After landing, many aircraft switch off their transponders before reaching the gate. When that signal goes quiet, traditional tracking systems lose visibility at the exact moment operators need clear, real-time data. This affects coordination, timing accuracy, and overall turnaround performance.
Synaptic Aviation’s platform was designed to close that gap.
Seeing What Others Can’t
Synaptic’s computer-vision platform continues tracking aircraft after transponders power down. By capturing visual intelligence directly from the gate environment, we deliver precise, continuous, and reliable data that traditional systems do not capture.
This includes:
- Precise gate-arrival detection
- Real-time tracking of service milestones
- Automatic timestamping of events without manual input
- Full situational awareness when transponders turn off
The result: airports gain a complete, uninterrupted picture of every movement from touchdown to pushback.
Why This Matters Now
When an aircraft approaches the gate, there’s a moment when operators lose critical visibility:
crews often switch off the transponder before completing gate arrival.
Once that transponder goes off, cooperative tracking systems no longer provide position or status information. This creates a gap in awareness at the exact moment airports need precise real-time data during final approach to the gate, docking, and the start of the turnaround.
FAA guidance highlights how important continuous surface visibility is. Advisory Circular AC 90-114C states that ADS-B Out equipment is expected to remain in transmit mode during surface operations on airport movement areas.
Source: FAA AC 90-114C (pg. 20)
However, compliance is inconsistent. FAA Safety Alert SAFO 15006 shows that airports report ~20 transponder non-compliance events per day, even with existing instructions to leave transponders on during surface operations.
Source: FAA SAFO 15006
These two facts reveal the real issue:
- The FAA wants continuous surface visibility.
- In reality, many aircraft still go dark before reaching the gate.
And that’s exactly where Synaptic delivers value.
The Gap Synaptic Fills
Synaptic provides non-cooperative visual tracking that stays active in the final stretch where traditional systems stop. We focus on the segment that defines operational timing: the approach, arrival, docking, and start of the turnaround.
Airports gain:
- Accurate gate-arrival detection
- Automatic timestamps for docking and service starts
- Continuous visibility even if the transponder goes dark
- A complete picture of the start of every turnaround
Synaptic bridges the exact gap where other systems go blind.
Future-Ready Ground Operations
By illuminating the moments where other systems go blind, Synaptic Aviation helps airports improve coordination, strengthen analytics, and build more efficient, data-driven operations. Complete ground visibility is no longer optional. Synaptic delivers it today.
