members. When one member knows, we all know.
Who's here? (And what do they think?)
OpsGroup is for Ops people. If you have a callsign (Maverick doesn’t count, but Shamrock 104 does), or answer the phone with one word (like ‘Dispatch’), then this is probably for you. The people making aviation happen.
OPSGROUP is exactly what I didn't know I needed, but had been searching for over the last ten years! I have no doubt that Opsgroup will find new ways to make international flight operations safer through the collaborative exchange of critical information. Bravo!
Richard BuergelNETJETS, Director Flight Technical
OpsGroup is a great collaborative tool that has proven to improve operational awareness, as well as safety and security standards! The open sharing of information and data is a great way to learn from each other and to increase operational control.
Maxime WautersASL Aviation, Safety Manager
A spot-on effective service for disseminating vital information for International and Domestic planning and operations. It's timely, line items are straight forward, a quick read and no BS. Good job - Keep it going.
Helmut KammCR Bard, Aviation Dept Manager
The Daily Brief is an excellent resource for keeping our crews informed on what's happening around the world.
Brian HallinAbbott - Sr Director Aviation
OpsGroup has been an invaluable resource to allow me to keep self-dispatching our flights to Europe without the cost of an ISP, yet remaining confident that I'm in the loop on current changes and possible gotchas. It's a routine part of my pre-flight planning.
Rob MartinOrange County Sunbird Aviation, Chief Pilot
The tools available through OpsGroup are critical to helping me stay informed as an independent contract pilot.
Kevin WashingtonKEW Aviation Services
OpsGroup provides important and topical issues that affect safety and security in a straight forward, no nonsense style, and seeks to answer questions quickly for general/corporate aviation which rarely finds this depth of information in a single forum. Thanks for all the help!
Michael KraftThe Sherwin Williams Company
This is an excellent source for international pilots, I always find something pertinent in your briefings!
Jane HorstCiti Aviation, International Captain
OPSGROUP: finally someone that takes the mountain of information we face and distills it into plain language. Really saved my butt on a flight.
Steve SmithContract Pilot
It is great to finally have one source of valuable information and an opportunity to share information with other operators frequently and conveniently.
Brent GatemanLatitude Air Ambulance, Pilot
OpsGroup has really helped us out monitoring and keeping up with all the changes in the fast and ever changing airline environment we live in today. Keep up the good work!
Bjorgvin H. NarfasonAir Atlanta Icelandic, Manager Flight Dispatch
Best platform so far to exchange information in the ever changing aviation industry.
Lou FontanaRockwell Collins Dispatch
OpsGroup has quickly become an integral resource for our trip planning. A must have for any size department.
Anna VeldmanHP
Opsgroup has been a huge help in keeping me up to date. All operational procedures across the globe, unsafe airspace, interacting with other members, and detailed updates.
Jai SinghInternational pilot
In this fast paced ever changing industry, receiving information from other airlines / users / operators that may potentially affect our operation is of great benefit to us. If we haven’t identified the problem already, OPSGROUP may have.
Fergus FlanaganUnited Airlines, Manager Flight Dispatch
OPSGROUP is an excellent first resource to go to when beginning ops in unfamiliar areas of the planet. Great job presenting pertinent and timely information critical to legal, safe and efficient operations. You continuously improve your content and presentation. Well done OpsGroup!
Mike GibsonFedex
OpsGroup has really helped us out monitoring and keeping up with all the changes in the fast and ever changing airline environment we live in today. Keep up the good work!
Bjorgvin H. NarfasonAir Atlanta Icelandic, Manager Flight Dispatch
This group is the kind of invention that you've always needed and not thought would be possible till it was there. Essential to regain/maintain simplicity and speed in aviation ops.
Thomas BrannerAir Greenland Ops
Great job issuing all those bulletins, guides, briefs and more... really useful information. And always with a slight touch of humour. Keep it up!
Joan FiolEvelop Airlines
OPSGROUP is a very valuable resource providing information for non-scheduled flight operations worldwide.
Norm GageKalitta Air, Chief Pilot
OPSGROUP is a must have for any flight department conducting operations to remote or international destinations.
David WilsonBoeing
Working on both the rule-making and assessment side, I found OpsGroup an effective tool and a virtual place for confronting ideas and fresh information. I like the fact that the platform is in continuous improvement. Great job!
Francesco Di MaioENAV - Italian CAA, Head of Security
An invaluable daily overview of all aspects of aviation operations worldwide.
Peter DrissellUK CAA, Director Aviation Security
The 20 second story of OpsGroup
We are the people at the sharp end of aviation – the pilots, dispatchers, controllers, managers – the ops people. Because we make aviation happen, we can also make things better. So we connect as real people, we share information on risks and dangers, we make things more human – and in turn, we make aviation a true force for good in the world.
The internet is not about information. It’s about collaboration.
The route you’re flying today is the one I will fly tomorrow. So, tell me what you know, and I’ll do the same for you.
MH17 showed us that a handful of airlines knew the risk in Ukraine, but there was no mechanism to share that information.
If it’s not commercial info, then you should be telling others about risks and dangers you come across.
In OpsGroup, we built Airport Spy for airport reports, and SafeAirspace for airspace and country risks.
We also have OpsFox – our secret spy network, so you can report anonymously.
Share radically. Hide nothing, hold nothing back. The internet is not about information. It’s about collaboration. When we learn to share fully, we become greater than our own little piece of the puzzle.
Good.
We need rebels.
IT’S NOT EASY, standing up to the system. But that’s what OpsGroup does. We do it for you – the human behind the machine. Doesn’t matter if you’re a controller, a pilot, a dispatcher, an engineer, a manager …
Sometimes, we have to REBEL.
Courage. Standing up for what is right, and what makes things better for all of us.
“Rebels are not troublemakers. They’re not outcasts. Rebels are people who break rules that should be broken. They break rules that hold them and others back, and their way of rule- breaking is constructive rather than destructive. It creates positive change.”
Be who you are and say what you want, for those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.
Real people. More to the point: people, not professionals.
“Be professional” – we hear that a lot in aviation. Sometimes that means “Do the best work you can”, and that’s a good thing. Mostly though, it means: wear a suit and tie, wear a uniform with nice stripes, put the company first, don’t admit mistakes, know all the things you should. Wow, tough job.
When we really want to change how things are, we have to connect as the humans we are. In all our imperfect glory. Then, we can really get things done.
In Opsgroup, we connect as people, not professionals. Real connection comes through vulnerability, not glossy company photos.
There’s nothing smart about this. It’s not a clever new concept.
It’s the opposite.
It’s the oldest, deepest thing there is – humans connecting with each other, to take care of each other.
All the things
Membership of Opsgroup means giving and receiving.
When you share what you know, you get all these helpful things. (Full List of Benefits)
As the crow flies: GoCrow is the OpsGroup planning map, which tells you about active ops alerts, risks, Airport Spy reports, and permit requirements for your given route, and some rough and ready planning numbers for time and fuel.
The OpsGroup Daily Brief is a simple summary in wonderfully plain English of the new things that matter today - 18 categories including Airport, Runway, Fuel, Airspace, Procedures, Delays, Risk, Hazard, Severe Wx, Costs, Strikes, and Events. By email.
After MH17, we know we must share everything with other operators. There can be no secrets. Hide nothing, hold nothing back. All members get full access to SafeAirspace, sharing the latest risk intelligence for overflight routes and airports.
Meet George. Ask him for help with a permit, get weather, latest member feedback on airports, plan a route. He knows a lot. And if he's not asleep under his desk, he'll tell you.
When you want a new hotel, you check Trip Advisor. When you fly to a new airport, you check Airport Spy. Other members will have reported on ATC, handling, parking, procedures, and PITA items that may exist there. You're welcome.
CID: 7600
AppID: Not set