Jeppesen ForeFlight: AI in the Future

When the sale of Jeppesen and ForeFlight closed in early November 2025 (forming Jeppesen ForeFlight), company CEO Brad Surak raised some eyebrows saying that AI is the north-star for the company’s multiyear roadmap of integrated solutions. To learn more about Surak’s plans, particularly pricing and exactly what role AI might play in the hugely popular ForeFlight Mobile app and Jeppesen’s charting products, we Zoom’d up with Surak for a discussion.

Update December 15, 2025: The company announced changes to the existing discounts for Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) and National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI)

Russ Niles
Russ Niles
Russ Niles is Editor-in-Chief of AvBrief.com. He has been a pilot for 30 years and an aviation journalist since 2003. He and his wife Marni live in southern British Columbia where they also operate a small winery.

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Aviatrexx
Aviatrexx
5 months ago

I think most of us of a certain age react to AI from experience with science-fiction novels, TV shows, and films like “WarGames” and “2001: A Space Odyssey”. The lesson of WOPR, HAL2000, and other fictional AIs deployed before they were proven safe, is that the Law of Unintended Consequences is inescapable. These tropes are evergreen because they are universally true.

As a computer scientist for sixty years who has kept up on the literature, I am aware that there have been great strides in the AI field of late. Let’s give it another decade of doing work like shopping recommendations and term papers and searching for genetic correlations. Not life-critical jobs like brain surgery or air traffic control. HAL has no skin in the game.

Raf Sierra
Member
4 months ago

It was a good interview and a clear briefing. I got on ForeFlight pretty early, and I’ll admit, I pushed back at first. I was a paper-charts guy. But once I saw how fast it was and how clean and understandable it made the planning, I was in. I used it with my students too because it worked, even though I still kept some paper around.

Over the years it has become a solid tool, and its adaptability is a big part of that. It connects with a wide range of avionics and gear, which makes it useful in more aircraft than most apps. That flexibility is real, and it matters. Now with Jepp and a little AI in the lineup, it might get even better. We’ll $ee.