Systems and methods for remotely setting a value for a trigger threshold variable used by a processor unit onboard an aircraft to determine if and when a data message should be transmitted from the aircraft. The method comprises the following steps performed by a computer: (a) obtaining data representing a flight plan or flight trajectory of the aircraft and flight information; (b) obtaining data representing business considerations; (c) computing a value of the trigger threshold variable as a function of at least the flight plan or flight trajectory data and the business considerations data; and (d) constructing a trigger threshold data message containing the computed value of the trigger threshold variable.