Flight management systems around the world often produce data in custom formats tailored to system‑specific needs. This variability makes it difficult to exchange flight information with external systems; the resulting "language barrier" reduces the efficiency of data exchange and slows innovation.

To overcome this barrier, the Flight Information Exchange Model (FIXM) was developed jointly by FAA and EUROCONTROL. FIXM provides a common flight language by using a standardized format for flight data exchange and is part of FAA's broader Flight and Flow Information for a Collaborative Environment (FF‑ICE) initiative. FIXM also directly supports the work of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Air Traffic Management Requirements and Performance Panel. For more than a decade, the U.S. DOT Volpe Center has been a leader in supporting FAA's efforts to develop, maintain, and promote FIXM.

FIXM's Components

FIXM is organized into three components: Core, Applications, and Extensions.

1. The Core component defines globally harmonized flight data structures.
2. Applications support message standardization.
3. Extensions allow communities to define additional data required locally.

Beyond developing the data model, the U.S. DOT Volpe Center team provides subject matter expertise, program management, and community engagement. The U.S. DOT Volpe Center team released FIXM Core v4.3.0 and updated the Basic Message and FF‑ICE Message applications. A modernized FIXM website was launched to improve usability and support mobile devices. The team also continued to coordinate the international community of FIXM users by facilitating change requests through the FIXM Change Control Board (CCB), organizing technical interchange meetings and maintaining the online FIXM work area. Since its inception, adoption of FIXM has expanded: multiple FAA programs and international partners, including EUROCONTROL, have adopted FIXM, and the benefits include improved access to data, reduced redundancy, lower cost, and more time to innovate.

In 2025, the U.S. DOT Volpe Center team released FIXM US Extension v4.4 for FAA/US FIXM users. The extension provides additional data elements to support numerous systems exchanging flight information within the National Airspace System.

Artificial Intelligence Prototype

During the past year, the U.S. DOT Volpe Center FIXM team initiated an artificial‑intelligence (AI) prototype called Scalable AI‑assisted Validator for Aviation & NextGen Testing or SAVANT. SAVANT aims to reduce the manual effort required to verify that FIXM schemas satisfy ICAO requirements. Currently, the FIXM team manually reviews requirements documents, builds traceability mappings, and validates schemas using spreadsheets. SAVANT will automate this process by using AI to parse ICAO requirements, map each requirement to specific data elements in the FIXM schemas, and perform automated validation. The desired outcome is a tool that reduces testing costs and time and increases accuracy. A prototype user interface of SAVANT has been developed and is currently being evaluated by the team.

About the U.S. DOT Volpe Center

Since 1970, the U.S. DOT Volpe Center has advanced transportation innovation for the public good, providing multimodal applied research, collaborating with federal, state, and industry partners, and multidisciplinary technical leadership and expertise to solve complex transportation challenges. Learn more at www.volpe.dot.gov.