Florida-based Air Journey is offering free membership to its new Easy Air Journey for any aircraft flying relief efforts in and out of Haiti. The new software application streamlines pilot interface with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as well as adding features not available through the government’s online border crossing website. The software is authorized by the Department of Homeland Security, according to company officials.
Thierry Pouille, who leads flights of general aviation aircraft all over the world, was contacted by the president of the Citation Jet Pilots association and told of difficulties with using the CPB’s website while flying in and out of Haiti. Bringing badly needed relief supplies into Port Au Prince, one aircraft ran in trouble with its previously filed round trip eAPIS flight plan. When the mission required a change in routing, lack of Internet connectivity on the ground made it impossible for the pilot to amend his original flight plan on the Homeland Security website. The pilot was further told that deviating from his filed route would likely result in a hefty fine upon reentering the United States.
“We hate to hear stories like that,” Pouille said. “That’s why we designed Easy Air Journey. That pilot flying out of Haiti could have called our 24/7 Help Line and we would have easily made the adjustments for him. That’s why we’re now offering Easy Air Journey service for free to pilots flying relief missions in and out of Haiti.”
Easy Air Journey software automatically saves all aircraft, pilot and passenger information allowing the user to make immediate changes to a flight plan and manifest before filing directly to the Department of Homeland Security, avoiding the cumbersome eAPIS website. The software also easily reverses a flight plan for aircraft that are flying back and forth along the same route, like many of the aircraft flying air into Haiti. Easy Air Journey also prints general declaration forms (in English and Spanish) for every destination filed and offers vetted international check lists.
A free trial of the software is available at Easy-AirJourney.com. An annual subscription to the service is $99, except for pilots flying relief missions into Haiti, who can get the service free by calling 561-841-1551.
“We forget just how critical aircraft can become,” Pouille said. “We hope that Easy Air Journey makes it just a little bit simpler for all of the people who are trying to help Haiti.”
