System and methods for flight plan management

A method for in-flight management of an active flight plan during operation of an aircraft, the method comprising:

• receiving, by one or more processors on board the aircraft, flight mission data from an external source separate from the aircraft during in-flight operation of the aircraft, wherein the flight mission data includes recommended updates to parameters the active flight plan;
• generating, by the one or more processors, an inactive flight plan that includes a computer-readable copy of the active flight plan modified based on the recommended updates and storing the computer-readable copy in a memory device onboard the aircraft;
• maintaining the inactive flight plan in an intermediate, inactive state to enable assessment and review of the inactive flight plan without implementing the recommended updates into the active flight plan;
• assessing, by the one or more processors, the inactive flight plan to determine a potential impact of the recommended updates on the active flight plan including an estimated travel time to a destination and an estimated fuel on board upon arrival at the destination;
• rendering, by the one or more processors, a graphical image on a display device onboard the aircraft that presents a contextual preview that includes both the recommended updates and the potential impact of the recommended updates including the estimated travel time to the destination and the estimated fuel onboard upon arrival at the destination;
• in response to a user to request, predicting and displaying, by the one or more processors, expected messages that are predicted to be displayed to the user in the event that the recommended updates are implemented into the active flight plan, wherein the expected messages include one or more flight management advisory messages;
• generating a warning in response to the potential impact of the recommended updates posing a risk to the aircraft,
• validating, by the one or more processors, the recommended updates prior to insertion into the active flight plan;
• and
• in response to acceptance of the recommended updates, generating activation data configured to either modify, by the one or more processors, the active flight plan based on the recommended updates or replace, by the one or more processors, the active flight plan with the inactive flight plan and thereby produce a new or updated flight plan, and transmit the activation data to other systems of the aircraft including a flight management system of the aircraft to cause the new or updated flight plan to be activated, wherein the flight management system navigates and controls the aircraft based on the new or updated flight plan.

An aircraft comprising:

• a database, onboard the aircraft, having an active flight plan stored therein;
• a flight management system, onboard the aircraft, configured for in-flight management of the active flight plan during operation of the aircraft and a position of the aircraft;
• a communications system, onboard the aircraft, configured to receive flight mission data from external sources separate from the aircraft;
• a display device, onboard the aircraft, configured to display the flight mission data of the active flight plan;
• a controller onboard the aircraft and operatively coupled with the flight management system, the communications system, and the display device, the controller configured to, by one or more processors:
• receive the flight mission data from the external sources via the communications system during in-flight operation of the aircraft, wherein the flight mission data includes recommended updates to parameters of the active flight plan;
• generate an inactive flight plan that includes a computer-readable copy of the active flight plan modified based on the recommended updates and store the computer-readable copy in a memory device onboard the aircraft;
• maintain the inactive flight plan in an intermediate, inactive state to enable assessment and review of the inactive flight plan without implementing the recommended updates into the active flight plan;
• assess the inactive flight plan to determine a potential impact of the recommended updates on the active flight plan including an estimated travel time to a destination and an estimated fuel on board upon arrival at the destination;
• render a graphical image on the display device that presents a contextual preview that includes both the recommended updates and the potential impact of the recommended updates including the estimated travel time to the destination and the estimated fuel on board upon arrival at the destination;
• in response to a user to request, predict and display expected messages that are predicted to be displayed to the user in the event that the recommended updates are implemented into the active flight plan, wherein the expected messages include one or more flight management advisory messages;
• generate a warning in response to the potential impact of the recommended updates posing a risk to the aircraft;
• provide validation of the recommended updates prior to insertion into the active flight plan;
• and
• in response to acceptance of the recommended updates, generate activation data configured to either modify the active flight plan based on the recommended updates or replace the active flight plan with the inactive flight plan and thereby produce a new or updated flight plan, and transmit the activation data to other systems of the aircraft including the flight management system to cause the new or updated flight plan to be activated, wherein the flight management system navigates and controls the aircraft based on the new or updated flight plan.