It's sunny as you look out the airplane window, you check the weather at your destination and all looks great too, but the pilot says you're waiting for clearance from Air Traffic Control to take off. What gives?

Several factors limit the rate at which flights can land safely at an airport, including visibility, wind gusts and wind direction, cloud ceilings, on so on. The Air Traffic Control system in the United States manages these conditions through Ground Delay Programs (or GDPs). During a GDP, flights headed to an airport with reduced landing capacity are held on the ground at their origin airport (hence the term ground delay). This prevents flights from taking off too early and queuing in the air near the airport, which is more expensive and less safe.

Lumo's machine learning algorithms predict GDPs and their impact on flight delays.

I see you – leaning halfway out of your seat before the plane lands so you're ready to grab your bag and sprint to make your connecting flight – and I'm here to tell you it's going to be ok. Lumo is here to help.

At Lumo, we recognize that not all delays are created equal. A 30-minute delay on a nonstop flight may not matter much, but could be the difference between making your connection or not on a connecting itinerary.

The negative impacts of flight delays and disruptions are well documented. Globally, flight delays are estimated to cost over 60 billion USD, and in the U.S. two out of every three flight delays are caused by somewhat predictable events, such as weather, air traffic control restrictions, or another forecastable cause. Most critical for travel agencies and travel management companies (TMCs) is the personal impact on the traveler: over half of all business travelers list delays and cancellations as the most frustrating part of travel.