Know who is available, instantly

Pilot Availability Tracking — Know Before You Ask

Stop notifying pilots who are not available. CrewBench tracks your crew's availability in real time so you reach the right pilots every time — and fill trips faster.

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Minutes To confirm crew, not hours of calls
One tap For pilots to reply
iOS & Android Crew app, plus SMS & email

The problem

Notifying unavailable pilots wastes everyone's time

When you do not know who is free, you notify the whole bench and wait. That is noise for your pilots and friction in your operation.

🔔
Mass notifications create fatigue

If pilots receive texts for trips they are clearly unavailable for, they start ignoring your messages. Availability targeting keeps your bench engaged and responsive.

🗓️
You cannot see who is committed elsewhere

A pilot might be sitting right seat for another operator, on vacation, or in recurrent training. Without a system, you have no way to know until they decline.

📵
Every unavailability reply is a broken loop

Track availability upfront and those messages never need to get sent. Fewer interruptions for unavailable pilots, faster results for you.

The solution

Real-time availability — before you post the trip

CrewBench lets pilots update their availability proactively, so you are always working from current data when you need to fill a trip.

Pilot-reported availability windows
Pilots can mark themselves unavailable for specific dates directly in the app — vacation, recurrent training, simulator time. You see it before you send anything.
Availability dashboard at a glance
See which pilots are free across the week before you post any trip. Your crew situation is visible at a glance — not buried in a text thread or a spreadsheet.
Smart notification targeting
When you post a trip, CrewBench shows available pilots first and marks unavailable ones clearly. You choose who to notify — no blind broadcasts to your whole bench.
Historical patterns show reliability
See how each pilot's historical availability maps to your typical trip schedule. Know your most reliable bench pilots before you ever need them.

How Shino Aviation staffs a 20-aircraft, five-type fleet

Shino runs Part 135 charter and Part 91 private trips from one bench roster. One staffing call once took its CEO two hours of phone calls. Now he usually has a pilot confirmed within 10 to 15 minutes.

Read the Shino Aviation case study
“The filtering is what I kept coming back to. I don’t need to remember who’s current on what anymore. I just filter by type, and the list is right there.”
Neer O. CEO, Shino Aviation

FAQ

Common questions about pilot availability tracking

How do pilots update their availability in CrewBench? +
Pilots can update their availability directly in the CrewBench iOS or Android app. They can block out dates for vacation, training, or personal time in advance. Operators see this on the availability dashboard before posting or notifying for any trip — no need to ask pilots individually.
Can I still notify all pilots regardless of their availability status? +
Yes. CrewBench surfaces availability data to help you make better decisions, but you retain full control over who gets notified. You can always send a notification to all pilots and let them self-filter — the availability data is advisory, not restrictive.
What if a pilot does not use the app? +
Pilots who prefer not to install the app can still respond to individual trip notifications via the SMS magic link. Their availability will not show proactively on the dashboard, but their response to each trip is captured in real time. Over time, response history gives you a view of their patterns regardless of whether they use the app.
Is pilot availability tracking available on the free plan? +
Yes. The availability dashboard and app-based availability updates are available on all CrewBench plans including free. You get the full visibility benefit from day one — no paywall on core functionality.
Can pilots see each other's availability? +
No. Pilot availability data is visible to operators only. Pilots see their own schedule and trip history in the app, but they cannot see the availability or assignments of other pilots on your roster. Operator data and pilot data are kept private by design.

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Know who is available before you ask

Smarter crew notifications start with better availability data. Free to start — no card needed.

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