Aircraft IT Operations V13.1 Spring 2024

Lufthansa Group: fueling

A digital fueling solution

VOLARIS: Flight Path optimization

SKY AIRLINE: Better flight planning

VIVA AEROBUS: Digital fuel efficiency

JEKTA: Digital documentation

AIR NOSTRUM: A new performance solution

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By

AIRCRAFT IT Operations

Publisher/Editor

Ed Haskey

E-mail: ed.haskey@aircraftit.com

Telephone: +44 1273 454 235

Website: www.aircraftIT.com

Chief Operating Officer

Scott Leslie

E-mail: scott.leslie@aircraftit.com

Copy Editor/Contributor

John Hancock

E-mail: john@aircraftit.com

Magazine Production

Dean Cook

E-mail: deancook@magazineproduction.com

AircraftIT Operations is published bi-monthly and is an affiliate of Aircraft Commerce and part of the AviationNextGen Ltd group. The entire contents within this publication © Copyright 2024 AviationNextGen Ltd an independent publication and not affiliated with any of the IT vendors or suppliers. Content may not be reproduced without the strict written agreement of the publisher. The views and opinions expressed in this publication are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of their companies or of the publisher. The publisher does not guarantee the source, originality, accuracy, completeness or reliability of any statement, information, data, finding, interpretation, advice, opinion, or view presented.

COMMENT

Aircraft IT Operations: read about the latest and best software solutions to achieve optimum efficiency and cost management

WORDS: ED HASKEY

The more things change, the more they stay the same. That adage has always rung true, even in what we consider a fast-changing sector, commercial aviation. The software solutions used to fly aircraft have evolved and grown as increasingly capable technologies have become available but the jobs that need to be done, the priorities, have not changed that much, even following a global pandemic. Airlines are businesses that need to be safe, comply with regulations and make a profit, and that means optimizing efficiency and productivity as well as keeping a constant eye on and control of costs. We have a lot of what that takes in this issue.

The case study from Volaris is about how that airline has implemented a solution for flight path optimization to improve efficiency and manage costs. Looking at the process from a slightly different perspective, Air Nostrum’s case study chronicles their adoption of a new performance solution to ensure that they get the greatest efficiency from each aircraft plus, they have integrated the solution with their EFB. Sky Airline shares a case study about how a new solution uses predictive analytics to

improve flight planning, drive flight efficiency and save fuel. In another case study from Viva Aerobus, you’ll see how, when implementing a digitally powered fuel efficiency solution, the key players who need to be engaged are the pilots. We even have a case study on a new way of digitalizing fuel delivery and how it has transformed that vital process in the Lufthansa group of airlines.

We also have a ‘How IT Works’ article looking at a communication platform that can handle all formats to make communication more consistent. Finally, there is one more case study looking at how Jekta, a modern seaplane business, has adopted a digital documentation management solution from the very start. It’s an issue packed with valuable information and insights that you can’t miss.

As well as a Vendor Flight Log from Lufthansa Systems, we have the regular round-up of news and technology developments: plus, of course, the comprehensive ‘Operations Software Directory’. Aircraft IT Operations: plenty of useful information for aircraft and airline operations professionals to read about.

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CONTENTS

06 Latest News and Technology updates

Keep up to date with the changing world of IT.

36 CASE STUDY: Real-time flight path optimization at Volaris

Luis Fernandez San Miguel, Fuel Efficiency Manager, Volaris and David Rytter, CEO, AVTECH

Volaris wanted to optimize flights as well as reduce costs and improve efficiency. Here’s how that was achieved.

46 VENDOR FLIGHT LOG: Lufthansa Systems

In the latest of our Q&A pieces, Stefanie Neumann, CEO of Lufthansa Systems GmbH, completes her ‘Flight Log’

48 CASE STUDY: Jekta gets the latest in digital documentation

George Alafinov, CEO and co-Founder of Jekta and Marc Rauch, co-Founder and CBO of Yonder

How a modern document management solution helps an innovative aircraft development or any aviation business.

56 CASE STUDY: The Blueprint of a Digital Fueling Process

Christian Mietz, Emissions Monitoring & Fuel-IT at Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Claudio Corfú, First Officer Boeing 777 with SWISS International Airlines

Until now, fueling has been the process that resisted digitalization but now there is a solution that handles the whole process digitally saving time and money.

66 CASE STUDY: Sky Airline finds a more efficient way to plan flights and save fuel costs

Yonathan Perelmuter, Chief Technical Pilot, Sky Airline

Sky Airline realizes the benefits of predictive analytics to drive flight efficiencies and fuel savings: read how they did it.

74 HOW IT WORKS: One communications platform for all purposes

Trent McCabe — Sales Manager and SME at Smart4Aviation

A single platform for all of an airline’s communications needs will improve all internal and external communications.

84 CASE STUDY: Introducing and integrating a new performance solution at Air Nostrum

Juan Diaz, Head of Flight Support, Air Nostrum

How Air Nostrum implemented a new performance solution and integrated it with their EFB; the challenges faced and the benefits that were gained.

92 CASE STUDY: Viva Aerobus gets to grips with digitally powered fuel efficiency

Nancy Madrigal, Head of Fuel Conservation — Viva Aerobus

Implementing advanced data-driven fuel efficiency at Viva Aerobus: the key group to involve were the pilots.

102 Operations Software directory

A detailed look at the world’s leading Operations IT systems.

New Vendors join Aircraft IT Operations

Since our Winter issue, we have been really pleased to welcome three new vendors, Ideagen, The Weather Company and Evoke Systems, to the AircraftIT Vendor Panel. We are proud that so many vendors are part of AircraftIT's mission to inform readers about where to look for ideas to leverage the power of IT for their businesses.

Used by leading aviation organizations, Ideagen Coruson is designed to ensure seamless coordination and enable a holistic approach to safety management. Ideagen Coruson is a scalable, user-friendly and functionally rich solution that helps build a proactive and risk-aware culture, comply with regulations and improve efficiency and productivity. The solution offers organization-specific smart forms, document management and change control, bowtie risk module and business analytics. With Ideagen

Coruson, users can embed safety management throughout the organization and promptly respond to current events while proactively analyzing trends to mitigate future risks.

Specializing in providing advanced weather solutions to the aviation industry, The Weather Company addresses the critical challenges faced by dispatch, pilots, and operations. The company's aviation solutions portfolio is designed to enhance operational decisions, ensuring flights are safe, efficient, and profitable. With nearly three decades of aviation forecasting expertise, The Weather Company equips its customers to manage disruptive weather efficiently, ensuring safety, compliance, and exceptional passenger experiences. It helps navigate the complexities of weather impacts, enabling informed decision-making for better operational outcomes.

Evoke Systems' experts are versatile and experienced independent specialists in crew training, leave management and information sharing, and compliance software, who work closely with their partners — airlines, cargo and low-cost carriers, private charter, and the wider aviation industry — helping to improve, streamline, connect and automate systems and processes that impact their people daily. For over 20 years Evoke Systems has provided airlines with highly effective operational tools, which empower teams and users to carry out their roles safely and efficiently by being more informed, organized, and motivated.

Welcoming the new vendors, Scott Leslie, COO at Aircraft IT said, “It is always great to welcome new vendors to Aircraft IT: they are what keep us and our readers so well in touch with the latest developments.”

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FLYHT Receives STC Certification for the AFIRS Edge™ on Airbus A320 Aircraft

In mid- February 2024, FLYHT Aerospace Solutions Ltd. announced that Transport Canada has issued FLYHT a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for the flange version of the AFIRS Edge™, the Company’s 5G wireless data communication device, for Airbus A320 aircraft. The achievement of this STC enables FLYHT to ship the Edge units to Canadian A320 customers while at the same time familiarizing the Canadian STC into other jurisdictions to enable worldwide distribution.

“Today marks a milestone achievement for FLYHT as we announce Transport Canada’s issuance of an STC for the Edge,” said Kent Jacobs, President and Interim CEO of FLYHT. “This represents the culmination of our collective vision, hard work, and perseverance over a number of years. I am proud of our entire team and grateful to our airline partner and Transport Canada for their tireless effort to complete a comprehensive and robust certification process.” Jacobs added, “This achievement not only establishes FLYHT as having the aviation industry’s first wireless data and communications device with 5G capability, but it also puts us in a leadership position to provide this advanced technology to airlines

operating Airbus A320 aircraft. The value proposition of the Edge is clear. With legacy 2G/3G connectivity sunsetting soon, airlines with the Edge will be able to ensure network availability long into the future and also be able to leverage the powerful onboard analytics capability of the Edge computing to enable predictive and proactive operations in realtime.”

The AFIRS Edge is an aircraft interface device (AID), connecting aircraft data with electronic flight bag (EFB) applications and providing airlines with Wireless Quick Access (WQAR) capabilities, all while serving as a gateway on the aircraft for critical real-time information and onboard data storage. The Edge also serves as a data port for FLYHT’s actionable intelligence services, such as fuel management, aircraft health monitoring, real-time engine data reporting and airport gate performance monitoring. Further, when coupled with a real-time IP satellite connection, the Edge enables weather data customers to work with airlines to implement FLYHT’s weather solutions for enabling enhanced weather forecasting capabilities, providing more accurate and timely warnings of extreme weather, and in the detection and avoidance of contrail generation.

Comply365 and Vistair announce merger and strategic growth investment from Insight Partners and Liberty Hall Capital Partners

In early January 2024, Comply365, LLC and Vistair Limited announced completion of a merger to create a leading global provider of compliance, safety and data intelligence technologies serving the aviation, defense and rail industries with over 120 customers located in more than thirty countries on six continents. Rob Morgan, current Chief Executive Officer of Vistair, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the combined company and Tom Samuel, current Chief Executive Officer of Comply365, has been appointed Vice Chairman of the combined company’s board of directors and will lead the integration of the two businesses.

In connection with the merger, Insight Partners, a global software investor, has joined Liberty Hall Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused exclusively on investments in businesses serving the

global aerospace and defense industry and Comply365’s current controlling shareholder, as an equal investor in the combined business. The two private equity firms’ investment provides the combined company the capital to accelerate product differentiation and new product development into cutting-edge, mission-critical products supporting aviation, defense and rail technologies – with a vision of superior compliance and safety innovation for the benefit of its customers.

“This merger comes as the result of a shared vision to enhance our product and service capabilities, accelerate innovation and deliver unparalleled value to our customers in the aviation, defense and rail sectors,” said Rob Morgan, CEO. “I look forward to working with Tom and the team to

build on our successes to date and ensuring our customers remain at the heart of everything we do.”

Tom Samuel, Vice Chairman said, “I am thrilled to join Rob in leading the company. This combination provides us significantly more resources to invest in our mission-critical solutions, better serve our global customers and accelerate technology transformation across the aviation, defense and rail sectors.”

“We are confident in the immense potential created from the merger of Comply365 and Vistair,” said Henry Frankievich, Managing Director at Insight Partners. “The companies’ complementary solutions bring a powerful offering to the market for the benefit of the entire aviation ecosystem. We are excited to join forces with our partners at Liberty Hall to bolster and support ongoing product investment and growth.”

James Black, Principal at Liberty Hall, added, “We have very much enjoyed our partnership with Tom Samuel and the Comply365 team over the past three years and look forward to this next exciting chapter in the company’s journey. As Comply365 and Vistair come together, we look forward to working with Rob, Tom and our partners at Insight to support the combined company’s next phase of growth, which will combine the strengths and expertise of both organizations to deliver even greater value to our collective customers.”

Comply365 is a leading provider of enterprise SaaS and mobile solutions for content management and document distribution in highly regulated industries, including aviation and rail. The business supports the world’s most mobile and remote workforces with targeted and personalized delivery of job-critical data that enables safe, efficient, and compliant operations.

Vistair Limited is one of the world’s leading providers of Operational Data Management for

aviation technical publications, safety and regulatory content. Focused on driving market-leading innovation that simplifies the complex Flight Operations, Engineering, Safety and Compliance eco-system across the aviation industry and the defense sector, Vistair’s technology leads the way in the digital transformation of safety, efficiency, and compliance, driving higher standards across the industry. It is trusted by many of the most progressive aviation and defense organizations worldwide.

Insight Partners is a global software investor partnering with high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. As of June 30, 2023, the firm has over $80bn in regulatory assets under management. Insight Partners has invested in more than 800 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO. Headquartered in New York City, Insight has offices in London, Tel Aviv and Palo Alto.

Insight’s mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with tailored, hands-on software expertise along their growth journey, from their first investment to IPO.

Liberty Hall Capital Partners is a private equity firm focused exclusively on investments in businesses serving the global aerospace and defense industry. Liberty Hall’s principals have a 25-plus year history of working together and have led the investment of over $2.5 billion in equity capital in over 25 businesses serving multiple segments of the aerospace and defense industry. Liberty Hall was founded in July 2011 as the first, and remains the only, private equity firm focused solely on investments in middle market businesses serving the aerospace and defense industry. The firm executes a proven and repeatable investment strategy designed to transform middle market businesses into larger, more capable and diverse strategic assets.

Silk Way West Airlines joins Logipad community

In early January 2024, Silk Way West Airlines and DextraData were thrilled to announce a new partnership as Silk Way West Airlines joined the Logipad community. Silk Way West Airlines, an Azerbaijani cargo airline based in Baku, is set to enhance its operations using Logipad by DextraData for EFB and EFF. The collaboration marks an exciting step forward in the world of cargo aviation.

Silk Way West Airlines, known for its cargo flights with a route network that covers over 40 destinations across Europe, the CIS, the Middle East, Central and Eastern Asia, and the Americas., is actively expanding its cargo aircraft fleet to achieve its ambitious growth plans. Recently, the airline celebrated the delivery of its first Boeing 777F, a significant milestone in its journey. In April 2021, Silk Way West Airlines placed an order for five Boeing 777 Freighters, initially to complement its existing Boeing 747 freighter fleet. Later, the airline expanded

its agreement by ordering two Boeing 777-8F Freighters, set for delivery in the 2030 timeframe. On September 23, 2023, the airline received its first Boeing 777F in Everett and successfully transferred it to Baku from Everett-Paine Field, north of Seattle. The new aircraft made its debut to the press in Baku on October 3.

With the substantial expansion of the fleet, it was the opportune moment to further digitize the airline.

As a result, Silk Way West Airlines has chosen to adopt the established EFB, Logipad, developed by the German software manufacturer DextraData.

“We are delighted to have found the optimal EFB and EFF solution for our aircraft with Logipad. We were aware that Logipad’s primary goal has always been to develop innovative solutions that simplify pilots’ tasks and enhance the overall efficiency of airlines. This commitment was the key factor in our decision to choose Logipad. We eagerly look forward to our collaboration,” said Wolfgang Meier, President of Silk Way West Airlines.

“We are pleased to have gained, in Silk Way West Airlines, another client who places their trust in us. We will spare no effort in maintaining this trust with Logipad,” stated Dirk Leese, Manager of Process Automation Practice at Logipad.

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company was founded with a clear mission to enhance efficiency and safety in aviation operations by delivering innovative electronic solutions to pilots and flight crews. Logipad’s EFB systems are revolutionizing how flight crews access critical information and resources. Leveraging state-of-theart technology, pilots and flight attendants can access real-time data and essential documentation, reducing the need for traditional printed paper documents. Logipad is committed to optimizing communication and collaboration in the aviation industry, benefiting airlines, flight crews, and passengers alike by providing a seamless and efficient flight experience.

Silk Way West Airlines was founded in 2012 in Baku, at the heart of the Silk Road, and operates hundreds of flights every month across the globe with its fleet of 14 dedicated Boeing 777F, Boeing 747-8F and 747-400F aircraft based at Heydar Aliyev International Airport. On April 28, 2021, Silk Way West Airlines signed a strategic fleet expansion Airlines also agreed the purchase of two A350 Central and Eastern Asia, and the Americas.

SAS selects ClearPath flight optimization service from AVTECH for increased flight efficiency and reduced emissions from every flight

In mid-January 2024, AVTECH Sweden AB and SAS Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark-NorwaySweden entered into a two-year agreement for AVTECHs ClearPath service, with an expected start date in January 2024 and an expected total value in the range of 5.0 to 6.5 MSEK dependent on the number of SAS group aircraft and flights operating with the service.

The ClearPath flight optimization service, based on state-of-the-art high-resolution aviation weather forecasting from the Met Office, provides precise and tailored tactical decision support for SAS pilots to improve the efficiency of each individual flight. By providing its flight crews with up-to-date guidance on the most efficient flight altitudes, SAS can take maximum advantage of prevailing winds and temperatures to reduce its overall carbon emissions.

In addition, ClearPath also warns of turbulence along the flight path which increases the comfort for all passengers travelling with SAS. With the ClearPath service, SAS is estimated to be able to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 6,000 tons per year, which is equivalent to the annual emissions of 1,626 Swedes.

“SAS is delighted to announce a strategic partnership with AVTECH, integrating ClearPath into our flight operations. The aviation industry is committed to the net-zero carbon emission goal by 2050. The ClearPath solution with UK Met Office high resolution weather forecast will support SAS pilots to optimize their flight path and consequently reduce carbon emissions. We chose AVTECH ClearPath due its ability to create real value and pilot engagement. Pilots appreciate its simplicity and

intuitive interface. We look forward to collaborating with AVTECH to move us towards our common sustainable future.”, said Captain Svein Erik Jackwitz, SAS Flight operations and Fuel Efficiency.

“We are very happy to welcome SAS onboard as a customer and look forward to taking an active part in their journey to become a more sustainable airline. It’s also especially great that SAS, as an airline with roots in Scandinavia, has chosen a Swedish flight optimization service”, added David Rytter, AVTECHs CEO.

ClearPath is the latest addition to AVTECH’s service offering. The service delivers an optimum flight path for each individual flight in real-time. The calculation of the optimum flight path is fully automatic and based on a combination of actual aircraft performance data and tailored high-

ClearPath is delivered as a service that requires no aircraft hardware investments which allows airlines to test it in their operations for free.

SAS, Scandinavia’s leading airline, with main hubs in Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm, flies to destinations in Europe, USA and Asia. Spurred by a Scandinavian heritage and

aviation fuel, investing in new fuelefficient aircraft and technology innovation together with partners — thereby contributing towards the industry target of net zero CO emissions by 2050. In addition to flight operations, SAS offers ground handling services, technical maintenance and air cargo services.

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largest regional airline in Scandinavia, announced that it was adopting the OpenAirlines’ SkyBreathe® 360° solution. This initiative aims to improve the airline’s fuel-saving performance and reduce costs while reinforcing its commitment to environmental responsibility.

Through this partnership, the airline will access more than 2000 measures to optimize its fuel management strategy. Powered by a sophisticated algorithm based on big data, machine learning, and AI, the platform generates actionable insights to lower airline fuel expenses by up to 5%. With more than 15 million flights analyzed, SkyBreathe® is empowered by the world’s largest fuel-efficiency database. The solution is highly intuitive and combines ease of use with advanced analysis. With just a few

various fuel savings opportunities, helping them make the right decisions aligned with their fuel management strategy. SkyBreathe® 360° platform enables multiple airline players, boosting productivity and internal communication. Fuel managers, performance engineers, data scientists, flight operations managers, and pilots can work collectively and hand in hand with their dedicated OpenAirlines fuel expert, supporting them in achieving massive savings.

In addition, Widerøe also chose to use SkyBreathe® APM, providing in-depth visibility on its fleet’s performance and health. This solution, usable on all aircraft models, including turboprops, will enable them to optimize fleet maintenance. Users will be able to easily monitor the fuel consumption of each aircraft engine in

their fleet, and adjust their flight management system accordingly. The combined use of these products will help Widerøe maximize the quality of its overall fuel management.

“We welcome Widerøe with open arms to our community of SkyBreathe® users. We have full confidence in their ability to achieve significant fuel savings and emissions reductions using our solutions. APM will also help them keep track of the health of their fleet, which will greatly support them daily and during the cold season with the complex flights they operate in icy weather situations.” explained Alexandre Feray, the OpenAirlines CEO, delighted by this partnership.

The airline’s VP of Flight Operation, Helge Anonsen, further commented, “The Widerøe Team is continuously looking for ways to optimize our fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. We are excited about our new partnership with Open Airlines, and we are confident that it will help us improve even further.”

This strategic collaboration underlines the growing importance for airlines of adopting advanced technological solutions to meet environmental challenges while improving operational efficiency. Widerøe and the other 65 airlines collaborating with OpenAirlines are working together to shape a future where flight operations and carbon reduction go hand in hand.

Widerøe is the oldest Norwegian aviation group counting 3500 dedicated employees. The group

Handling AS, Widerøe Technical Services AS, Widerøe Zero AS, Widerøe Property AS, and Widerøe Asset AS. Widerøe AS is a subsidiary of the Norwegian Group. Serving as a major public transportation provider, the Widerøe operations play a significant role in rural Norway serving businesses, students, patients, tourism and cultural exchange. Widerøe Ground Handling offers ground services at 41 airports while Widerøe Technical Services offers aircraft maintenance at five locations throughout Norway.

OpenAirlines is a French clean-tech company comprising a team of highly qualified mathematicians, aeronautical engineers, data scientists, pilots, IT experts, and aircraft performance specialists who operate from its bases in Toulouse, Hong Kong, Miami, and Montreal. They are specialized in developing digital technology to help airlines achieve their sustainability and emissions targets. They developed SkyBreathe®, the leading eco-flying platform for airlines to reduce fuel costs and CO2 emissions, today used by 64 airlines worldwide, including Air France, easyJet, DHL, Norwegian, IndiGo, flydubai, and Atlas Air.

Air Austral joins the SkyBreathe® Community

In early February, 2024: Air Austral, the renowned Reunion-based airline, announced its partnership with OpenAirlines, the world leader in fuel management solutions for airlines. This will take Air Austral’s fuel efficiency program to new heights. As part of this collaboration, Air Austral will integrate SkyBreathe®, MyFuelCoach™, and SkyBreathe® APM solutions, marking a significant commitment to improving fuel savings and reducing CO2 emissions.

SkyBreathe® is an innovative platform that enables airlines to access more than 2000 measures to optimize their fuel management strategy. The solution uses sophisticated Big Data Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning to automatically analyze billions of data records from various sources, including complete FDR records, operational flight plans, ACARS, etc. The software identifies the most relevant saving opportunities and provides a series of recommended actions that

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personalized eco-briefings and debriefings. This way, pilots will easily monitor their individual performance

APM. The AI-powered solution enables automatic monitoring of the performance of all their aircraft and provides alerts for any abnormal degradation. Air Austral will be able to solve issues faster and anticipate maintenance actions, reducing fuel burn and maintenance costs.

OpenAirlines fuel experts will guide users in implementing the solution and adapting their fuel program as they progress. This initiative is part of Air Austral’s overall strategy to minimize environmental impact while ensuring safe and efficient flight operations. “At OpenAirlines, we firmly believe that innovation and technology can shape a cleaner future for aviation. The strategic choice of Air Austral to adopt several of our products demonstrates a proactive vision to optimize flight operations and reduce carbon footprint. This aligns with the industry’s sustainability goals, and we warmly welcome them into the SkyBreathe® users’ community.” Explained Alexandre Feray, the OpenAirlines CEO.

Olivier Jay, Executive Chief Operations Officer at Air Austral, commented, “At Air Austral, we are committed to adopting technologies that contribute to our sustainability goals while ensuring operational efficiency. OpenAirlines’ solutions have stood out as comprehensive tools to support us in making significant savings while engaging our pilots and workforce. We believe that by optimizing fuel use, we can make meaningful progress in minimizing our carbon footprint and contributing to a cleaner aviation industry.”

This collaboration reflects Air Austral’s ongoing commitment to innovation and environmental responsibility, positioning the airline as a key player in adopting advanced technologies towards a more sustainable aviation future.

Air Austral, a French airline created and based in Reunion Island, is a major player in Indian Ocean transport services between mainland France and its regional connections. Under normal operations, the Airline operates to Reunion Island, Mauritius, Mayotte, the Comoros Islands, Madagascar, the Seychelles, South Africa and Thailand (Bangkok). The Paris — Reunion Island and Paris — Mayotte routes continued to operate, and the regional network is gradually resuming. In Paris-CDG the Airline has kept its code-share agreement with Air France to offer connections in Europe, and its partnership with TGV’Air for transfers between 19 French cities and Brussels.

Air Austral operates the most modern fleet in the Indian Ocean. It is currently made up of two 787-8 dual-class aircraft, three 777-300 triple-class aircraft for long-haul flights, and three new Airbus 220 for regional flights. The fleet, the comfort of the cabins, the in-flight services and the hospitality of its staff are Air Austral’s main assets, an airline known and recognized for its quality of service.

Air Austral has been awarded the cluster Green “Efficience” CSR label with the support of AFNOR/ RUNCERT, reinforcing the importance of CSR in its strategy.

Read the full story on Aircraft IT Website

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TrustFlight introduces smarter workflows for maintenance and flight ops teams with Traxxall integration

At the end of February 2024, TrustFlight, a technology innovator focused on digitization of the aviation industry, announced a new integration with JSSI’s Traxxall, an aircraft maintenance tracking and inventory system. The integration brings flight operations and maintenance teams closer through TrustFlight’s leading Electronic Logbook (ELB) software.

“At TrustFlight, we place a significant importance on developing integrations that lead to improved data reliability for smarter decisionmaking and improved safety,” said Luke Franklin, Product Manager, TrustFlight. “Our collaboration with JSSI exemplifies our commitment to an open platform within our suite of solutions and we’re excited to introduce our Traxxall integration so operators can get more from the technologies they rely on daily.”

The integration enables seamless two-way data syncing for Maintenance Checks (Due Lists) and Workpacks (Workplanners), as well as one-way syncing for Defects (Snags) and Totals (Actuals) for enhanced data accuracy, improved safety and efficiency, better compliance management, and improved aircraft availability. It also links user accounts for seamless

traceability, meeting compliance and audit requirements.

Prior to the integration, there was a delay for data to populate into Traxxall as users were required to manually enter and cross-check data between the Electronic Logbook and maintenance tracking system. The integration of TrustFlight’s ELB with Traxxall streamlines these workflows, enhancing data accuracy, improving safety, and increasing operational efficiency by automating the exchange of information.

“Aircraft management begins with accurate data and technology to make decision making easier and smarter,” said Mark Steinbeck, Chief Commercial Officer, JSSI Maintenance Software. “Through this integration, our joint customers benefit from real-time data feeds between systems, and we’re excited about this collaboration.”

TrustFlight’s ELB enables fullydigital workflows for crew and maintenance personnel by automating vital information to greatly enhance speed and accuracy while reducing man-hours required. The TrustFlight Integration Platform today hosts more than 20 integrations from leading applications used by operators around the world.

Lufthansa Systems introduce a new cutting-edge AI-powered operations control assistant

In mid-February 2024, Lufthansa Systems announced that it now offers a new cutting-edge AI-powered operations control assistant for the airline industry. NetLine/Ops ++ aiOCC is a web-based AI assistant that supports airline operations controllers in increasing the stability and efficiency of daily operations. The solution is already in use and jointly optimized with first customers.

“AI is the next step in the technological evolution. So, early adoption is crucial for airlines.” said Jan-Peter Gaense, Head of NetLine solutions at Lufthansa Systems. “However, we see that, besides technical proficiency, the key factor for successful AI support is the user’s trust. Our smart assistant supports operations controllers in their challenging work, not replacing them.”

Operations controllers have to react to unforeseen events like weather or strikes to minimize their impact as such disruptions can cause high costs for the airline. The operations controller has to analyze several information sources within minutes to find the best solution. That becomes more challenging, especially during peak times with a high risk of disruption. This is exactly where NetLine/Ops ++ aiOCC comes into play. The system simultaneously analyzes historical data and monitors

all events around aircraft, rotation, passengers, and crews to identify delay risks ahead of time. Then, it generates concrete recommendations on how to improve operations in real-time, which is critical in this working environment. To enable the user to make an informed decision, the system provides additional information regarding the impact of the proposed solution on the overall resilience, the buffer and the propagated delay. The smart assistant focuses on recommendations, the decision itself always remains with the operations controller.

NetLine/Ops ++ is Lufthansa Systems' next-generation operation control system. By collecting and evaluating a wide range of data such as critical weather conditions or technical aircraft limitations, NetLine/ Ops ++ alerts operations controllers about potentially critical situations so they can quickly initiate measures to prevent and resolve disruptions.

NetLine/Ops ++ aiOCC is based on Reinforcement Learning, used to extract cause and effect from data and provide data-driven decision support. It is not predictive but prescriptive, meaning that it doesn't tell the operations controller what will happen, but it shows what to do to reach the set goal.

Read the full story on Aircraft IT Website

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Freebird Airlines adopts OpenAirlines’ eco-flying solution SkyBreathe®

announced that it had upgraded its fuel-efficiency program and strengthened its commitment to sustainability by choosing

OpenAirlines SkyBreathe® eco-flying platform to improve its fuel savings performance. This collaboration underlines the airline’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint by utilizing advanced technology.

SkyBreathe® eco-flying platform is an innovative software enabling over 66 airlines to achieve substantial reductions in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Leveraging advanced technologies such as Big Data algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, and machine learning, the solution allows airlines to reduce fuel consumption by

system, engaging all key stakeholders within Freebird Airlines. Flight operation managers, dispatchers, maintenance engineers, fuel managers, and pilots are all engaged in collective teamwork to enhance their overall fuel management system.

Freebird Airlines has also integrated SkyBreathe® APM, a new-gen solution that automates aircraft performance monitoring across its entire fleet. This AI-powered software enables them to quickly address issues, anticipate maintenance needs, and consequently, reduce fuel consumption and optimize the entire fleet’s health. To guarantee the best possible results using these tools, FreeBird Airlines will be accompanied by OpenAirlines fuel

experts, following them from the software implementation stage to the adaptation of their fuel efficiency program over time. Users will also benefit from the help of the SkyBreathe® user community. The 66 airline members of the community actively participate in developing the solution hand in hand with the OpenAirlines team. Users also benefit from the ideas and feedback from all the other customers, enabling continuous learning and improvement.

Okan Pınarbaşı expressed his enthusiasm about this partnership: “At Freebird Airlines, we are committed to advancing our fuel efficiency goals to ensure sustainable and cost-effective operations. With the recent adoption of OpenAirlines’ cuttingedge software, SkyBreathe®, we are poised to revolutionize our approach to fuel management. Our Fuel Efficiency Team initiative will work collaboratively to enhance flight accuracy, optimize costs, and reduce our environmental footprint. SkyBreathe® is a powerful tool to track, analyze, and visualize flight data, and make informed decisions. It

also uncovers insights and offers personalized recommendations, which will help us quickly determine what we must do first to improve our performance. We believe that this collaboration will not only automate data analysis but also engage our pilots and various departments in a comprehensive fuel-saving program. Together with OpenAirlines, we are confident in achieving measurable progress, reinforcing our dedication to excellence in airline operations.”

Equally pleased with this collaboration, Alexandre Feray, commentd: “The integration of SkyBreathe® Analytics and SkyBreathe® APM marks a new stage for Freebird Airlines, with a smarter and ecoconscious fleet management. We are convinced that they will be able to get to grips with our tools quickly and deliver considerable fuel and CO2 savings.”

This strategic milestone positions Freebird Airlines as a pioneer and demonstrates the continuous growth of the SkyBreathe® community,

ELECTRONIC FLIGHT BAG

“ We feel very comfortable in the way we jointly shaped the implementation path to maximize our re-utilization of installed systems, in combination with the new EFB function.”

Hilmar B. Baldursson, VP Flight Operation

Icelandair

highlighting the industry’s dedication towards responsible and efficient flights, thus positively impacting the environment.

Freebird Airlines is a company of Gözen Holding, which has been serving in the aviation industry for more than 40 years in the fields of representation, fuel supply, supervision, brokerage, safety and training. Founded in 2000 on a strong infrastructure and holding two different registrations in Malta and Türkiye, Freebird operates as an international airline with a fleet of 13 Airbus A320s. Freebird aims to create value for its customers, employees and shareholders with the technology and employment infrastructures it has developed for sustainable aviation. In 2002, Freebird was the first airline in Türkiye to be awarded the ISO 9001:2000 Certification by TUV Rheinland and in July 2006, it became the first charter airline to receive the IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit) registration issued by IATA (International Air Transport Association).

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eTT Aviation welcomes Aleutian Airways into the SkedFlex FCMS family

In late March 2024, eTT Aviation, a leading provider of innovative aviation software solutions, announced Aleutian Airways, operated by Sterling Airways, as its newest customer. The partnership marks a significant milestone for both companies and underscores eTT Aviation’s commitment to delivering cutting-edge solutions to the aviation industry.

Aleutian Airways, operated by Sterling Airways, known for its commitment to excellence and exceptional service, has selected eTT Aviation to enhance operational efficiency and optimize its crew management processes. By leveraging eTT Aviation’s state-of-the-art software suite, Sterling Airways aims to streamline crew scheduling, improve resource utilization, and ultimately deliver an unparalleled experience to guests. This partnership signifies a step forward in leveraging technology to improve airline operational efficiency and passenger satisfaction.

“We are delighted to welcome Sterling Airways to the eTT Aviation family,” said Tom LaJoie, CEO and President of eTT Aviation. “Our innovative software solutions are designed to empower airlines to achieve operational excellence and drive growth. We are confident that our collaboration with Sterling Airways

will result in tangible benefits for their business and contribute to their continued success in the dynamic aviation industry.”

eTT Aviation’s comprehensive suite of software solutions offers advanced capabilities for crew management, flight operations, training, and compliance management. By leveraging cutting-edge technology and industry expertise, eTT Aviation enables airlines to optimize their operations, improve decision-making, and enhance overall efficiency.

“We conducted a thorough evaluation of various software solutions available in the market, and eTT Aviation emerged as the clear choice for us,” said Alex Osleger, Director of Operations.

Scott Nemeth, Director of SOC (Systems Operations Center) for Sterling Airways said, “I found that SkedFlex FCMS (Flight and Crew Management System) is very intuitive and comfortable to use, which really cut down the training time for our team members. Each department uses their own workspace within the application and lets FCMS integrate the data into easy-to-understand displays that benefit all our departments. One of the bigger selling points for me is the modular a-la-cart design of FCMS.”

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Ryanair renews partnership with Vistair powering industry leading operational performance

In early March 2024, Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, renewed, for a further five years, its partnership with Vistair, a market leading provider of advanced operational content management and safety management systems for the aviation industry. As part of this renewed agreement, Ryanair will continue to use Vistair’s industry leading document management system, DocuNet, to streamline the creation, distribution, and maintenance of operational manuals as the airline continues to grow to 800 aircraft and 300 million passengers by 2034.

Ryanair’s Chief Operating Officer, Neal McMahon, said: “We are pleased to announce a five-year extension to our longstanding partnership with Vistair. As Europe’s No.1 airline, Vistair’s reliable and efficient document management system, DocuNet, has helped us maintain operational efficiency and responsiveness

across our vast fleet and complex operations. DocuNet continues to meet our high expectations, contributing to our ongoing strong operational performance ensuring that Ryanair remains at the forefront of operational and compliance standards as we continue to grow to 800 aircraft and 300 million passengers by 2034.”

Dominic Clarke, Chief Commercial Officer at Vistair, added: “We are delighted to extend our partnership with Ryanair. The renewal of this agreement reflects the trust Ryanair places in Vistair and DocuNet. As Europe’s largest airline group, superior operational performance is paramount. We look forward to continuing to support Ryanair in achieving operational excellence and maintaining the highest standards of compliance.”

In January 2024, Vistair and Comply365 announced

their merger creating a leading global provider of compliance, safety and data intelligence technologies serving the aviation, defence, and rail industries.

Ryanair Holdings plc, Europe’s largest airline group, is the parent company of Buzz, Lauda, Malta Air, Ryanair and Ryanair UK. Carrying up to 182m guests a year on over 3,600 daily flights from 95 bases, the Group connects over 250 airports in 40 countries with a fleet of almost 600 aircraft, plus over 350 Boeing 737s on order, which will enable the Ryanair Group to grow traffic to 300m a year by 2034. Ryanair has a team of over 25,000 highly skilled aviation professionals delivering Europe’s No.1 operational performance, and an industry leading 38-year safety record. Ryanair is one of the most efficient major EU airlines.

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Developed by OpenAirlines, the fuel efficiency solution is the market leader and already helps over 66 airlines.

Driven by the values of innovation and quality, and mindful of the challenges posed by the global climate situation, Air Nostrum recognizes the importance of using advanced technological solutions to optimize its operations. Integrating SkyBreathe® into its fleet management system aligns seamlessly with its commitment to achieving greater fuel savings and will support its upcoming growth due to a fleet expansion planned for 2024. SkyBreathe® 360° analyzes and optimizes fuel consumption across an airline’s entire fleet. Leveraging Big

all access more than 2000 measures to help them shape a successful fuel management program.

Renowned for its ease of use, the solution will offer the airline numerous fuel-saving opportunities in just a few clicks. Air Nostrum will also be guided throughout its entire SkyBreathe® journey by a dedicated OpenAirlines fuel efficiency expert. This support will extend from software implementation to deploying measures and adapting a performance improvement plan continuously. By officially joining the SkyBreathe® users’ community, the airline will also benefit from other airlines’ shared experiences and advice.

Nostrum”, affirmed Manuel Jiménez, General Manager of Air Nostrum. “Our commitment to minimizing our carbon footprint and adopting eco-friendly practices is unwavering. By integrating SkyBreathe® into our operations, we are embracing a revolutionary tool that exemplifies our proactive stance in achieving operational efficiency while championing ecological responsibility.”

“Incorporating SkyBreathe® into our fleet is a strategic move to not only reduce our environmental impact but also to set new industry benchmarks in sustainable aviation,” highlighted Borja Mas Vilella, Director of Flight Operations at Air Nostrum. “This collaboration symbolizes our relentless pursuit of cutting-edge solutions that align with our long-term vision for a greener future. SkyBreathe® empowers us to optimize fuel consumption, reduce emissions, and contribute to global initiatives combating climate change.”

Nostrum’s strategy to strengthen their fuel efficiency program. SkyBreathe®’s capabilities will empower them to make informed decisions, leading to significant cost and fuel savings. Air Nostrum demonstrates leadership by adopting new technologies for a greener tomorrow.” This partnership between Air Nostrum and OpenAirlines reflects a harmonious blend of innovation and responsibility in the aviation industry.

Air Nostrum is the leading regional aviation company in Spain and one of the largest European airlines in its class. It operates for the Iberia Group under the Iberia Regional Air Nostrum brand. The airline connects 59 destinations in eight countries in Europe and North Africa with its fleet of 48 new generation aircraft. It has 1,500 employees. In its 29 years of history, it has already transported more than 100 million passengers.

Read the full story on Aircraft IT Website

Norse Atlantic Airways selects ULTRAMAIN® ELB™ for streamlined paperless operations

At the end of February 2024, Norse Atlantic Airlines (Norse Atlantic), a Norwegian airline founded in 2021 and specializing in low-cost, long-haul, and direct flights across Europe, the U.S. and Asia, announced that it has selected Ultramain Systems electronic logbook, ULTRAMAIN ELB, to fully replace the aircraft paper technical log, cabin log, journey log, and fueling logs on their fleet of 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Upon implementation, Norse Atlantic’s Flight Crews will operate ULTRAMAIN ELB iOS version on iPads. This transition from paper to digital line maintenance operations marks a significant step forward for Norse. Real-time Flight and Cabin Crew reports, selected from ULTRAMAIN ELB’s ondevice B787 tailored fault repository, will enable enhanced planning and defect clearance. This will

lead to lower deferral rates, increased operational service levels and lower maintenance costs across their Dreamliner fleet.

“Going paperless has been a goal for Norse Atlantic´s technical department since our start up, as it will help streamline our operations, improve cost efficiency, and contribute to our sustainability goals. Choosing Ultramain represents a significant milestone in realizing our paperless vision”, expressed Ahmad Abu Nima, VP Technical Operations at Norse Atlantic Airways.

“We are delighted to welcome Norse Atlantic to the ULTRAMAIN ELB user community, marking a significant milestone in our expansion into Norway. At Ultramain Systems, we take pride in delivering solutions that not only streamline workload and enhance operational efficiency for our customers but

also contribute to their environmental sustainability efforts, and we’re excited to support Norse Atlantic in their journey,” said Mark McCausland, President, and CEO of Ultramain Systems.

Norse Atlantic Airways, founded by CEO and major shareholder Bjørn Tore Larsen in March 2021, is an airline specializing in low-cost, long-haul, direct flights to a range of exciting destinations on the intercontinental market, offering passengers more opportunities and flexibility to explore the world. Headquartered in Arendal, Norway, Norse Atlantic ASA, a publicly traded company listed on the Euronext Expand Exchange in Oslo, Norway, is the parent company of Norse Atlantic Airways AS and Norse Atlantic UK LTD. Norse Atlantic Airways AS holds two Air Operator’s Certificates (AOCs), one in Norway and one in the UK.

including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Jamaica, Barbados, Bangkok, Oslo, London, Berlin, Rome and Paris. The company’s first flight took off from Oslo to New York on 14th June 2022.

Ultramain Systems has been serving aviation industries worldwide for more than 40 years and is dedicated to providing customers worldwide with SIMPLE MOBILE PAPERLESS Aviation Maintenance software products and professional services. ULTRAMAIN ELB — the

eLine Checks operate on mobile or installed devices providing real-time integration with airline and MRO systems. ULTRAMAIN M&E / MRO software offers comprehensive functionality, innovative features, and has been approved by regulatory authorities around the world for line, base, and overhaul operations as the paperless maintenance system of record. Ultra main Systems & Ultramain International maintain offices in the USA, UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, and India.

Delta is using NAVBLUE’s Mission+ for its entire fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft

At the end of February 2024, NAVBLUE and Delta Air Lines signed a long-term agreement for Mission+, NAVBLUE’s Electronic Flight Assistant, which provides pilots with all the data and information they need to perform their mission via one modular digital solution. The agreement includes the deployment of Mission+ on the global airline’s entire fleet of over 900 Airbus and Boeing aircraft and represents one of the biggest transitions from paper to an Electronic Flight Folder (eFF) digital solution in the aviation industry. In addition, NAVBLUE and Delta will work on further enhancing the application for pilots by adding new functionalities.

Delta has been involved in the development of Mission+ since its inception. This digital solution is now considered the most intuitive eFF on the market that minimizes pilot interactions. Delta has also been

other major airlines from different regions and with diverse types of operations. The airline provided feedback to build a tool adapted to pilots’ tasks for mission management in all flight phases (briefing,

in-flight follow-up, reporting).

The agreement between Delta and NAVBLUE considers the airline’s requirements and communitydriven needs. As a scalable and reliable solution, Mission+ FLIGHT, the integrated flight folder module of Mission+, is seamlessly integrated with its existing ground environment ensuring business continuity. The full implementation process across Delta’s fleet has been achieved in less than two years, covering deployment, testing, and operational usage by the airline’s entire pilot community (more than 17,000 pilots), who are now using Mission+ as part of their workflow on an average of more than 4,000 daily Delta flights.

Mission+ removes the need to print paper flight plan information for every Delta flight, which represents saving more than 77.5 million pages

annually (or around 4,000 trees), further supporting Delta’s ongoing efforts to embed sustainability across its business.

Marc Lemeilleur, CEO of NAVBLUE said: “On behalf of the NAVBLUE teams, I would like to thank Delta for their trust in this product and our people. By choosing Mission+ they are enabling their pilots to benefit from all the data and information they need to perform their mission via a unique modular digital solution. Working together we enabled the deployment of Mission+ on the entire fleet in less than two years, which is a great success for all of us.”

Ryan Gumm, Flight Operations Senior Vice President of Delta, added: “Achieving this major milestone is part of our commitment to removing operational complexities, as well as moving toward a more digital, sustainable future. Mission+ allows our pilots more time to focus on what Delta people do best — expertly serve our customers with safety top of mind.”

NAVBLUE is a leading services company, wholly owned by Airbus, dedicated to Flight Operations solutions and services for airlines and aircraft operators, on the ground and onboard. NAVBLUE combines aircraft manufacturer expertise, flight operations know-how and agile development to enhance operational efficiency, optimize resources and increase productivity, for a safe and sustainable aviation. It delivers a reliable, optimum and customized user experience to more than 600 customers worldwide, in a range of

areas, including digital cockpit operations, Operations Control Centre (OCC) systems, Flight Ops Engineering and Performance Based Navigation (PBN). NAVBLUE employs 500 employees spread across the world, with offices in Canada, France, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, UK and US and representatives in several other countries across the globe.

Delta Air Lines, headquartered in Atlanta, is a U.S. leader in domestic and international travel, operating a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft on over 4,000 daily flights to more than 280 destinations on six continents. Delta operates significant hubs and key markets in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Bogota, Boston, Detroit, Lima, LondonHeathrow, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK and LaGuardia, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City, Santiago (Chile), Sao Paulo, Seattle, Seoul-Incheon, and Tokyo. The airline served more than 190 million customers in 2023 — safely, reliably and with industry-leading customer service innovation — and was again recognized as North America’s most on-time airline. Delta is America’s mostawarded airline thanks to the dedication, passion and professionalism of its people. It has been recognized by Cirium for operational excellence; as the top U.S. airline by the Wall Street Journal; among Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies; the World’s Most Admired Airline according to Fortune; as one of Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work; and a top employer for diversity, veterans and best workplaces for women by Forbes.

QOCO Systems launches Assignment —

a revolutionary MRO solution that combines HR, maintenance planning, and flight ops systems into one interface

In mid-March 2024, QOCO Systems, a leading provider of aviation software solutions, announced the launch of its latest innovation, MROTools.io — Assignment. Developed in collaboration with leading industry operators, Assignment is a modern, reliable, and cost-efficient solution that combines three separate modules currently used in maintenance planning — HR, maintenance, and flight ops systems — into one easy-to-use interface. The innovative solution allows airlines and MROs to increase staff utilization and improve fleet availability while eliminating human error in maintenance planning processes. Assignment enables planners to adjust quickly to changes in flight schedules and staff availability, reducing delays and fleet downtime.

“Aircraft maintenance operations require simultaneous management of several complex processes. With Assignment, we wanted to make them significantly more manageable by combining all the necessary data and controls into one intuitive interface,” said Ilari Neitola, Founder of QOCO Systems. “Instead of scrolling through spreadsheets for personnel availability information, jumping to the maintenance management system for the right plans and at the same time keeping an eye on flight data in case of delays, maintenance planners can access all relevant features with one tool.”

the aircraft arriving late or carrier-related issues such as staff shortages or maintenance. The costs of delays for airlines are estimated to reach billions of euros annually.

By automating several aspects of staff planning, Assignment reduces the workload of planners and eliminates the need for manual, repetitive tasks. The solution eliminates human error by minimizing manual intervention in the planning process, which can significantly improve the reliability of the planning process and ensure that all staff members

“When a flight is delayed, it may be necessary to replan staffing due to personnel availability,” Ilari Neitola explained. “If this is done inefficiently, with outdated methods and software resources, it can easily cause further delays, creating a domino effect. Every wasted minute is costly for flight operators. With Assignment, we aim to streamline aircraft maintenance operations so that they can reduce those delays instead of increasing them.”

MROTools.io — Assignment is available starting from March 19th, 2024.

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Dassault Falcon Service Goes Digital with TrustFlight Electronic Logbook

In late march 2024, TrustFlight Ltd., a technology innovator focused on digitization of the aviation industry, announced that Dassault Falcon Service (DFS), one of Europe’s largest providers of maintenance, management, and technical services for Falcon business jets, has selected TrustFlight’s Electronic Logbook (ELB) solution to drive digital process adoption across their fleet of business aircraft to gain real-time insights while eliminating error-prone, time-consuming processes.

Dassault Falcon Service has consistently sought ways to improve the operations through innovative solutions that enhance both reliability and passenger safety. With the elimination of outdated, labourintensive paper-based processes through TrustFlight’s user-friendly ELB, Dassault Falcon Service is able to increase operational efficiencies, improve safety, and outline potential risks ahead of time to ensure the high standard of service they have delivered since 1967.

Dassault Falcon Service rigorously evaluated TrustFlight’s Electronic Logbook for reliability and user experience. With TrustFlight, Dassault Falcon Service maintenance and flight operations personnel are able to eliminate transcription errors and manual processes through automation to gain instant overviews into aircraft locations, maintenance statuses, and real-time alerts to mitigate potential issues as they arise.

“The selection of our Electronic Logbook solution by Dassault Falcon Service is a testament to the robustness, functionality, and integrability of the application,” said Karl Steeves, CEO, TrustFlight. “The Dassault Aviation group and its affiliates are well-regarded for their operational excellence and business acumen and we are excited to partner with them to help streamline operations through digitization.”

TrustFlight’s Electronic Logbook enables fully-digital workflows for crew and maintenance personnel by automating vital information to greatly enhance speed and accuracy while reducing low-value-added operations. Furthermore, the ELB integrates into various systems including AMOS, CAMP, and Leon Software, allowing users to leverage bi-directional data flows to maintain a connected ecosystem of digital products.

TrustFlight is a digital technology innovator that specializes in the aerospace and aviation domain. The company’s best-in-class solutions and services provide an added layer of safety, efficiency, and

maintenance of aircraft. With over 80,000 active users, TrustFlight’s industry-leading suite of solutions includes an Electronic Logbook (ELB), Safety and Quality Management System (SMS/QMS), Reliability Analytics software, the innovative MEL Manager, and aviation Technical Services for continuing airworthiness. Originally founded by two commercial pilots, TrustFlight has grown to become a global firm supporting a wide variety of airlines, airports, regulators, maintenance providers, and business aviation operators around the world.

Dassault Falcon Service has been a reference point for the highest standards of quality and service in business aviation since 1967. Dassault Falcon Service is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dassault Aviation located at Paris-Le Bourget and BordeauxMérignac airports. Due to its integrated structure, the company offers an extensive suite of maintenance, management and technical services for Falcon business jets. Its activities include FBO services as well as aircraft management and on-demand flights. Available 24/7, the experts’ team operates from Le Bourget a last-generation Falcon fleet, the ultimate in comfort and flight safety.

TrustFlight Electronic Logbook displayed in Dassault Falcon Service aircraft cockpit EFB. Image courtesy of Dassault Aviation.

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Real-time flight path optimization at Volaris

Luis Fernandez, Fuel Efficiency Manager, Volaris and David Rytter, CEO, AVTECH share leveraging a flight profile optimizer solution for eco-efficiency flying

Case studies are valuable because they not only tell readers about the product but also relate a story of how the product was implemented and performed in an airline environment. So, before diving into the topic for this case study, let’s first take a look at the subject airline, Volaris.

VOLARIS

Volaris (figure 1), the largest Ultra-Low-Cost Carrier (ULCC) in Latin America, flew 33.4 million passengers on 245 routes in the twelve months to June 2023.

The fleet includes 124 aircraft, most of them neo models, serving 71 airports on three AOCs (Air Operator Certificates); one in Mexico, one in Costa Rica and one in El Salvador.

Now we’ll look at the solution that has delivered real and measurable savings and efficiency gains to Volaris.

“The

fleet includes 124 aircraft, most of them neo models, serving 71 airports on three AOCs (Air Operator Certificates)…”

Figure 1

AVTECH designed ClearPath to be an advanced in-flight optimization capability that integrates very smoothly into the user airline’s existing operation (figure 2). The system operates as a ground-based service and utilizes already installed technology and therefore requires no investments.

• Uses already existing technology

• Cost optimal flight path (base on CI)

Big data ground-based computations

The solution

• High-resolution AC performance data

• Actual flight parameters

• High-resolution weather

Airlines can utilize the equipment they already have, and pilots can continue to fly in the same way they currently do, interacting with the FMC (Flight Management Computer) as usual. ClearPath calculates a cost-optimal flight path based on the cost index, aircraft gross weight and route, as downloaded from the FMC in-flight.

Automatic and manual

• Delivered directly to cockpit

• EFB or Printer/Screen

As the service is ground based, it is able to perform its flight optimization calculations with unlimited computational resources and full access to the latest accurate high-resolution weather forecasts (figure 3).

Real-time flight path optimization

• Uses already existing technology

• Cost optimal flight path (base on CI)

Big data ground-based computations

• High-resolution AC performance data

• Actual flight parameters

• High-resolution weather

Automatic and manual

• Delivered directly to cockpit

• EFB or Printer/Screen 2

The service is fully automatic and starts by collecting data from the flight such as active route, aircraft gross weight, the selected speed or cost index.

Using this data, a four-dimensional flight trajectory is calculated and used to retrieve a high-resolution weather forecast for the specific flight path. ClearPath then calculates the cost optimal flight profile by comparing all different flight level options to fly from point A to point B.

Ensures optimization using actualperformancedata

No pilot workload compared to other solutions

Ensures every flight isoptimized

Highcompliancerate

Maximizes service value

“…a four-dimensional flight trajectory is calculated and used to retrieve a high-resolution weather forecast for the specific flight path. ClearPath then calculates the cost optimal flight profile…”

Figure 3

Real-time flight path optimization

• Uses already existing technology

• Cost optimal flight path (base on CI)

Big data ground-based computations

The resulting optimal flight path is up-linked to the cockpit in real time, together with information about estimated savings. This means that it’s entirely hands-off for the pilots to get this information and then it’s up to them to use it to optimize the flight.

• High-resolution AC performance data

• Actual flight parameters

• High-resolution weather

For each flight, the service automatically looks at how the ClearPath optimized profile compares with the fuel burn time of flying the original flight plan (OFP) planned flight profile altitude steps. This fuel saving potential is typically around 2.5 percent, however this varies with airline and operation.

Automatic and manual

• Delivered directly to cockpit

• EFB or Printer/Screen

How the system works

After take-off, the system monitors the flight and automatically uplinks the information to the pilots. ClearPath requests certain parameters from the Flight Computer, such as the active route, the cost index and the weight of the aircraft.

The solution does a 4DT (four-dimensional trajectory) calculation using the high-resolution weather forecast from the Met Office. This is a full 10k resolution weather forecast with hourly temporal resolution, compared to the standard 140km resolution weather forecast that you see in flight planning. The solution works with the full trajectory and does the ClearPath optimization, calculating the most cost optimal flight profile. The system then calculates what altitudes will give this flight, in this atmosphere with this weight, the most cost-optimal flight profile, then creating a short message uplink to the cockpit.

How ClearPath supports pilots

Figure 4 shows a typical ClearPath message, uplinked to the pilot. This message

Ensures optimization using actualperformancedata

No pilot workload compared to other solutions

Ensures every flight isoptimized

Highcompliancerate

Maximizes service value

“This translates to a fuel saving of 1.7 percent of the total cruise fuel consumption, with the trade-off being a slight delay in arrival time…”

B BRRAANND D

Let’s take a closer look at ClearPath in action during a Boeing 787 flight across the Atlantic. In the illustration, we can observe the operational flight plan profile represented by a blue line. Towards the end of the flight, as the aircraft approaches Europe, a typical planned step climb is depicted. Furthermore, the illustration highlights a jet stream core located over Europe, which brings advantageous winds at lower altitudes.

ZAARRDDS S

On the right side of the screen, we are presented with a ClearPath text message that was received by the pilots during the climb phase, around FL150. This message provides the optimal initial altitude and step climb recommendations for the specific flight, calculated by ClearPath based on the actual weight of the aircraft and a cost index of 15. In the illustration, the ClearPath advice is depicted as a green line, visually representing the recommended altitude profile.

NEW CLEARPATH FEATURE

DETECTION AND AV

Since this flight is operating at a low cost index of 15, where fuel efficiency is prioritized over time, the optimal flight path is to descend into more favorable wind layers. The pilots can observe that by following this optimal path, they can achieve a fuel saving of 661 kg and experience a time delay of only five minutes, as compared to flying the originally planned profile.

FL330/N62000W020000-141

FL350/N62000W010000

FL370/SONAL-144

EST SAVING

661 KG ( 1.7%)

TIME -330 S (-1.1%)

EQFUEL 599 KG

ISSUED

This translates to a fuel saving of 1.7 percent of the total cruise fuel consumption, with the trade-off being a slight delay in arrival time on an eight or nine-hour flight.

It is worth noting that on this specific flight, the pilots successfully adhered to the optimal path, and upon landing, a report was received confirming the achieved savings. By initiating the service automatically (Figure 5) after take-off, several benefits are achieved. Firstly, it guarantees that every flight undergoes optimization, Additionally, this automated process ensures that the optimization takes into account the precise aircraft parameters, which are extracted by the service directly from the flight computer. This guarantees that the optimization is tailored to the specific characteristics of the aircraft being flown.

ClearPath distinguishes itself from other services in the market by minimizing the workload on pilots through its hands-off and fully automated nature. With ClearPath, pilots receive automatic optimization, leaving them with the primary tasks of coordinating with air traffic control and following the recommended flight profile (figure 5).

FL330/N62000W020000-141

FL350/N62000W010000

FL370/SONAL-144

Avoidance of temperature outside limits Avoidance of turbulence above limits

ISSUED BY AVTECH (END)

Figure 6

ClearPath has recently incorporated a groundbreaking feature (refer to figure 7) that integrates the detection, notification, and avoidance of hazardous turbulence directly into its optimization process. Going forward, ClearPath will proactively inform pilots about the presence of hazardous turbulence along their route and provide suggestions on the most cost-optimal methods to avoid it. Importantly, this entire process is fully automated, further reducing pilots workload.

The ClearPath report now lists in a separate section any turbulence and temperature exceedances along the planned flight profile, complete with start point, end-point and intensity, and the ClearPath optimization will now clearly state when optimal flight levels are limited by temperature or turbulence.

ClearPath always shows the most cost-optimal altitudes and step positions to avoid these hazards.

The accuracy of this weather information now truly makes this new feature a game changer for pilots and airlines. The text-based version of ClearPath (figure 8) really makes it easy to get started and get it into the cockpit and used by the pilots while the pilots continue to interact with the FMC.

OPTIMAL CRZ PROFILE

2019-09-03 12:28Z XX-XXX

Flight data

Optimum initial flight level

Optimal flight path

Fuel / time saving vs OFP

XX0123 LEAL-ENGM

CI:15, GWT:64375 KG

INIT OPT FL: FL340

OPT STEPS

FL380/ARGOR-5

FL400/VANAD-40

FL390/TOLEN

EST SAVING

FUEL 392.4 KG (4.6%)

TIME 380 S (2.8%)

FUEL_EQ 464.2 KG (4.1%)

Figure 7

Figure 8

The foundation of this feature lies in the utilization of a highly detailed and accurate high-resolution EDR turbulence forecast provided by the UK Met Office. Leveraging this advanced weather information, ClearPath aims to revolutionize the way turbulence is managed during flights. With this innovative capability, it is anticipated that this new feature will have a significant impact on the industry.

ClearPath service offers integration with AVTECH’s ProFlight EFB app (Figure 9).

This integration allows pilots to have a more interactive experience, where they can apply constraints on the optimization process and access additional features. However, it’s important to note that the underlying optimization algorithm remains the same, ensuring advanced optimization in the background. ClearPath eliminates the need for additional apps or the introduction of numerous new elements. Pilots can continue their operations as usual but now benefit from enhanced guidance and support.

So, let’s have a look at how it has worked for Volaris.

CLEARPATH FLIGHT OPTIMIZATION IN VOLARIS

The key question any airline would want to address regarding an optimization service is whether the savings communicated to the pilots are accurate. Volaris provided an answer to this specific question by confirming that ClearPath’s savings calculation was reliable and often conservative.

ClearPath savings analysis

comparison with the airlines internal Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) system. For the audit, Volaris had to find flights that had been flown with a lateral flight path matching the planned route. Figure 10 illustrates one of these audited flights.

To conduct the analysis, Volaris carried out an audit to assess the accuracy of ClearPath’s calculations and the projected savings. Five flights were selected for

“ClearPath eliminates the need for additional apps or the introduction of numerous new elements. Pilots can continue their operations as usual…”

Figure 9

This sample flight was from Los Angeles to El Salvador and was planned at flight level 350. The recommended optimal flight level suggested by ClearPath was FL370, as depicted at the top right of figure 10. In this case FL370 was also selected and flown by the pilots. In the middle right of figure 10 you can see the actual cruise savings and different profiles for the same flight. The red profile is the original flight plan (OFP), the purple profile is the optimal flight level proposed by ClearPath, and the blue profile is the actual flown flight level. In addition the green profile shows the onboard flight management system (FMS) proposed flight level.

On this specific flight the pilots were able to realize most of the savings potential by selecting the more optimal flight level 370. However, the entire savings potential was not realized. ClearPath proposed an additional optimal step to flight level 390 around 1,300 miles from the start of the cruise, but due to other traffic this step was never performed. The validation results, depicted in the table at the bottom right, confirm that the actual fuel saving was 180 kg (2.3%), which aligns closely with ClearPath’s estimated savings of 173 kg (2.2%).

ClearPath performance

As a next step, Volaris conducted a performance evaluation divided into two distinct periods, April and May, June and July 2023. Figure 11 presents the final results that were obtained over this four-month period. In total the study comprized a substantial sample size of over 66,000 flights, 40 percent of which were optimized by ClearPath. Among these optimized flights, an average fuel

saving of 96 kg per flight was achieved. However, due to limited internet connectivity in parts of South America, ClearPath didn`t always receive the required flight plan inputs. As a result, approximately 25 percent of the flights remained unoptimized.

ClearPath coverage

66,592 flights analyzed (from 7th April to 31st Jul 2023):

Ø 39.74% Flights optimized by ClearPath (26,462 flights)

Ø 35.56% Flight Plan was already optimized (23,678 flights)

Ø 24.71% flights not optimized as lack of flight plan data

ClearPath optimized flights performance

ClearPath optimized flights (39.74%):

Ø Avg Time savings: 51 seconds per flight (33 kg of fuel)

Ø Avg Flight Level optimization savings: 63 kg per flight

Ø Avg TOTAL savings = 96 kg/flight

Volaris operates under three Air Operator Certificates (AOCs), prompting a breakdown of results by carrier, as illustrated in Figure 12.

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

especially in the cruise phase, leading to more substantial results. The Pilot engagement level was measured to be just over 36 percent during the period. Typically pilot engagement increases over time as pilots become more familiar with the service and in this case actual savings will also increase accordingly.

“The Pilot engagement level was measured to be just over 36 percent during the period. Typically pilot engagement increases over time as pilots become more familiar with the service and in this case actual savings will also increase accordingly.”

“…more than half of Volaris flights could be optimized by ClearPath with a theoretical savings potential of 63kg per flight…”

The furthest right purple column in figure 13, depicts the actual savings, while the potential savings are shown in gray, reflecting what would have been achieved if all OFPs had been passed to AVTECH. In comparison to the original operational flight plan (OFP), Volaris attained a total fuel saving of 14 kg per flight. This part of the case-study reveals that more than half of Volaris flights could be optimized by

Figure

Figure 13 illustrates the two periods: April to May and June to July. In the first period, the obtained ClearPath fuel savings was higher than the results of June and July

ClearPath with a theoretical savings potential of 63kg per flight. When accounting for the real application rate during the evaluation period this resulted in a 14kg actual saving. Taking into account only the 40 percent of the flights (26,000 Flights) in the evaluation period, that were optimized by ClearPath, the average fuel and time saving per flight was found to be 63kg and 51 seconds respectively. This is a total cost saving corresponding to 96kg per flight.

and pilot performance, which affected the accuracy of flight profile calculations. During the implementation period, and to encourage pilot engagement, Volaris successfully introduced the new ClearPath turbulence and temperature avoidance model.

LUIS FERNANDEZ

•

• Despite the totally different operational conditions between both periods the net savings achieved are still the same

Figure 14

As the final step of the case study, Volaris conducted an analysis of the average altitudes flown before and after ClearPath was deployed. Actual results were compared under similar conditions by using data from the same month of the previous year. Figure 14 illustrates the results of this study, showing a comparison between the actual and planned cruise altitudes. During the first period (April and May), the actual altitude, represented in purple, exceeded the OFP altitude depicted in gray, but remained lower than the optimal altitude shown in green provided by the FMS. In the period of June and July, the actual altitude was initially lower than the OFP altitude. However, with the implementation of ClearPath, this trend has shifted, and the actual flown altitude now consistently exceeds the OFP altitude. Despite the differing operational conditions between the two periods, ClearPath consistently achieved a net savings of 15 kg per flight. These results are similar to and validates the previous study ‘actual saving’ results of 14kg per flight.

IMPROVEMENTS, CONCLUSIONS AND NEXT STEPS

The greatest challenge when the project started was that all Volaris’s aircraft had restrictions limiting the ACARS uplink. The calculations were solely reliant on the OFP data. Resulting in a lack of comprehensive information regarding FMS inputs

Luis is an aeronautical engineer with eight years of experience in airlines’ data analytics as FDM and safety data manager, operational cost optimization and fuel efficiency manager. In the past he worked as a mechanical engineer specialized in mechanical and fluid simulations for several years. Currently he and his team are responsible for developing, implementing and monitoring fuel efficiency strategy and reduce the overall operational costs in Volaris.

DAVID RYTTER

David Rytter is the CEO of AVTECH Sweden. Prior to becoming the CEO, he served as Chief Technical Officer leading the development of AVTECH’s services. Before that he was also Head of Aventus Nowcast, AVTECH’s wind uplink service, and a project manager for different development projects. Not only does he have a great knowledge and experience of AVTECH’s products and services he has also flown as a voluntary pilot for the Swedish Voluntary Flying Corps (FKK) since 2006. David holds a MSc in Aerospace Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH).

VOLARIS

Volaris is a low-cost Mexican airline and the largest Ultra-LowCost Carrier (ULCC) in Latin America. It is based in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Tijuana. The airline offers scheduled flights across the Americas, mainly offering domestic flights within Mexico and international flights to the US. The fleet includes 124 aircraft, most of them neo models, serving 71 airports on three AOCs (Air Operator Certificates); one in Mexico, one in Costa Rica and one in El Salvador.

AVTECH

AVTECH specializes in tailored information to the cockpit, offering easy, automated and inexpensive improvements in FMS optimization. ClearPath is a real-time flight path optimization service that uses existing on-board technology, so requires no investment other than the investment in ClearPath itself. The solution calculates a cost optimal flight path based on the cost index (CI) that the pilots have entered into the flight management computer (FMC) with the active flight path, weight and other factors.

INTERACTIVE

VENDOR FLIGHT LOG: LUFTHANSA SYSTEMS

Stefanie Neumann highlights the blend of airline foundations and IT excellence that keeps Lufthansa Systems in tune with customers’ real needs

Stefanie Neumann has been CEO of Lufthansa Systems GmbH since April 2023. She joined Lufthansa Group in 2019 as Vice President IT Infrastructure, Sourcing & Transition. During this time, she managed the transition from a single provider setup towards a future-oriented partner ecosystem and modernized the technical capabilities in all IT infrastructure pillars. Before joining Lufthansa Group, Stefanie Neumann held various management roles related to products and innovation at Deutsche Telekom and worked in different industries as a strategy and IT consultant.

Aircraft IT: Your name, your job title, and the name of the business?

Stefanie Neumann: Stefanie Neumann, CEO of Lufthansa Systems

Aircraft IT: How did Lufthansa Systems get started?

SN: In 1995, Lufthansa outsourced its IT department to a newly established subsidiary, which has gone through a remarkable development since then.

Thanks to its many years of experience within the Lufthansa Group, serving all airlines of the Group, the company has been able to set the digital pace of Europe’s most successful airline group and gain extensive aviation and digitalization expertise. The result is an impressive product portfolio covering many processes of an airline on the flightdeck, in the cabin and on the ground, which we offer to airlines within and outside the Lufthansa Group.

Aircraft IT: What is the guiding business principle that drives Lufthansa Systems?

SN: Quite simply, we are a company of airline and digital experts. People who are passionate about developing products and ideas, and who have a solid consulting framework beneath their feet. We do this carefully and with a depth of detail that allows us to say: we are at one with our airline customers and their digital advantage.

Aircraft IT: What has Lufthansa Systems’ greatest business achievement been to date, and why?

SN: Lufthansa Systems is one of the market’s leading providers in network planning, route optimization and flight navigation with more than 350 airline customers worldwide. The NetLine suite, for example, covers the entire process from network planning, flight planning and codeshares to crew management until the day of operations and

“… we are a company of airline and digital experts. People who are passionate about developing products and ideas, and who have a solid consulting framework beneath their feet.”

provides the ideal basis for decision-making by connecting data in a smart way. Lido Flight 4D helps our customers to optimize their flight routes and thus reduce flight times and fuel consumption. Close to 50 percent of all EU flights are planned with Lido Flight 4D so far. So, our biggest success is to support airlines to unlock their full operational potential.

Aircraft IT: What have been your disappointments and what have you learned from them?

SN: As a team, we learned that the relevance of IT is perceived very differently. So, we changed our perspective and now constantly put our customers’ business challenges, like for example irregularities and disruption handling, at the center of our solutions. The efficiency of our digital solutions then speaks for itself.

Aircraft IT: In a sentence, how would you summarize what Lufthansa Systems does for aircraft operations customers?

“…AI is also already being used in our products for flight planning to enhance operational stability and efficiency for airlines.”

SN: We love creating smart solutions to help airlines unlock their full potential.

Aircraft IT: What do you feel will be the next big thing in operations Aviation IT?

SN: Like in many other industries AI is also revolutionizing aviation. AI algorithms are being used to optimize flight routes, fuel consumption, and flight schedules, leading to cost savings and reduced environmental impact. But AI is also already being used in our products for flight planning to enhance operational stability and efficiency for airlines. So,

BOUNDLESS BACK ISSUES

I’m convinced that we will see more of these innovations in the future.

Aircraft IT: What do you want your customers to say about Lufthansa Systems?

SN: Lufthansa Systems is helping to make airlines more profitable, punctual, and sustainable with the help of IT.

Aircraft IT: Stefanie Neumann, thank you for your time.

Jekta gets the latest in digital documentation

George Alafinov, CEO and co-Founder of Jekta and Marc Rauch, co-Founder and CBO of Yonder on how the future of zero emissions, advanced air mobility has ensured compliance and documentation management

CASE STUDY: JEKTA

In this case study, readers will see how the latest developments in zero emissions aerospace has combined with the latest in digital document management solutions to ensure the best start and future for an exciting new airframe project. The article is in two parts, starting with the Passenger Hydro Aircraft Zero Emission 100 (PHA-ZE 100) Flying Boat OEM which is using the document management software Yonder to support the design and manufacture of a game-changing airframe to support sustainable regional aviation.

GEORGE ALAFINOV

CEO AND CO-FOUNDER OF JEKTA

Jekta, the Swiss OEM is reviving the magnificence of flying boats with the PHA-ZE 100 amphibious, regional aircraft. It is designed to improve air travel opportunities for communities living close to water and connect destinations currently unable to accommodate aviation due to infrastructure and regulatory restrictions. Our family business has more than two decades of experience designing, building and certifying amphibian aircraft.

WHY AN ELECTRIC POWERED FLYING BOAT

Humanity has always travelled; first walking, then riding horses; then, for thousands of years, sailing and navigating the world. With each technological advance, comfort improved and the time taken to travel reduced, culminating in

“The typical characteristics of RAM include the optimization of aircraft with capacity for five to 50 passengers flying distances of up to 500km and often using under-used or smaller airports.”

flying. The essence of flight is more than the act of traversing distances, it is to save time and connect the disconnected.

For example, in the UK alone, there are 34 million cars for 68 million people, resulting in congested traffic where every participant is losing time. That is why, with increasing frequency, we hear the term Regional Air Mobility (RAM). It refers to the evolving concept of using aviation technology to facilitate efficient and convenient transportation within specific geographic locations and aims to address issues like traffic congestion, lengthy commutes and limited accessibility in regional areas.

•

•

fastest growing aviation sector for the next 25 years; RAM, McKinsey forecasts, will reach 700 million passengers a year in ten tears time. Of course, all of those flights will also present a different challenge which is the ecological impact from increased aviation activity. As the population continues to increase, so will the levels of CO2. Moreover, the migration of the population to high density urban areas will result in the creation of mega-cities, a large proportion of which will be on the coastlines of oceans, rivers and lakes (figure 1).

Population growth: from 8 (2022) to 10 billion (est 2050)

The global contribution of electric aircraft

Operation of electric aircraft

● 49% –82% reduction in carbon intensity in 2030

● 57% –88% reduction by 2050 when compared to fossil-fueled alternatives

Electric aircraft savings

• 32,000 tonnes of kerosene in 2030

• 1.3 million tonnes in 2050

Aviation’s carbon emissions potential reduction

• 3.7 million tonnes of CO2e annually

• representing 0.2% of expected emissions in 2050.

An electric aircraft would consume 0.2 terawatt-hours (TWh)

globally in 2030, growing to 7.4 TWh in 2050

That is why, at Jekta, we have designed a 19-passenger electric amphibian aircraft to support the growing regional air mobility demand.

• 50% projected increase of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050

• 60% of people living in cities by 2030

• 40% of which living on coastline of oceans, rivers and lakes

However, by electrifying aviation, we will be able to reduce CO2 emissions, all while reducing operating costs for the operator, resulting in sustainable travel that is cheaper than today (figure 2).

© Jekta Switzerland

The advantage of an amphibian aircraft is that, on the one hand it can operate using any existing infrastructure — prepared concrete or a grass runway — but it

Figure 1 — © Jekta Switzerland

Figure 2 — © Jekta Switzerland

can also operate from the water. This eliminates the need to construct new expensive runways with their irreversible ecological impact. In short, we think of it as like the famous Swiss Army Knife, it is an aircraft with multiple operational parameters that can be used anywhere in the world with minimum infrastructure investment.

THE AIRCRAFT DESIGN PROCESS

In figure 3, you’ll see a simplified aircraft design process flowchart

adequate, robust system that conforms with their requirements for a document management system, and the way documents are stored and exchanged.

The second part is traceability and accountability. Aircraft design involves numerous components, systems and processes and the documentation software allows for the tracking of each element, changes made during the design process and who made those changes. That traceability is crucial for accountability and ensuring that the final design meets safety and quality standards.

Aircraft Design Process Flowchart

Problem definition

Conceptual design

Critical design review Certification Preliminary Design WHY? Need for documentation software

Detail design Flight testing

• Regulatory Compliance

• Traceability and Accountability

• Collaboration and Communication

• Version control

• Information Accessability

• Risk Mitigation HOW?

Documentation software is integral to ensuring that the aircraft design process is well-documented, compliant with regulations, collaboratively executed, and maintains the highest standards of safety and quality throughout the entire lifecycle of the design process.

This is very much in the domain of IT and, when it comes to using the design documentation software, Jekta started with a DMS (Document Management System) from the very first conceptual design. The six reasons for that are in the figure starting with regulatory compliance. The software itself for the DMS does not need to be certified, but it is necessary to show to the aerospace regulator (European Aviation Safety Agency or Federal Aviation Administration) an

“The software itself for the DMS does not need to be certified, but it is necessary to show to the aerospace regulator (European Aviation Safety Agency or Federal Aviation Administration) an adequate, robust system that conforms with their requirements for a document management system…”

Collaboration and communication reflect the fact that aircraft design and production is a collaborative process involving engineers, designers, manufacturers, regulatory bodies and suppliers. Document management software facilitates communication and collaboration. Version control is, of course, very important because an aircraft design process will entail multiple iterations and revisions. The software helps manage version control ensuring that the most up-to-date design information is available to all stakeholders. This prevents errors that could arise from, for example, using outdated specifications; it also involves traceability to see who made an error, where one was made, and why, in order to rectify it.

Information accessibility is important because a vast amount of technical data is used; CAD (Computer Aided Design) models, technical drawings, specifications and procedures. And the software organizes and stores this information in a structured and accessible manner making it easier for designers and engineers to retrieve the necessary data efficiently.

Last but not least, risk mitigation helps to identify potential risks during the design phase through analyses and simulations, allowing for identification of issues early in the process which reduces the chances of costly errors and safety concerns for the final product.

Jekta chose Yonder for the provision of documentation management software and, in the second part of this study, Marc Rauch explains how the solution works and the benefits that it can bring to any user.

MARC RAUCH

CO-FOUNDER AND CBO OF YONDER

I’m going to share with readers what Yonder’s software is capable of doing. One application is with the development of new aircraft which we are highlighting in this case study. However, that’s probably not the business in which most readers are working so here is an introduction to show what Yonder can offer to flight operations, end-users and others.

ABOUT YONDER

We also like the comparison with the famous ‘Swiss Army Knife’ that George used earlier; Yonder is the all-purpose tool in documentation software offering users the option to use it for all of the different functions within an aviation

Figure 3 — © Jekta Switzerland

company, even in aircraft design.

Yonder is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland but active globally with employees located from Singapore to Phoenix, Arizona. Before the company was founded, the founders had accumulated a lot of experience in the aviation industry, whether with airlines or in the broader sense on the airports and regulators’ side. We set sail to put into action what was missing from products already on the market.

We don’t just see ourselves as a software vendor, throwing software at clients then scheduling training, and wishing them, ‘good luck!’ We aim to make our clients successful with their individual use cases that they have for a documentation management solution. This, of course, means special training, personalized onboarding capabilities and whatever a client needs in their specific case.

DOCUMENTATION MANAGEMENT TODAY

Let’s first look at the challenges in documentation management today (figure1).

Figure 1

Going back a little in time, at the beginning we were describing processes in a couple of sheets of paper; what do we need to do, how do we do it, what do we need to know? And then regulation came along; regulations led to more documents in the first place and also to larger documents because we needed to

comply with these regulations. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, we saw a spike in the number of documents, largely driven by regulations and by increased update cycles in regulation.

In 2010, the first iPad was released, digitalization came along and everybody said, ‘Great, now we can get rid of all these binders and handle everything in one neat tool that’s easy to use. We’re good.’ But we weren’t really good.

Unfortunately, we kept all the limitations of physical paper: pages, and linear content flow and didn’t reduce the number of documents, or the amount of information that we need to cope with; in fact, quite the opposite. And this is where Yonder came into play.

THE MOVE TO DIGITAL DOCUMENTATION

Yonder is making documentation smart again for end-users as well as documentation managers. We want to make the same leap that was taken from physical paper to the PDF, but this time from the PDF to smart documents and beyond PDF (figure 2).

Going beyond PDF

Make end-users more productive

• Find information faster

• Increase safety

• Easy to use solution

Free managers from repetitive tasks

• Easy document transfer

• Automated OEM revisions

• Active compliance monitoring

High quality PDFs still available

Figure 2

“In the late 1990s and early 2000s, we saw a spike in the number of documents, largely driven by regulations and by increased update cycles in regulation.”

On the end-user side, Yonder offers the capability to make users more productive by only showing them the information that they need which reduces information overload. We do this by just showing the documents or content within documents needed for their particular role and for the mission at hand. Safety is increased because all of the changes in a document need to go through an approval workflow so that end-users can be sure that the information they work with is updated, current and can be relied on. It’s an easy-to-use solution for end-users with no training needed; if an end-user can use an Apple device or any other smart device, they can use Yonder.

On the document management side, Yonder frees the manager from repetitive tasks. There is so much repetitive work in classic document

management tools that prevents people from doing their real work and using their subject matter expertise. Yonder has automated much of this repetitive work starting with the initial document transfer into Yonder. Whether it’s a Word document or an OEM manual, in some cases even with the airline’s customizations, it can be imported to Yonder at the click of a button. Then in Yonder the same structure is created within our XML format, adding advanced functionality.

It is also possible to manage OEM documents in Yonder whether that’s Airbus, Boeing, ATR, Embraer or Jekta, as long as it is structured content. Additionally, Yonder has automated the entire revision process in the sense that it has automated the comparison of new revisions from the manufacturer to what the airline has in its document. Yonder then prompts subject matter experts with ‘change requests’ only on the sections in the document that have changed. The subject matter experts don’t need to go through the entire revision anymore but can decide on what to do with a manufacturer change and, in the case customized documents, whether to revert to the manufacturer’s format or to keep the customization. In addition, there is always the audit trail enabling managers to go back in time and see who has changed what, and when did they change it.

There is also active compliance monitoring, on both the document and the end-user’s side. On a document level, a manager is prompted with a change request in their document whenever there is a change in a regulation that this document has been linked to. This works on the level of a single paragraph or an article in the regulation and the change request in the document shows a before-and-after comparison of the regulation that has changed. A compliance manager can then decide what the change in regulation actually means for the content. This is how Yonder ensures that the content is always compliant with regulation updates.

There is also active compliance monitoring on the end-user’s side; whenever something changes in a document, Yonder doesn’t just send out a new document to the end-users, leaving it to each end-user to figure out for themselves what has changed. Yonder prompts end-users with change notifications based on their particular role. End-users are only notified about

changes that affect them and that they need to know to be compliant before they fly. Then, the solution asks for ‘read’ or ‘read and acknowledge’ confirmations and managers can pull reports on the end-users’ compliance status. It is also possible to go back in time and show the compliance status at that time. This is particularly important in an event of an incident in order to determine if the involved flight crew at the time was compliant and if this incident was related to documentation.

Of course, we understand that taking that leap from the PDF world to the one of smart documents doesn’t happen in one day, just as it didn’t happen going from paper to PDF’s. Easing the transition, Yonder can still manage PDFs, incorporate them within the interface or export smart Yonder documents in highquality. In doing that, all of the automation is already built-in — the list of effective pages, the highlights of revisions as well as everything else that users need in a PDF.

FINDING INFORMATION

Let’s take a look at how end-users find information and work with the tool on the iPad as demonstrated in the figure 3, showing what the Yonder App looks like.

“…the solution asks for ‘read’ or ‘read and acknowledge’ confirmations and managers can pull reports on the end-users’ compliance status. It is also possible to go…”

Finding information

You can immediately see that it looks like an Apple App and that’s not by accident. Yonder follows Apple design guidelines closely so the whole user flow is as simple to use as any Apple product as illustrated in figure 4.1.

Figure 3

On the left side you can see the notifications center and a library with the document already selected. There is also a ‘favorites’ section that is completely end-user specific so that end-users can build their own library structure at a document or paragraph level. Meanwhile the documents in the second column are controlled by the company, meaning the end-users only see what they’re allowed to see. Here Yonder brings together different kinds of documents in one solution; manufacturers’ manuals, company documents, regulations or any other kind of relevant information. They can be opened in a preview on the right side, where users can scroll through to get information or simply look something up.

The document can be opened on the top right-hand side, while the main navigation bar is sitting on the left side as shown in the figure 4.2.

In this case, the document is showing different airports, that the user might want to fly to. With the table of content, documents can be navigated in the same manner as a PDF — go to the chosen airport, look for the noise abatement procedures and find the information that is needed. You can also see a personal highlight in green, in this case a note, which enables the user to refine the content with both highlights and notes, making the content personalized — a

“When a user logs in with a certain pre-defined role, they will only see pre-defined documents and content within these documents. They can then drill down further by applying additional filters. This could be the tail number being flown today or the destination.”

Figure 4.1

Figure 4.2

feature that’s also taken over between revisions.

But there is a much more powerful way of finding information: selecting the filters on the top right-hand corner as shown in the figure 4.3.

Figure 4.3

Instead of using ‘Search’ or the ‘Table of Contents’, the user can select filters, in this case, ‘Boston’ and then ’Ground Operations’. Now the entire document is reduced to just the information that the user needs to know for the mission and the role at hand; in this case, flying to Boston and knowing ground operations procedures.

That is a very simple example, but the same logic works on every level of the documentation landscape. When a user logs in with a certain pre-defined role, they will only see pre-defined documents and content within these documents. They can then drill down further by applying additional filters. This could be the tail number being flown today or the destination.

SUPPORTING GREAT GLOBAL COMPANIES

Figure 5

Yonder’s approach was met with lively interest in the aviation industry. Our business now has customers ranging from large international airline groups operating Boeing and Airbus aircraft to smaller carriers and helicopter operators and everything in between. Furthermore, Yonder is also active outside of the aviation industry, supporting the Swiss army, Skyguide and Swissgrid, proving it

holds the highest standard of reliability and security.

With this being said, Yonder is the most innovative documentation management solution on the market today, being functional for every part of the documentation that users need, from flight operations to HR — all in one integrated solution. Regardless of whether it’s compliance, OEM documents, or any kind of other information that a company wants to manage — everything can be done in Yonder.

GEORGE ALAFINOV

George and his family business have more than two decades of experience designing, building and certifying amphibian aircraft. In 2016, George was appointed Managing Director at Aéronautique Design & Service Bureau SA in Geneva before, in 2021, co-founding Jekta Aviation, also in Switzerland, and taking the role of Chief Executive Officer. In 2022, he was also appointed a Board Member of DELTA AEROSPACE SDN BHD in Kuala Lumpur.

MARC RAUCH

Graduating from ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences in 2004, Marc has worked in aviation. Starting at Zurich Airport, he rose to be head of the Airport Authority before, in 2016, joining Xovis as VP Commercial Airports and Managing Director Xovis USA. In 2015 Marc co-founded Yondor where he is currently CBO. Marc also was a Major (reserve) in the Swiss Army from 2008 until 2016.

JEKTA

Jekta has the mission to deliver sustainable, zero-emissions, amphibious airframes that optimize existing and new infrastructure to support safe, efficient, multiple operating parameters that add value to the development of of a flying boat with the PHA-ZE 100 amphibious, regional aircraft, designed to improve air travel opportunities for communities living close to water and connect destinations currently unable to accommodate aviation due to infrastructure and regulatory restrictions

YONDER

Yonder brings operations manuals and aircraft manufacturers’ handbooks together in one place. The solution’s smart features — including intuitive dashboards, role-specific updates and a responsive offline app — make life much easier for aircrews and ground staff alike. But Yonder also has many advantages for editors and authors: as well as making it simple to cross-reference content and avoid duplicates, it offers fully-integrated approval and publication processes.

The Blueprint of digital fueling at Lufthansa Group

Christian Mietz, Emissions Monitoring & Fuel-IT at Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Claudio Corfù, First Officer Boeing 777 with SWISS International Airlines share how Lufthansa Group has utilized a digital fueling process that can be adapted by airlines world-wide

This case study explores the digital fueling process implemented and executed by the Lufthansa Group and its affiliate airlines. Guided by a centralized fuel management department, the program incorporates essential operations such as fuel purchasing, hedging, emissions monitoring, and reporting. It also oversees IT solutions that facilitate daily operations. The study aims to shed light on the obstacles encountered in establishing a digital fueling process that has led to more efficient and faster turnaround times, enhancing the operational performance of the Lufthansa Group’s airlines. Emphasis will be placed on the solution’s network architecture, feedback from our pilots, and the latest efforts to future-proof the digital fueling process.

INTRODUCTION

The now well-established digital fueling process at Lufthansa Group began modestly, initially implemented at our hubs in Germany where flight volume was high and relationships with into-plane companies and fuel suppliers were strong. However, quite quickly we asked ourselves how we could scale this process to more airports and other group airlines.

Before considering the specifics of this expansion, we will introduce you to the Lufthansa Group (figure 1) and discuss the necessity for digitalized processes, as well as the initial IT system landscape that needed to be managed.

LUFTHANSA GROUP

14 AOC‘s / Operators

28 Aircraft Types

43 Fleets

765 Aircraft

3500 Flights / day *pre-COVID

Fuel Data needed for

Fuel Invoice reconciliation

and Payment

Legal Obligations

CAMO Continuing Airworthyness Management Organsiation

Emissions Monitoring

and Reporting

EU ETS (incl. Switzerland)

UK ETS

CORSIA

EU-Non-CO2 (2025)

Refuel EU (2024)

Customer / Passenger

The Lufthansa Group operates under 14 AOCs managing 28 aircraft types across 43 fleets with nearly 800 aircraft. Pre-COVID, these aircraft were responsible for 3,500 flights a day, each requiring fueling. To optimize these operations and maintain stability, a highly digitalized process is essential.

However, the significance of fueling extends beyond operational concerns to

Europe

Figure 1

the back office. Daily fuel data is critical for invoice reconciliation and automated payments to manage the sheer volume of flights. Moreover, digitalization is mandated by legal requirements, not only for CAMO purposes but also for the latest in environmental (emissions) monitoring. At the time of writing, four different emissions monitoring systems are applicable in Europe — EU ETS, UK ETS, Swiss ETS, and the global CORSIA system, with EU-non-CO2 monitoring and the forthcoming Refuel EU initiative focused on emissions and consumption monitoring. Additionally, there is a growing demand from customers for carbon footprint tracking to compensate for their flights. This multitude of reasons underscores why we collect comprehensive data.

LUFTHANSA GROUP SYSTEM LANDSCAPE

With many different airlines within the Lufthansa Group it is common to encounter a variety of dispatch and air-ground-communication systems in use (figure 2).

Systems like CAE, Jeppesen, and Lido/Flight are all capable of interfacing with our internal eFueling service. This compatibility extends to ACARS; we can transmit ACARS messages to eFueling through the various available systems and receive them likewise. The same holds for EFB (Electronic Flight Bag) and ELB (Electronic Log Book): within the Group, we utilize four different solutions, either iOS or Windows Surface-based, all of which are compatible with the eFueling solution that we use.

Over time, the IT landscape has become increasingly diverse. To ensure

EFB/ELB

4 (four) different solutions within our airline group

Figure 2

“To ensure standardized communication with these varied IT systems, we have adopted the ARINC M633 standards. This standard is supported by all the solutions we use, facilitating seamless connections…”

standardized communication with these varied IT systems, we have adopted the ARINC M633 standards. This standard is supported by all the solutions we use, facilitating seamless connections to back-office processes and ensuring smooth operations.

That covers the air-to-ground communication. But what about the ground-toground communication that communicates the relevant fueling information to the refueling companies? For that, we rely on a the AIDX data standard of IATA.

IATA — CONTRIBUTIONS AND LIMITS

For ground-to-ground communication with the refueling companies, there isn’t a standard like ARINCs M633 in place. This necessitated our search for the next best option, which we found in the IATA AIDX (Aviation Information Data Exchange) data schema. AIDX is an XML messaging standard designed for the exchange of flight data among airlines, airports, and any third parties involved in operational data consumption. The broad adoption of the AIDX industry standard has delivered significant benefits, including enhanced data quality and accuracy, increased standardization, and expedited system integration for airlines and their operational partners.

While IATA’s contribution through AIDX has been instrumental in establishing a standardized digital fueling process, it’s important to note that IATA’s role primarily involves advocating for airlines and setting global standards for safety, security, and operational efficiency. However, IATA does not provide IT solutions for establishing standardized connections between airlines and into-plane service providers. Therefore, finding or developing such IT solutions falls to the open market or must be addressed directly by the airlines themselves.

WHY USE A DATA HUB

The pivotal question that arises now is, who provides this IT solution that connects the airlines with the into-plane agent side? If each airline were to develop a separate interface for every airport or refueling company, a sprawling network of non-standardized communication interfaces would result.

What’s needed is a centralized entity that standardizes and manages communication between both sides. Imagine a data hub, similar to the platforms we use daily for emails or services like Uber, which enables communication with everyone through a standardized protocol.

Figure 3

Fortunately, the market provides a solution to this gap. The product, known as aFuel, developed by Information Design One, addresses all the major challenges previously highlighted. With a single airline-facing interface, aFuel enables standardized communication with multiple into-plane agents worldwide (figure 4).

Avionics Communication

Figure 4

Interfacing & Routing

Ground Communication

Although some internal integrations and data streamlining are necessary within an airline, the external communication is fully managed by aFuel. Airline-related systems requiring integration include Weight & Balance, ACARS, and the pilot’s EFB/ELB, among others. Additionally, downstream integrations to solutions like AVIATAR or to fuel management, emission monitoring, and data warehousing systems are feasible to enhance back-office and other operational processes (figure 5).

Lufthansa decided to leave the integration of airline data with the provider of the fuel-data-hub. Avionics

The eSig depends on an automated quantity check. The description follows in chapter 9.

Integrations are also needed on the side of into-plane-agents: these are usually done by the provider of the into-plane-dispatch-system in use. The central dispatch system integrates installations in fuel-trucks and, if in use, mobile devices, i.e. quantity meters, density meters, and more to provide the necessary information for each refueling operation.

For Lufthansa Group, opting to outsource the internal (airline-related) integration work to our trusted partner, Information Design One, was a strategic choice. Their extensive experience in airline data integration has allowed us to continuously improve our internal systems to adapt to changing internal and external regulations.

LUFTHANSA GROUP — aFuel PROCESS FLOW

Now, let’s have a look at how the digital fueling process works during daily operations (figure 6).

To start the process, the fuel truck driver needs to know how much fuel a flight requires. This information is transmitted electronically from the pilot, either through the ACARS module on board the aircraft, the EFB/ELB, or another mobile solution during the briefing. For wet-lease partners, we utilize a mobile solution provided by Information Design One, equipping our partners with the necessary application on short notice when full ACARS integration isn’t feasible.

“After fueling is completed, the truck driver issues an electronic fuel slip, which is sent via the aFuel interface to the aircraft’s ACARS module. This eliminates the need for a paper printout that the driver must hand to the pilot or handling agent.”

Figure 6

need for a paper printout that the driver must hand to the pilot or handling agent. On the Lufthansa Group side, this is the sole part of the process fully reliant on ACARS, as only the aircraft can automatically confirm the fuel receipt instantly. This real-time confirmation includes an internal quantity check, comparing the ordered

to refueling, the uplifted quantity, its density, and the fuel supplier. This information is sent in a separate message by the pilot, essential for emissions and ETS monitoring and reporting, as well as the payment process. Following this, the aircraft departs for its destination.

to the pilots. In addition to the No-Fuel Indicator, we have also implemented a feature that allows sending the block fuel order for the next flight during the current flight, further stabilizing the turnaround process.

To enhance the accuracy of the automated NFI, we also utilize progress

the remaining fuel quantity for back-office purposes. In an ideal case the shutdown quantity for flight A will be equal to the remaining quantity before refueling of flight B. As the aircraft is the only source of information for the onboard quantities, we collect that twice.

EXPERIENCE OF THE COCKPIT CREWS

Turning our attention to the cockpit crews’ perspective, we draw insights from Claudio Corfu, First Officer on a Boeing 777 at SWISS. His experiences highlight the tangible benefits of the digital fueling process.

A decade ago, I was tasked with a seemingly straightforward task: Find a way to cut our into-plane agent fees for flights to Nice. Zurich to Nice is a short flight, favored by pilots for its approaches. However, the variability in approach times, ranging from five to twenty minutes, significantly impacts fuel consumption. Given the typical flight duration of fifty minutes, pilots must decide post-landing whether the remaining fuel is sufficient for the return journey or if refueling is necessary. Conventionally, this decision was communicated to the fuel truck driver with a simple thumbs up or down, with a thumbs down resulting in an unnecessary and costly dispatch charged by the into-plane service provider. At Nice, such unnecessary dispatches could cost between 30 to 50 euros each, cumulating up to around 50,000 euros annually for SWISS.

To address this issue, a solution was devised that could be utilized at any phase of the flight — in-flight, before landing, or post-landing — and had to be straightforward to operate, considering the pilots’ workload during these times (figure 7).

eFueling = Touchless Cockpit-Ground-Communication during physical Refueling

sending of a fuel message (fuel data, flight time, crew figures a.s.o) not just to the flight planning and Weight & Balance system but also to the handling agent, although direct communication with the fuel truck was not yet possible.

Nevertheless, we were happy with the system but to fully understand the benefit of the system, we’ll take you a little bit deeper into how the fueling process practically works (figure 8).

eFueling = Contactless Cockpit-Ground-Communication during physical Refueling

The fuel truck driver arrives at the aircraft, connects the refueling hose and uses the panel on the aircraft’s underside to enter the fuel figures. But how does the truck driver know those figures? Either the pilot opens the windscreen and communicates with the truck driver, or the handling agent does that.

The introduction of a button that triggered a message indicating no fuel truck is required for the flight proved to be an effective solution, humorously dubbed the ‘50,000 Euro button.’ This innovative approach paved the way for updating SWISS’s ACARS system. The core idea behind the update was to enable the

The third possibility was specific to the Airbus A320 which has refuel preselect panel to preselect the fueling figures electronically directly out of the cockpit. This system also provided the capability to override and halt fueling directly from the cockpit, a critical feature in situations where fueling with passengers onboard is restricted.

This process worked very well for many years. It was simply a pragmatic approach. However, in November 2017, we were approached by Lufthansa and Information Design One and decided to adopt the aFuel process. This marked a significant leap forward, eliminating the need for verbal communication of fuel figures and introducing digital delivery of fuel slips to the cockpit. These advancements have streamlined the turnaround process, saving valuable time and resources.

Figure 7

Figure 8

The adoption of aFuel has also led to significant cost savings. For instance, it eliminated the need to purchase expensive refuel preselect panels for the new Airbus A320neo fleet, saving approximately €30,000 per aircraft. Moreover, the system facilitates pre-fueling operations, which are particularly beneficial for long-haul flights, and has dramatically reduced instances of over-fueling, even when aircraft changes occur, disrupting the planned fueling process.

BENEFITS FOR THE INTO-PLANE AGENTS

A comparative analysis between traditional and digital fueling processes, as facilitated by aFuel, was conducted by a major refueling company at a German airport. This study compared the same flight on two different days to assess the impact of digitalization on the fueling timeline (figure 9).

The findings revealed that the digital process is approximately ten minutes faster than its traditional counterpart. This timesaving, when applied across all refueling operations, accumulates to significant efficiencies at any airport, regardless of size.

LH4812 FRA-MAD on two different days with an uplift of abt. 9250 Liters

particularly in Southern Europe.

From a practical standpoint, using a qualified electronic signature in conjunction with aFuel is straightforward. It requires a digital certificate, typically issued by a trust center or a governmental body of an EU member state. This certificate is then securely stored in an external Hardware Security Module (HSM) for enhanced security. aFuel accesses this certificate to sign the fuel slip on the airline’s behalf with a qualified electronic signature. Thus, transitioning from a traditional to a qualified electronic signature is seamless with aFuel, facilitating a digital process that aligns with local and EU-wide customs regulations.

To further improve the process on the airline side, we have integrated the eSignature process with the previously mentioned automated quantity check. This check compares the expected uplift quantity according to the difference of fuel-order minus the shutdown-quantity of the previous flight with the actual uplift quantity on the fuel slip. If the difference falls within predetermined limits, which vary depending on the aircraft and order size, aFuel automatically acknowledges and electronically signs the fuel slip. If the discrepancy exceeds these limits, the into-plane agent is alerted, necessitating a printed fuel slip to be manually signed by the pilot (figure 10). eFueling = ContactlessCockpit-Ground-Communication during physicalRefueling

The acceleration of the fueling process allowed this specific refueling company to optimize its fleet management, resulting in a reduction of two vehicles from their operations. Such downsizing translates into lower staffing requirements, decreased maintenance costs, and reduced fuel consumption for the trucks themselves. Consequently, airlines benefit from reduced operational costs. Furthermore, the digital process enables the refueling company to smooth out operational peaks during busy hours, thanks to the ability to pre-fuel and receive preliminary fueling information, which aids in better planning of shifts and truck utilization.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

In collaboration with Information Design, Lufthansa Group is continually working to enhance aFuel and tailor it to meet both internal and external requirements. As mentioned earlier, one of the recent advancements we’ve focused on is the integration of qualified electronic signatures. Based on EU legislation, this type of electronic signature must be accepted by any organization within the EU, serving as the legally binding equivalent to a handwritten signature on paper. This development opens up new possibilities for us to extend the application of aFuel,

This enhancement not only streamlines the acknowledgment process but also combines the time-saving benefits of automated quantity checks with the legal assurance provided by the digital signatures, in accordance with EU legislation.

Figure 9

“This marked a significant leap forward, eliminating the need for verbal communication of fuel figures and introducing digital delivery of fuel slips to the cockpit. These advancements have streamlined the turnaround process, saving valuable time and resources.”

STATE OF THE aFuel NETWORK

To conclude this case study, let’s examine the current reach of the aFuel network. As of now, aFuel is operational at 61 airports across 24 countries worldwide, with a particular focus on Europe. The extensive integration of various into-plane dispatch solutions with aFuel significantly expands the potential number of airports that can benefit from this digital fueling process.

The fact that aFuel is an open solution available to all airlines underscores the Lufthansa Group’s pioneering role in digital fuel management. Finnair and Cathay Pacific have already joined the network, sharing our commitment to broadening the aFuel network’s global footprint. As airlines, we possess the collective leverage to encourage more into-plane agents to adopt this digital process and connect to the aFuel network on a global scale. Therefore, we, as the Lufthansa Group, urge airlines worldwide to collaborate with us in making the digital fueling process powered by aFuel a global standard (figure 11).

We hope this case study on the digital fueling process utilized by the Lufthansa Group has provided valuable insights into the potential benefits for your airline.

CHRISTIAN MIETZ

Christian Mietz brings over 30 years of experience to the civil aviation industry. He has dedicated more than two decades to the emissions and fuel management sectors of the Lufthansa Group. In his role, he pioneered the development of real-time, paperless data exchange systems for aircraft refueling operations. Moreover, he has been instrumental in implementing emissions monitoring systems such as the EU ETS, UK ETS, CORSIA, and the latest Refuel EU initiative, as well as integrating non-CO2 emissions into the EU ETS framework.

CLAUDIO CORFÙ

With 23 years of service in the airline industry, Claudio Corfù’s journey began as an Aircraft Engineer before progressing to a Reliability Engineer, culminating in the last 15 years as a pilot. Since 2008, he has flown for SWISS Airlines, where he also takes on the role of a Route Support Officer. In this capacity, he has been pivotal in creating an interface to streamline data transmission from the cockpit to ground operations.

LUFTHANSA GROUP

The Lufthansa Group is a global aviation group with more than 300 subsidiaries and equity investments. The group is composed of the segments Network Airlines, Cargo Airlines, Point-to-Point Airlines, Regional Airlines and Aviation Services. Over the whole group there are around 800 aircraft. The Lufthansa Group fleet comprises aircraft of almost every size and, throughout the fleet, state-of-the-art technology is used.

aFuel FROM INFORMATION DESIGN

aFuel is the system of choice when it comes to digitalizing the operational fueling process. The digital exchange platform connects airlines with a huge load of into-plane agents around the world. Every step, from the first fuel order up to the fuel slip is communicated digitally and in real-time. Due to aFuel’s swift implementation and worldwide coverage of airports, airlines can benefit right from the start.

Sky Airline finds a more efficient way to plan flights and save fuel costs

Yonathan Perelmuter, Chief Technical Pilot, Sky Airline discusses the use of predictive analytics to drive flight efficiencies and fuel savings in the climb-out phase, and future innovations

CASE STUDY: SKY AIRLINE

SKY AIRLINE

Sky Airline is a low-cost carrier based in Chile and Peru (figure 1).

Sky Airline at-a-glance

Best

Low-cost carrier airline established in Chile 20 years ago

28 new A320neo and A321neo One of the youngest fleet worldwide

2nd most relevant domestic and international airline

27% domestic market share in Chile and 20% in Peru.

Figure 1

We have been operating for twenty years, now with a fleet of Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft. It’s one of the youngest fleets in the world and one of the only fleets that are all neo generation aircraft. Sky Airline is ranked as the second domestic and international airline in Chile with 27 percent of the Chile domestic

Using flight data and machine learning, SITA OptiFlight ® builds tail-specific predictive performance models that are fed with operational information and advanced weather forecasts to provide pilots with inflight fuel-saving recommendations,for all phases of a flight.

Leading LCC in the Southern Cone with a strategic international growth plan for the coming years

market as well as 20 percent of the domestic market in Peru. Today, Sky Airline operates in Chile and Peru flying to most of South America as well as to Miami, Cancún and Punta Cana, with further destinations planned for the future (figure 2).

Sky Airline at-a-Glance

EXPERIENCE WITH SITA OPTIFLIGHT®

Sky Airline has been using OptiClimb® from SITA since the very beginning as launch customer for the Airbus fleet operating both ceo and neo generations. The solution generates a dedicated prediction and speed recommendation for the climb-out phase and our experience with it has been very positive. Using powerful data to optimize the climb-out phase, Sky Airline has achieved massive savings with minimal effort from flight crews.

Compared to other areas of the world, where Sky Airline operates, we serve airports at high altitudes, some with extreme heat and extreme humidity, some hidden between mountains. The scenario is changeable and dynamic; there are no two flights that are exactly the same. Because of that, any solution that we use also needs to be dynamic, tailored to every tail that we operate as well as every route and every flight. Using SITA OptiFlight®, and with it being a simple-to-use solution, there has been very positive feedback from pilots and today we have a steady application rate of over 85 percent rising in some months to 91-92 percent. This is very good, having the pilots believing in the value of the solution. To see how this has been achieved, we need to know how the solution has worked.

HOW OPTIFLIGHT® WORKS

When an airline works with OptiFlight®, the solution starts by building a tailored model for each tail in the airline (figure 3).

01. BUILDING THE MODELS

1 Year of Historical Flight Data

Machine Learning

Initial Performance and Flight Paths

02. UPDATING THE MODELS

Machine Learning

“…there are no two flights that are exactly the same. Because of that, any solution that we use also needs to be dynamic, tailored to every tail, that we operate as well as every route and every flight.”

Using historical DAR (Digital ACMS Recorder) data, the software creates Machine Learning (ML) models tailored for each route and each airplane. But there is more.

Some readers might be familiar with off-the-shelf solutions where you contract the service and do the onboarding, they deliver the solution to you and that’s all; after that, you’re on your own. But, with SITA OptiFlight®, the models are regularly updated because things change depending on a number of factors like the season or the degradation of the airplane; we know that airplanes do change over time so the model needs to be adjusted over time. Also, after Covid, the way we operate, the load factor, the flights, they all changed. I can’t say that the way we looked at OptiFlight® in 2018, when we started with 13 older and different aircraft, is the same way that we look at it today. To make that clearer, let’s look at how it works (figure 4).

The model takes into account a lot of sources with the most important one being the OFP (Operational Flight Plan) because we need to take into account the weight of the airplane, the airplane itself and the cost factor, then assigning it to the actual model and, obviously, we need to take into account weather. The solution has a dedicated 4-dimensional weather model which is updated and refreshed, and is more up-to-date than the one used in the flight planning solution. With all that done, the solution starts running thousands of ‘what if’ scenarios looking for the best outcome for the flight in question. Once that has been generated, it takes about three to five minutes from starting the flight plan to it being ready to send out in various ways.

It generates a PDF file that is either physically handed to the pilot or integrated to the EFF (Electronic Flight Folder) solution. It can work with SITA’s eWAS application as well as in the chart application. At Sky Airline, we have chosen to deliver the recommendation to the EFF and I will explain below how that works. But, before that, why are we doing this?

WHY SKY AIRLINE IS USING OPTIFLIGHT®

First, looking at the climb phase, at Sky Airline, we find that the climb phase presents a great opportunity for saving as it is a phase that consumes a significant amount of fuel during a very short period of time and the legacy cost-index model can today be tweaked and optimized using machine learning (figure 5).

OPPORTUNITY

Climb consumes an important amount of fuel and can be further optimized

CHALLENGE

Most complex phase with many parameters changing at the same time SOLUTION

Customized speed changes at different altitudes for each climb

“…we find that the climb phase a great opportunity for saving as it is a phase that consumes a significant amount of fuel during a very short period of time…”

Figure 5

There are challenges here because that phase of flight is very dynamic with changes in temperature, in wind, in weight, various changes while the aircraft

climbs as opposed to the cruise phase where conditions and the state of the aircraft are more stable with the main variable being changes in the wind. How that is targeted is with a customized climb profile dedicated for that specific flight, in that specific aircraft at a specific weight according to the flight.

The climb is divided into three phases. In the graph in figure 5, the green line depicts the OptiClimb® versus the ECON plan in gray. We can see that it is slightly curved in the early phases of the climb and then, after the first phase, which is slightly slower and slightly higher than the standard 250 flight level 100, we start a gradual acceleration through the cross-over altitude which gives the same trajectory until reaching cruising altitude. In most cases, we reach the cruising altitude slightly earlier than in an ECON climb which means that we transition to cruise parameters much faster.

INTEGRATING OPTIFLIGHT® INTO THE AIRLINE’S ECOSYSTEM

As a pilot myself, I know that pilots want something that is easy to use. They don’t want to have to use another application and they don’t want to have to call someone to request the numbers, or have to look for and fetch information from different places: they want it to be seamless. To make that work, we integrate SITA OptiFlight® into Sky Airline’s ecosystem (figure 6).

“We received the first neo aircraft in 2018 so have already built up more than five years of knowledge with a lot of flights that are ECON flights and a lot of flights that are OptiFlights®.”

We use Jeppesen’s flight planning solution which pushes to an SFTP (Secured File Transfer Protocol) endpoint, the OFP, which is then processed and, three to five minutes after that, it is sent back automatically to be integrated with Jeppesen’s Aviator from where the pilot receives it in the EFF as just an additional file with the climb speed. And what the pilot has to do is modify the speed limitation, the vertical revision, for the first phase. So, in this case for example, it’s 248 knots at flight level 248 for a high-altitude airport (Cusco). As pilots will know, we start with a steady climb and then transition to the acceleration phase. So, how does the pilot remember when he needs to change to the next speed? Because it is the same thing as flying in regular ECON conditions; you feel that the aircraft starts accelerating and we go to phase 2. From phase 2 we go through the cross-over altitude and it’s the same again. At the end of the day, it’s a small change in the operation but the outcome, the ROI (Return on Investment) is really high.

DEMONSTRATING AND MEASURING SAVINGS

To identify savings, we compare OptiFlight® flight data with ECON flight data. We received the first neo aircraft in 2018 so have already built up more than five years of knowledge with a lot of flights that are ECON flights and a lot of flights

Figure 6

Image: © Airbus

that are OptiFlights®. So, we have established a baseline to do the natural comparison between OptiFlights® and ECON flights as long as they have the same:

• Take-Off Weight (TOW) within less than 2000kg;

• Top Of Climb (TOC);

• Departure airport;

• Tail Number;

• Temperature (Delta ISA) within less than 5 degrees;

• Initial speed at 3000 ft AGL within less than 10 kt;

• Final speed when stabilized in cruise;

• Wind (using air distance to cancel the wind difference);

• Fuel Factor (by checking Fuel Flow vs Altitude);

• Climb mode (by checking N1 vs Altitude).

The most important factors are the weight, the Top of Climb, the SID (Standard Instrument Departure), the airport, the tail, plus the temperature is very important. That gives us the baseline to compare the speed and altitude, the fuel factor and the fuel flow consumption for that particular flight and the climb mode.

We use two tools to make the comparison. First, a very comfortable and reliable source that we have to do the comparison is the tool that SITA provides for that purpose (figure 7).

Validating the savings achieved – SITA tool

throughout the entire climb, fuel flow was lower with the OptiFlight®. This is nice but, it is calculated by the tool supplied by the vendor. So how can we create a vendor neutral check? At Sky Airline we have our own data analytics solution, Skywise from Airbus; so, we made the same comparison using Skywise, which allows us to leverage sensor data (figure 8).

Validating the savings thanks to Flight-to-Flight comparison tool provided by SITA – Example 1 Measuring

As you can see, there are two flights with which we can see the parameters and we can see a graph that depicts the actual climb. Let’s look at the bottom graph which is more interesting because the blue line represents fuel flow on an

Validating the savings achieved - SkyWise

Validating the savings via an internal analysis using Skywise – Example 1

We ran the exact same comparison and reached very similar numbers with the small differences resulting from recording aircraft health complications or from

the way the box records. But, overall, the two tools showed very similar savings which, for the climb in the figure, were around 65 kg of fuel saved and about 46 seconds more, using the SITA tool and, using Skywise, it was 71 kg and 38 seconds. While it is very granular and manual for us to do the actual comparison, we do, from time to time, audit and validate that the savings recorded, which we receive every month, are in line with the savings that we think we have achieved. In figures 9.1 and 9.2 is another example with a flight taken from our Peruvian AOC and one from our Chilean AOC.

Validating the savings achieved – SITA Tool

Validating the savings achieved - SkyWise

or not but overall, we can see that the data is steady and that it actually works. Of course, while we have all of these solutions, in flying we encounter a lot of things such as ATC restrictions, noise abatement procedures, weather… there are a lot of moving parts. The way that we measure OptiClimb® is with regard to applying the entire initiative throughout the entire climb-out phase; a lot of our pilots say that, if they were requested to maintain a specific speed for a certain amount of time, after that, should they go back to OptiClimb® or from then on just follow ECON. So, we ran an analysis on that which resulted in us providing guidance that it depended on what was the phase of flight, for how long they had to deviate from the current OptiClimb® profile. For a small deviation, it’s still more efficient to go back to the OptiClimb® model rather than reverting to ECON as opposed to when the pilot knows that it’s going to be a steady deviation, in which case just deviate. The same thing happens when there is a big difference between the fuel weight in the OFP and the uploaded fuel weight, then use ECON; if there is turbulence then we adjust the speed accordingly. Given all that, Sky Airline wouldn’t suggest that pilots do anything that goes against safety: it is very important to work with the pilots because if they are not on-side with any innovation like OptiClimb®, they won’t do it.

Moving to our overall numbers (figure 10), Sky Airline had 30 aircraft at the time of writing with more on order.

There are differences in savings and differences in when we can apply the initiative

The average application rate for OptiFlight® is 87 percent over both AOCs. There are seasonal variations but we monitor those and work with the pilots because we know that if we don’t find ways to motivate them, any new solution will not work: I make no apology for emphasising this because pilot cooperation is what will make an implementation like OptiFlight® work. Here’s how we did it at Sky Airline.

Training and motivation

We started by running technical webinars; the SITA team worked with us to create a webinar which we ran together. SITA explained to the pilots the technical side of OptiFlight® because pilots are technically minded and like to understand the technology in order to believe in the solution; if pilots don’t believe in the solution, they won’t use it. Then we held interactive briefing sessions with the pilots. A lot of pilots told us that they’d done the climb as prescribed and that, according to their own calculations, they did not think it was a good idea so we had to demonstrate why they were wrong. We did that by looking at the tool and analysing together the particular flight that the pilot had cited. Then, we encouraged pilot feedback which is very important because that enabled us to work with OptiFlight® to tweak the model. With this, pilots feel that they actually know that what they are seeing matched with what they have seen in the aircraft. There are times when the pilots are right and it is then that we go back to OptiFlight® to work with them on improving the model.

We also do live demonstrations at pilot meetings and include an item on efficiency; it’s all part of our recurrent training program. So, when pilots start using OptiClimb® on their first day on the line, as well as their training, we have a briefing package which includes an OptiFlight® that was used when we created that flight plan and the pilots follow it. Pilots start using OptiFlight® from their first day in the company, so it’s just like any other initiative.

FUTURE INNOVATION

Throughout this article, we have referred to climb, time and again but there are, of course, more things that we can optimize and the next thing for Sky Airline to optimize is cruise.

Sky Airline started with OptiFlight® when it was an independeeight company but nowadays, we leverage the fact that the business is now owned by SITA, leveraging the SITA communication and ACARS communication to support a better cruise solution. We are now working on an integration with OptiLevel which leverages the cruise speed and the cruise altitude. It is similar to other solutions on the market but we know that there is room for optimization; we already have the models so it is something that we will be able to develop and achieve together. We know that today the FMS (Flight Management System) has certain limitations and, at the end of the day, the A320 is a relatively old aircraft type so, with all of the machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies that are available today, we know that we can leverage a little bit more than the FMS.

What do we need to think about when we’re thinking about this solution? One of the things that we, at Sky Airline, believe is key is the fact that we use tailspecific performance models plus, in cruise, the most important external factor is wind, and the change in wind and weather. It has to be a simple solution; there

cannot be any human interaction involved because then it’s additional work for the dispatcher and for the pilot. As with the climb, we generate recommendations which can be transmitted through ACARS to connected airplanes but we always have the OFB and the FMS speeds to revert to. Also, if the pilot thinks that recommendation for that particular flight is wrong, they can always revert to ECON or to FMS. This integrates with various solutions, including with our previous and with our current EFF vendor. For me, every month I have to go to our management and show them that it actually works. The reporting suite is really good and the reports that are provided with the KPIs are really useful

This has been the experience of Sky Airline with OptiFlight® and I hope it will help others considering a similar development in their planning and fuel management program.

YONATHAN PERELMUTER

Yonathan Perelmuter is a Captain and Chief Technical Pilot for Sky Airline in Chile, with an aviation career spanning over 18 years. Today, he spearheads groundbreaking tech projects within the operations department, including Electronic Flight Bags (EFB), paperless solutions, and cutting-edge big data analysis. At the forefront of aviation innovation, Yonathan’s specialty lies in developing and implementing fuel efficiency programs using agile big data solutions. He firmly believes that harnessing vast data insights gathered from the diverse aircraft sources can revolutionize operational efficiency, resource optimization, and generate substantial cost savings.

SKY AIRLINE

Sky is a Chilean low-cost airline with more than 21 years of history and presence in eight countries in the Americas, operates domestically and internationally from its subsidiaries in Chile and Peru, carrying to millionmore than 50 million passengers. Currently, Sky is the only airline in the world with a 100% Airbus A320 and A321 NEO fleet. Thanks to the technology of its fleet, Sky has reduced from 2010 to date, 60% CO2 emissions per seat.

SITA FOR AIRCRAFT

SITA FOR AIRCRAFT represents the aircraft arm of SITA, with solutions for airlines, airports, aircraft and governments and delivering the promise of the connected aircraft to more than 400 airlines on 17,000 aircraft globally. One hundred percent owned by the air transport industry, SITA, with its service team of more than 2,000 people around the world, powers a digital shift to make air travel more connected, seamless, efficient, safe and sustainable

INTERACTIVE

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One communications platform for all purposes

Trent McCabe introduces a whole new way of managing airline critical communications

What we’re going to introduce in this article is a single communication platform that eliminates the need for emails, phone, fax, or voice dialog, plus connects your many systems (in-house and third party) to one dynamic software module. It understands operational challenges and changes, and automatically communicates this information, alerting only the people who need to know.

Smart COMM was initially proposed as a simple replacement for a legacy message queueing system. However, we quickly realized that this offered the opportunity to create a tool that could transform the industry. The vision was to develop a seamless communication platform that is capable of understanding the complex realities of everyday Airline operations. A system designed for collaboration, sharing, and the archiving of information between internal business units and third-party stakeholders to provide a single source of information necessary for airlines to succeed in today’s and tomorrow’s ever changing business environment. Here are just a few of the daily challenges that confront many Airlines:

• Dependence on manual communications and alerting of critical information (Mobile Radio, Email, Telephone, Voice Communications, etc.).

• Communication and alerting capabilities do not provide automatically targeted communications to the need-to-know players (role-based communication) for leadership oversight during routine or irregular operations.

• Organizational communication barriers hamper in-house communication and

BENEFITS OF USING Smart COMM

Smart4Aviation’s Smart COMM will support:

• Safety of Flight, Reduced Risk:

• Immediate and automatic alerting of hazards and events affecting the safety of flight.

• Reduction in Operational Costs:

• Immediate visibility to all flight operational and disruption information (alerting);

• Improved and rapid recovery from irregular operations;

• Provision of mass communications to be sent in the context of the flight, airport and aircraft, saving time and costs;

• Reduces the number of Type B messages, thereby saving costs.

alerting capabilities plus not all relevant players receive the same message.

• There is no way to automatically identify and filter inbound message content based on predefined rules and keywords to provide automatic role-based alerts to users. Alerts can be generated for any activity, such as NOTAMs, WXX, delays, diversions, TARMAC times, EZFW changes, Aircraft Swaps, line maintenance, fueling, and late boarding, departure control, etc.

• There is no automatic escalation chain to ensure compliance and provide acknowledgment of receipt of alerting and communications.

• There is often no capability to automatically archive corporate messages and communications or to make these historical communications searchable for future review and analysis.

• An absence of communication and alerting capabilities that improve communication in multiple languages through standard universal messaging and support multiple communication tools such as email, jabber, slack, spreadsheets/reports, etc.

• No process to automatically forward critical communications and alerts to those that need to know both internally and externally (third-party vendors).

• No capability to deliver critical on-route NOTAM, WXX, etc. automatically to the cockpit.

• No communications capabilities to communicate bi-directionally with flight deck and cabin crews.

• Improves Operational success and On-Time Performance:

• Reduce delay costs;

• Reduce fuel consumption.

• Improves organizational communications:

• The right information is immediately delivered to the right people at the right time;

• Reduced response and reactions times in crisis situations;

• Enhanced collaboration on operational problems;

• The information is available allowing for proactive decision-making;

• Enables the crew to communicate more effectively with passengers when information is readily available;

• Reduces the number of inbound calls;

• Reduces the number of outbound calls

• Allows for crews to communicate directly with the ground handlers.

• Improves Dispatch Reliability:

• Improves rapid recovery from irregular operations;

• Improves the airline’s overall communications, reduces response and reduces reaction times in crisis situations, and enables proactive decision making.

• Improves Flight Watch:

• Alerting of en-route conditions such as turbulence and altitude variance;

• Configurable alerting for the operational conditions of choice.

THE SOLUTION

Smart COMM (as well as all Smart4Aviation solutions) is a web-based system delivered on a secure AWS infrastructure managed by Smart4Aviation in a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. This means that airlines and aviation operators can access their data and applications from anywhere in the world, at any time, without having to worry about data security or system uptime. Smart4Aviation is an officially validated AWS Technology Partner.

The solution is a unique and simple to use Web and Mobile based communication and situational awareness solution which will be fully integrated with all of your current airline’s operational system(s) (figure 1).

Immediate automatic communication and alerting ensure efficient operations. Operations Control, Flight Dispatch, Weight and Balance, Fueling, Maintenance, Flight Operations, Inflight, Aircraft Routing, Crew Scheduling, Station Operations, Ramp, Pax Services, Catering, De-Icing, etc. can now collaborate on operational problems and situations using a common platform. Smart COMM can also be deployed to any of your third-party agencies to further support operational integrity (figure 2).

All users have a common view of the Airline’s operation but, as each defined role is specific, Smart COMM can be configured to share only information relevant to each user’s role, including multiple dynamic screen configurations to display tasks and information relevant to the role. Critical information is automatically alerted in real-time as changes occur. The communication between ground staff and aircraft via ACARS is available with a single mouse click. Smart COMM treats each aircraft as just another user of the system, handling all complex ACARS coded message formatting, behind the scenes. Furthermore, the System can respond to ACARS transaction requests issued by aircraft, as well as automatically alerting pilots to any relevant operational information, ensuring regulatory compliance for flight watch (figure 3).

“All users have a common view of the Airline’s operation but, as each defined role is specific, Smart COMM can be configured to share only information relevant to each user’s role, including multiple dynamic screen configurations to display tasks and information relevant to the role.”

Figure 1

Figure 2

Alerting

One of the unique features of Smart COMM is its automatic alerting functionality. Hundreds of types of alerts have been created to warn of any operational conditions, providing users with a comprehensive view of the operation in real-time (figure 4).

Understanding confusing airline acronyms, Smart COMM translates them to plain language. An airline can precisely customize the types of alerts and conditions for each user group. Smart COMM ensures that no user is bothered by irrelevant information regardless of an individual’s role. Key examples of events for ground, Airports, and station personnel are flight cancellations, aircraft changes, and delays. For operational personnel such as Flight dispatchers and controllers, alerts such as NOTAMs, Weather, enroute turbulence, and altitude variance can be configured. Pilots can be automatically informed via ACARS about changing weather, aerodrome conditions, or ATC restrictions.

“Smart COMM’s powerful and intuitive assignment

builder and administrative tools were designed for the simple management and maintenance of the system’s functions, access rights, and alert routing capabilities.”

Smart COMM’s powerful and intuitive assignment

builder and administrative tools were designed for the simple management and maintenance of the system’s functions, access rights, and alert routing capabilities. The solution is fully configurable by users, allowing your airline to operate the way you want it to.

Smart COMM Mobile

Smart COMM Mobile’s capabilities allow users to effectively manage their operation remotely from a mobile device, and, as inflight connectivity advances, Smart COMM will be just as powerful in the air as it is on the ground, essentially eliminating the need for back up operational facilities. Selected features of Smart COMM are available as a dedicated iOS iPad application or Progressive Web Application (PWA) that can be accessed from any mobile device (figure 5).

Instant Chat functionality in Smart COMM

Looking at the market requirements for more instant messaging capabilities, Smart4Aviation decided to leverage the existing chat providers and provide advanced integration capabilities with Smart COMM, allowing airlines to use the system’s functionality in the dedicated chat concept. This integration is currently under development with a target availability in Q3 2024. The solution can be implemented as a complete solution managed by Smart4Aviation using a third-party chat solution hosted by Smart4Aviation or we can integrate with the airline’s existing communication tool (such as MS Teams, RocketChat, Slack, etc.).

Figure 3

Figure 5

Functionality

• Chat/Channel auto-creation in Smart COMM in the context of an ‘object’ (flight, assignment, airport, aircraft, etc.) based on predefined roles and individuals working on the specific ‘object’;

• Automatic alerts trigger based on configurable rules;

• Seamless integration between third-party chat provider and Smart COMM by embedding features;

• Leverage other potential third-party functionality such as video calls, file sharing, dedicated mobile application and PWA, and other integration capabilities with different applications. Due to third party costs and custom integration and infrastructure costs, chat functionality should be treated as an optional feature of Smart COMM.

Smart COMM feedback from users

Here is a feedback comment from an airline that already uses Smart COMM. Michael Riegler, Manager Business Innovation & Support, QANTAS Flight

At QANTAS we have deployed Smart COMM as an additional module that sits side by side with and is integrated into the Flight Planning System. Smart COMM capabilities have been seamlessly integrated into the Flight Planning user interfaces providing essential information to assist our dispatchers maintain operational performance. For our flight watch personnel, during bad weather scenarios, targeted alerts identify impacted flights in order of importance so that the right information reaches the right aircraft in a timely manner. The consolidated information presented in the flight entity view provides operational resources with a single source of truth. Integration of this view across multiple user interfaces allows all teams to see the same information regardless of the role being performed; Duty Manager, Dispatcher or Flight Watch all reference a single source of truth.

KEY FEATURES OF SMART COMM

Communication and alerting

• Real-time on-screen messaging and alerting;

• Peer to Peer communication and enhanced messaging functionality with pre-defined templates;

• Two-way ACARS messaging with automatic ACARS uplink and downlink transactions;

• Chat/conversation functionality dedicated to a specific alert allowing all stakeholders to be in the loop;

• WX/NOTAM change alerts sent via ACARS;

• ACARS initialization;

• Fuzzy logic message addressing;

• Flight following and monitoring — displaying flights, rotations, maintenance events and other relevant information on a dynamic Gantt display;

• Archiving of all important communication events and operational messages;

• Real-time, rule-based alerting (weather, NOTAM, ACARS, load, fuel, operational events, Curfew, PAX, MELs and much more);

• Customizable alerting rules and workloads;

• High precision NOTAM/Weather alerting due to 4-dimensional flight route-based information;

• Our dynamic Milestones interface allows an airline to feed Smart COMM with information about the progress of pre-flight processes and display them on the Gantt chart and alert if any thresholds have been exceeded;

• Built-in eSTOC module allows maintenance planners to assign, manage and track tasks for other maintenance groups;

• Allows for precise configuration of who receives which alerts and when;

• Alerts grouping by pre-defining alerting groups displayed in the summary view;

• Ability to send alerts to external systems maintained by the client.

Additional desks

• Display Flight Monitor which includes basic flight planning information for each flight;

• Curfew view shows all possible curfew violations;

• Desk Weather displays weather for all of the flights within the user’s assignment;

• Desk NOTAMs displays NOTAMs for airports/FIRs for flights within the user’s assignment;

• IRROPS presents all irregular operations for all flights within claimed assignments;

• TARMAC presents all flights with long taxi times;

• Times and Fuel view.

Available views

• Interactive Gantt bar display (default) — A full-featured Gantt chart provides a complete ‘day of’ schedule and fleet management solution displaying: real-time flight, aircraft, and schedule operations information (flight status, operational times, briefing package, MELs, messages, alerts, etc.) through an interactive user interface. All operations-relevant flight details are available with just one click.

• Interactive Map view (Smart VIEW+) — which is a complete flight tracking system, where all aeronautical, geographical and weather data layers as well as organization tools are built into the product, making it an ideal solution for both flight dispatch and management users (figure 6.1 and 6.2).

Flight following

Flight following and monitoring displays flights, rotations, maintenance events, and other relevant information on a dynamic Gantt display. There are maintenance events monitoring plus real-time flight monitoring of turbulence, winds, and altitude variance. The built-in eSTOC module allows maintenance planners to assign, manage and track tasks for other maintenance groups and there is RAIM (Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring) check functionality. Generic milestones interface allows the airline to feed COMM with information about the progress of the flight preparation process and display it on a Gantt diagram, with alert if thresholds have been

exceeded. There is also Fuel monitoring, tight integration with other Smart4Aviation products and a flight context menu that gives access to many flight-related functionalities.

ON-TIME PERFORMANCE

Next to safety, on-time performance is a critical indicator of every airline’s success. These indicators directly affect your customers. Many airlines continue to struggle to improve their OTP, or maintain it to a higher level. No doubt, there are many factors influencing the OTP, and not all of them are under your airline’s control. As operational costs continue to escalate the addition of Smart COMM will assist in dramatically reducing your operational response time realized in improved OTP and schedule integrity. Smart COMM will provide a positive return on your airline’s bottom line.

“Smart COMM will assist in dramatically reducing your operational response time realized in improved OTP and schedule integrity. Smart COMM will provide a positive return on your airline’s bottom line.”

Figure 6.2

Figure 6.1

A flight departure delay of 1 minute can cost upwards of $100 USD.

Example calculations:

— Airline with 200 aircraft,

— that has an average of 1000 flights per day,

— that has an average delay of three minutes for each flight

— will have an estimated cost for such delays around 9 000 000 USD on a monthly basis.

If that delay was a result of poor communication, it’s time for Smart COMM. It was also determined that flights that were subject to ATC issues, and operationally controllable delays, could have been mitigated or optimized much sooner if the airlines had more advanced, real-time notification and alerting, which can be provided by Smart COMM solution. Smart COMM will have a direct impact on Customers, Employees, and most importantly your airline’s operational safety.

Smart COMM FOR USERS

Flight Dispatch and Flight Operations

Flight Dispatch and Flight Ops are essential for any successful flight operation. Whether regulated or not, all aircraft movements start and end with a plan. Smart COMM is the one solution capable of bringing together all the necessary components required to create and safely execute the plan. Developed by highly experienced flight dispatchers, Smart COMM is the most comprehensive Flight Dispatch communication and ALERTING tool available. Through integration into each of your airline’s operational systems, Smart COMM provides the Flight Dispatcher and Flight Ops personnel with access to all operational information that is necessary to safely plan, support and manage a flight mission. Flight movement information is presented on a dynamic Gantt view packed with event-driven information.

The addition of Smart VIEW+ offers visualized flight tracking and the same features and functionality on an interactive Map. The communication and ALERTING functionally of the solution ensures that no messages or operational issues are missed. Integration with your operational management and flight planning system allows Smart COMM to confirm aircraft, airport and route suitability. We know your route of flight from your departure to your arrival presenting detailed route-specific weather and NOTAM information with immediate updates for planning and briefing. MEL/CDL data is captured from your MTC system and warns of possible restrictions and performance limitations. Aircraft changes, delays, route restriction/ re-routes, ZFW, weather, NOTAM changes, MEL/CDL and more are all immediately presented as an Alert to the dispatch person responsible for the flight/s.

Smart COMM’s unique intelligence searches for key indicators from all inbound message flows and selects only operationally relevant information for Alerting. The technology was designed to prevent the dispatcher from being overwhelmed with unnecessary information to allow for focused operational control.

The role-based communication platform provides simple P2P communication with any defined role including the aircraft (ACARS, SATCOM). Predefined message templates can be created to simplify communication. These messages can be sent automatically in the background. Flight tracking is provided directly from the aircraft and accessible in our DFM (Display Flight Monitor); this feature allows dispatch to monitor flight progress in the event of the unavailability of their flight tracking provider. Smart COMM also ALERTS position information such as ETOPs entry/exit, route and altitude deviation, time over WP, FOB, turbulence reports, ETAs etc. further enhancing support to Flight Operations.

Smart4Aviation also offers optional modules which can be selected to further enhance Smart COMM making it the best operational and communication tool available for your Flight Dispatch and Flight Ops office.

Airport Operations

An airline’s success is based on its ability to safely and efficiently move aircraft with people and cargo. These aircraft move from airport to airport and are serviced by skilled personnel with a common goal of loading and unloading aircraft in a safe and timely manner. Airports operations consist of oversight and execution, and overcoming daily events that challenge a successful operation. Weather, U/S equipment, flight delays, airport restrictions, and late arriving passengers and cargo, are just a few of the issues that routinely challenge ground operations. Airport personnel rely solely on communication to coordinate and accomplish their objectives which, at times, can be a daunting task. Smart COMM is a communication and ALERTING solution providing industry-leading communication perfectly suited for these critical roles. Once deployed, our role-based application will eliminate your communication challenges. Airport personnel tasked with operational oversight can easily communicate changes and resolutions to Station and Ramp staff tasked with handling the ground operation. Information such as OCC changes, flight arrival and departure information, gate info, and more, can be automatically sent to targeted personnel with our event-based ALERTING intelligence reducing or eliminating telephone or radio usage.

Airport Load agents will now receive critical weight and balance information via alerts from Smart COMMs integration with your FLIGHT PLANNING, MTC, PAX, BAGGAGE, CARGO and OPS systems. Loading

instructions can be sent directly to the ramp personnel and changes easily communicated: also, final load reconciliation can be validated and forwarded to the flight crew and/or cabin crews. Smart COMM will even send the fuel order directly to the fueling agent. All event-driving ALERTS and messages are easily deliverable on personal devices and role-based filtering ensures information is forwarded only to the need-to-know person. Smart COMM is the must-have communication solution for a successful on-time operation and invaluable in communicating instantly during irregular operations to get back on schedule as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Maintenance

The communication and ALERTING capabilities of Smart COMM will immediately streamline the management of critical aircraft maintenance and serviceability information shared throughout all operational departments. The integration of Smart COMM with your Maintenance system provides a clear picture of unexpected snags and planned Aircraft MTC requirements. Smart COMM connects your entire maintenance community to a single communication platform. Maintenance events can be simultaneously ALERTED to multiple inter-departmental personnel for planning and tracking of line maintenance work necessary for schedule integrity. P2P messaging provides an immediate connection to maintenance support personnel at any station for task assignment and provides you with alerts when tasks are completed. Plus, you can converse directly with the aircraft flight crews for ground and inflight support, access company and aircraft manufacturer manuals, monitor the schedule, and be alerted to delays and aircraft routing changes impacting the maintenance schedule.

Passenger agents

Your Passenger service agents are the face of the airline and manage the smooth transition of your customers from the terminal to the aircraft. Smart COMM can play a key role in supporting passenger check-in and assistance, baggage acceptance, and final passenger boarding functions. Immediate access to support personnel and operational systems allows the agent to remain informed of flight status and the ALERTING functionality will notify them of potential disruptions to the operation or any change of status. Passenger service concerns, issues, and requests can be sent to multiple recipients simultaneously for action and support. No need to call the gate agent advising them of late check-in as Smart COMM is integrated with your check-in system and will automatically send a late check-in alert to the gate agent. Late baggage acceptance is sent to the bag room as well as a small load. Smart COMM can also provide access to necessary company operations and policy manuals for easy access.

“P2P messaging provides an immediate connection to maintenance support personnel at any station for task assignment and provides you with alerts when tasks are completed.”

Third party handlers

The dependence on efficient and timely third-party handling greatly impacts the success of an airline’s operation. In all cases, these essential partners represent part or all of your airline at stations not serviced by your own employees. Everything from ground handling, passenger services, weight and balance, cargo services, fueling, MTC, de-icing, medical assistance, airline security and more are often provided by these third-party agencies. Smart4Aviation’s technology allows you to easily create specific third-party roles within Smart COMM to allow operational data exchange and P2P communication with these partners.

Flight Deck and Cabin

Safety of flight is the most foremost consideration of all airlines, and communication is paramount in both the flight deck and passenger cabin. From safety to comfort, each crew member is responsible for communicating key information between themselves, the airline’s operations and, most importantly, the passengers. The Smart MOBILE extension of Smart COMM is the industry’s proven solution to completely satisfy this complex requirement. Smart MOBILE can also be used as a repository for all required company manuals, bulletins, and notifications. Pilots and cabin crew can be connected to every operational support department enabling a seamless communication flow for flight and job task-relevant information. Pilots are enabled to send and receive messages directly to and from flight dispatch, crew scheduling, OCC, MTC control, airport operations, and more for support and operational changes. Messages can be conversational based or received in the form of an alert for immediate notification of operational concerns and changes such as weather, NOTAM, ATC, revised fuel, delays, late boarding, MTC issues, pairing changes, etc. Available on your connected mobile device Smart MOBILE messaging and alerting are accessible whether you are at your home, hotel, airport terminal, or on the aircraft. Cabin crews become fully engaged with Smart COMMs communication and alerting features which allow users to proactively manage changes to their flight. Pre-, post-, and inflight communication allows an immediate connection to your support network.

Receive alerts for late boarding, special passengers, catering, cabin snags or changes to the user’s work schedule, and communicate freely with all support members and crew members through the P2P network. Short of a meal or need more water? Smart COMM’s role-based communication allows you to send a direct message to operations and catering with the request.

Operation Control Center

The success of the OCC is driven by information. All information has to be relevant, accurate, up to date, and delivered immediately without exception. As the OCC is the heart of your airline, it is primarily responsible for the daily management of the corporate schedule. In simple terms, ‘Keeping the airline on time’. This includes operational oversight for just about all branches of the airline that can be impacted from any changes to the schedule. When change is necessary, whether it is a simple delay, a complex routing, an equipment change, or cancellations, the role of the OCC is to develop and execute a plan to protect the operation and return to the normal planned schedule as soon as possible.

Smart COMM is integrated with your operational scheduling tool and all additional applications used in your OCC. It presents the schedule in real-time and is configurable for advanced planning and operational recovery. Smart COMM analyzes information from each information stream and identifies potential operational irregularities based on specified rules. These irregularities are processed and forwarded as ALERTS, which are events of change that could potentially impact the operation. ALERTS are filtered and are only forwarded to the key individuals responsible for action at the event. This results in faster decision-making and prevents users from being distracted by non-essential information. Events can include, flight status, airport, passenger, load and cargo operations, crew scheduling, MTC, weather, NOTAMS, ATC restrictions and more (figure 7).

Flight movement information is presented in a dynamic Gantt view which is packed with eventdriven information. You can access individual flight information from the flight bar via an intuitive drop-down menu, or from our entity view panel. Both allow for the editing of specific fields for any changes or remarks. The Gantt also includes color-coded Smart Milestones, a unique visual aid that displays the current status of any pre-departure processes or tasks which

must be completed prior to departure. Milestones are configurable and can include virtually any process or task such as, catering, fueling, de-icing, cleaning or boarding status. The airline decides which processes or tasks should be displayed as Milestones. Process/task status is shown in a traffic light red/yellow/green format so current status can be seen visually without even selecting a flight. Milestones work directly with ALERTS so any behind schedule or uncompleted tasks will also be sent to users in an ALERT for proactive follow-up (figure 8).

Messages are P2P (person to person) between individuals, groups or even objects such as ACARS. Smart COMM is role-based so message forwarding and ALERTS are based on roles, not names. If you are assigned to a flight, we know your role and any messages relevant to your role will be automatically sent to you.

Once deployed, OCC managers will experience a higher degree of awareness. Multiple phone calls to the Station or other operational departments for flight status updates are no longer needed as Smart Milestones provide a clear picture of the flight progress. Individual or group messages can be sent to minimize phone conversations. Immediate access to the entire flight information package is available with one click. Smart COMM can be deployed to your third-party handlers to improve communication. All flight-related events are archived. Messaging capability allows for immediate background forwarding of specific messaging to predefined recipients.

Smart COMM is also accessible remotely. In the event of a major facility disruption, the system can be accessed anywhere with available internet allowing you to continue to run your operation from an alternate location or even from home.

Operations management

Smart COMM can be further enhanced with the addition of the Smart OPERATIONS MANAGER module, which enhances its ability to keep you aware of the situation and alert you to potential constraints on the operation. When the airline Operations Center needs to recover from any constraints or irregular operations, the Gantt is now fully Interactive for operational requirements. It displays the schedule for the user selected time period both before and after current time. It can be configured by aircraft registration, aircraft type including seat configuration and as sorted by user preference, departure time, fleet type, etc. You can now filter the Gantt in multiple ways including by departure and/or destination, priority flights, aircraft types, aircraft capabilities etc. to only show you the information you need. The point, click and hovering actions give immediate access to any flight or aircraft

Figure 8

Figure 7

information required to assist decision making. You can even select multiple flights and comment, delay, or cancel them simultaneously to reduce recovery time. When you are ready to make any aircraft change, Smart Implications functionality will list any possible concerns which could include aircraft capability to operate selected flight(s), passenger and crew connections, financial implications including passenger compensation, curfews and virtually any information you would like to assist in decision making. If you have multiple recovery options, our Simulation mode allows you to create, name, edit and save recovery scenarios. The Implications of each scenario can also then be compared and saved recovery options can be shared with other departments such as maintenance, crew scheduling, local station management, etc. They

Smart OPERATIONS MANAGER simplifies the management of all aircraft movements and is the single source of all flight and operational information.

TRENT McCABE

During his 40 years in the aviation industry Trent’s roles have included Managing Ground Operations, Manager International Cargo, Ops Control Manager and he is also a Licensed Flight Dispatcher and a Commercial Pilot. Trent currently works with Smart4Aviation as a Sales and Business SME.

SMART4AVIATION (S4A)

Smart4Aviation is a company founded to provide web based and mobile products and services to optimize, simplify and improve airline operations. The company is committed to the delivery of high quality, cost-effective, state-of-the-art solutions and development processes. With headquarters located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, S4A’s development offices are located in Gdansk and Krakow, Poland. They are also represented in North America.

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Automation for your Operations!

Figure 9

Introducing and integrating a new performance solution at Air Nostrum

Juan Diaz, Head of Flight Support at Air Nostrum shares the implementation of a new aircraft performance solution: implementation, and data integration with EFB and ETL systems

With a case study, it’s always useful to know something of the environment in which the case was carried through; so, before diving into the study itself, I’ll share with readers some information about Air Nostrum, Flygprestanda and Guru2.

AIR NOSTRUM

A European regional airline, Air Nostrum is headquartered in Valencia and has about 1,500 employees. It mainly flies out of Madrid for Iberia feeder flights and some international short-hauls. We operate around 200 flights a day to seven European and North African countries with 130 short to medium direct routes serving about 55 airports (figure 1).

The first aircraft in the fleet were Fokker 50s then, in 1998, came our first jet, the CRJ 100. Since then, we have incorporated ATRs, Dash-8, CRJ200, CRJ900 and CRJ1000 types. Today, the fleet includes 37 active aircraft: six ATR 72-600, 27 CRJ1000 and four CRJ200 (figure 2).

Now, something about the solution whose implementation in Air Nostrum is the subject of this case study.

FLYGPRESTANDA

“In 2022, the airline carried some 4.5 million passengers, also reaching the milestones of two million flights and 100 million passengers since starting operations in 1994.”

Although specializing in aircraft performance solutions since 1969, Flygprestanda also offers applications for mass & balance plus have their own airport obstacle database. They are ISO 9001 Certified and EASA/FAA compliant, and have been pioneers in EFB development with airline and business jet operator customers worldwide. There is Flygprestanda performance software for over 300 different aircraft types and they have plenty of expertise in integrations with EFB and EFF systems.

In 2023 Air Nostrum is operating 130 direct flight routes to 55 airports

Figure 1

Figure 1 shows the route structure as it is today: flying within Spain as well as to countries like France, Germany and Italy plus a few African destinations.

6 ATR 72-600. 72 seats 27 CRJ 1000. 100 seats 4 CRJ 200. 50 seats

Figure 2

One important product is the Flygprestanda AODB, the the Dynamic Airport Database (DAD) which contains more than 10,000 airports with obstacles and NOTAMS. The DAD also includes Engine Out procedures. New airports are added to the database on request and Engine Out procedures can be customized. The solution can work with most platforms and solutions and can work with either AFM (Aircraft Flight Manual) data or the actual software performance tools that we have or that the manufacturer might be using. All of that information is included with Guru2 which is the EFB performance tool for airlines and operators.

Guru2 — Performance / Mass & Balance Calculator

The DAD is included with Guru2 which is the EFB performance tool for airlines and operators, and implementations can be made based on either AFM (Aircraft Flight Manual) or SCAP.

Available as an iPad or Windows based system (figure 3), Guru2 also offers an offline Web interface which replicates what pilots would be seeing, if needed. In one tool, it includes the performance and the mass & balance capabilities. It’s also modular so that, if one or the other is not needed, it can just be switched off. The solution works in portrait or landscape orientation plus it has a night mode which some pilots prefer to use all of the time. As already mentioned, it has 300 aircraft types in the system which covers almost all types in regular service. Even though the CRJ1000 is not used by many operators, Flygprestanda dealt with that. Guru2 integrates the Dynamic Airport Database and helps to calculate things a lot better, making flights easier, safer and more economical while maximizing TOM (Take-Off Mass) and minimizing engine wear. There is also an MEL/CDL (Minimum Equipment List/Configuration Deviation List) capability and, something that we have found interesting, the in-flight landing capabilities where the GRF (Global Reporting Format — ICAO) and LDTA (Landing Distance at Time of Arrival) checks that are required nowadays have been integrated into the system. The solution is fully customizable and can manage app-to-app integrations with API (Application Programming Interface) support, of which more later.

AIR NOSTRUM EFB HISTORY

We’ve had EFBs in Air Nostrum for a while now, having initially got the green light approval for EFB from management in 2018. In January 2019, we commenced operational trials which led to final approval by the authorities in August of that year. That approval was only for the CRJ200 and CRJ1000 which remained the case at the time of writing although we hoped to get that approved for the ATR fleet in just a few months. The approval covered charting, documentation, flight folder, OFP (Operational Flight Plan), journey log and mass & balance. We didn’t initially apply for performance at the time and then, when Covid struck, everything was put on hold.

It was 2021 before Air Nostrum started to feel comfortable to expand the EFB set-up into more capabilities with the first thing we went for being Take-Off and Landing (TO/LD) performance software; something that had not been in our initial trials. During 2021, we reviewed what was available, what would work for Air Nostrum and, towards the end of 2022, made a final decision to adopt Flygprestanda’s Guru2. By May 2023 we got the Guru2 set up and got the authority’s approval extended to include TO/LD performance. So now, our EFB includes most of the things that can be included. We are actively looking at the technical log with the intention getting that included within a year.

USING GURU2 BY FLYGPRESTANDA AT AIR NOSTRUM

At Air Nostrum, one thing that we liked about Guru2 was the easy-to-use design, some pilots actually at first thought it too simple, but, in truth, there are only so many ways to present this sort of information, let alone making it visually appealing. The solution is intuitive and that simplicity makes things easy to look at plus, after a while, pilots just got used to it, probably the best endorsement (figure 4).

• Easy to use design (too simple for some tastes) and intuitive interface: Input Runway Datacard Approval

• M Multiple c configuration o options, e easy t to s select

• C Calculation o of o optimum f flap c configuration

• A Accurate r results f for a all r runway o options

• P Prevention o of i invalid c configuration

• A Assumed Temp / Flex TO supported

• L LDTA c calculations

• O Offline c capability

• M Mixed f fleet i in A App

• A Access t to f full a airport database

• Known supplier

Figure 4

Guru 2 - Performance/M&B Calculator

Figure 3

There were other things that we liked. Multiple configurations options are there and are easy to select; it’s not something that others don’t have, but it is something we like. Selecting flap configurations from multiple options is relatively easy and intuitive for pilots. We are able to do multiple calculations on the solution, something that pilots like as they prefer to get everything calculated beforehand and this allows them to do optimum calculations. Going from tables to point calculations provides more accurate results and this is, perhaps unsurprisingly, a benefit for Air Nostrum and our pilots. Another benefit was the prevention of invalid configurations with warnings. It’s hard to mess things up and get things wrong but, if that does happen, there are different red and orange warnings to warn the pilot that something is wrong.

It’s easy, at the press of a button, for pilots to switch between flex and normal take-off calculations, and then to set things up and work with that. At the time when we were looking at Guru, the LDTA requirement was coming in and Guru2 is able to make those calculations for us. As pilots reading this might know, when you had to go through the tables and the charts and, if you didn’t have a calculator to hand, it was complicated to get the right numbers and know if you could actually land. So, this make that process much easier for us.

Air Nostrum flies to some strange places where connectivity can be a problem — we only have 3G on the iPads — so that sometimes not being able to work online was a worry. Guru2 works well offline which was something that we

our aircraft in the same application and to not have to worry about cross-training

Aircraft Performance) or whatever is available depending on the manufacturers. For instance, the CRJ200 is a very old aircraft type so the system had to run off AFMs whereas the CRJ1000 is much newer with SCAPs all through and, with the ATR, we have a bit of a mix. Guru2 is able to cater for all of that.

used to it and it’s now not that bad.

Lessons learned

We also realized that pilots were typing numbers from one app to another which introduced the possibility of human error. It was because they were using one application for the weight & balance and then manually transferring those take-off and landing data over to Guru2 to do the calculations and get speed values. There was the potential for a manual input error which would mess up all

which introduced the possibility of human error. It was because they were using one application for the weight & balance and then manually transferring those take-off and landing data over to Guru2 to do the calculations…”

A couple of examples (figure 5 and figure 6).

TOR, TOD, ASD required not intuitive METAR wind input, no wind components relative to runway

Figure 5

At the beginning we detected things such as that, although there was data regarding the distance available and the distance required, that was just numbers. In this example, pilots will see, say, that there is 2528m available runway length and that the flight requires 2277m to take off; but what does that really mean? If you have to start thinking about this, is 300m a lot of leeway or not: what is going on? With wind data, again, you’re inputting data as it’s coming from the METAR but then the pilots had to do a mental calculation because they would actually be flying with headwinds and crosswinds, not only the wind values from METAR. In short, it wasn’t easy to look at those and to see what was going on. We asked Flygprestanda for some kind of a solution and what they came up with can be seen in figure 6.

“TOGGLE RUNWAY” icon opens side bar with:

• Graphical representation of runway with runway required and remaining & color code

• Wind components Figure 6

It was a little button at the bottom of the screen with which they could toggle the runway and a little diagram shows up showing the wind component so that the pilots could detect if there was a tailwind, how much crosswind they have and, especially, how much runway will be used and how much is available. Also, if necessary, it gives the pilots a warning status. For example, in figure 5 it’s set up to be 15 percent so, if it goes yellow, it means that they’ve only got 15 percent of the runway left and if it goes into red, then they’re really in trouble. Green or blue means that they’re OK.

It allows them to quickly pick-up on the information as compared to before.

Another thing that we detected was the manual input errors, also how slow some things were (figure 7). We needed something to speed things up.

•

Slower during routine

• Automatic access to Guru2

• Automatic transferof:

• Flight details

• TO Weight value

We asked Flygprestanda and AVIOBOOK to see what they could come up with. They came up with APIs with which they were able to integrate the systems. So now, Air Nostrum pilots get data from AVIOBOOK, into Guru2 which is then used to do the calculations that they need.

How it used to work was that, going from AVIOBOOK, the pilot has to open up Guru, type in the data — flights, destinations, etc. — and that was something that you’d have to do every single flight. The process was quite slow: input the weather data, type the numbers, get the values, check that everything is in the green, choose the airport, do the same thing for landing. Then, if you made a mistake, go back and fix it, look at the runways, choose the option and then approve the flight. The whole process took about two minutes.

After the integrations, what AVIOBOOK and Flygprestanda came up with was a little button which the pilot could click, the system asks whether they want to transfer the data across, which they do. That creates the flight, having already saved time, and has transferred the numbers across. So, the pilot only has to click on the weather, check the weight & balance for take-off and landing and the data is approved in about a minute. We’ve already saved one minute simply by

Figure 7

integrating the two systems. While that doesn’t, at first, seem much, that’s one minute for every flight of six or seven flight a day which, after a year will amount to a notable time-saving just from being able to transfer the data across perfectly without any issues so that the pilots don’t get it wrong.

SUMMING UP

We’re able to use one application for all of our fleets at Air Nostrum; all of the airports we use are in the database so pilots don’t have to worry about where they’re going — they’ll have the data and be able to safely calculate the landing

and take-off. When compared with tables, Guru2 gives pilots a lot more accuracy resulting in more precise results, allowing the easy use of different configurations and actual weather values, and we feel that it also improves their situational awareness as to what’s going on, what they’re doing, and they are able to quickly calculate going from one section to another or even running one-offs.

Now that our pilots have been using Guru2 for about a year, most of them would not wish to go back to the tables.

“…all of the airports we use are in the database so pilots don’t have to worry about where they’re going – they’ll have the data and be able to safely calculate the landing and take-off.”

Juan Manuel joined AirNostrum as a performance engineer in flight Ops after completing a Bachelor in Aeronautic Engineering at the University of Glasgow. At Air Nostrum, Juan has worked in helping the airline manage around changes in European legislation and the transition from mainly paper-based to an EFB enabled airline. He became the Head of Flight Support when responsibilities for aircraft and flight operations documents were added to his remit

Air Nostrum operates mainly short and medium-range flight operations, as well as providing support for Iberia under the brand name of Iberia Regional Air Nostrum, feeding Iberia’s long and medium-haul network. Operating approximately 200 daily flights to and from some 50 airports located in seven European and North African countries and carrying 5.2 million passengers annually, Air Nostrum is considered the leading regional aviation company in Spain and one of the most important European regional aviation airlines.

FLYGPRESTANDA

Flygprestanda Performance Engineering provides EFB solutions for Aircraft Performance and Mass & Balance, alongside an AODB (Airport Obstacle DataBase). The Airport Performance and M&B Calculator, Guru2, includes coverage for over 300 aircraft types, is ideal for mixed fleets. It seamlessly integrates with major EFB platforms and Flight planning systems. The Flygprestanda AODB, the Dynamic Airport Database (DAD), encompasses more than 10,000 airports worldwide with NOTAMs and engine out procedures and is also available as a standalone product, compatible with OEM Aircraft performance software. The DAD is included with Guru2 which is the EFB performance tool for airlines and operators, and implementations can be made based on either AFM (Aircraft Flight Manual) or SCAP.

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Viva Aerobus gets to grips with digitally powered fuel efficiency

Nancy Madrigal, Head of Fuel Conservation at VIVA AEROBUS shares taking the first steps to using AI and big data to power fuel efficiency

CASE STUDY: VIVA AEROBUS

As the leading Ultra Low-Cost Carrier (ULCC) in the Americas, Viva Aerobus has been operating for more than 16 years. At the time of writing, there were 76 aircraft in the fleet (figure 1) with a mix of Airbus A320 and A321 ceo and neo types. It’s a young fleet with an average age of 5.2 years.

Viva today – The leading ULCC in America!

+16 years in business and US

$1.5B in Rev. in 2022

76-aircraft fleet with 5.2 average age(1)

6 Operating bases(2)

33.4% domestic and 4.2% international market share(3)

144 routes – 107 domestic & 37 international; 51 destinations (1)

Strongly positioned with “busto-air” multi-modal travel through Grupo IAMSA, Viva’s majority shareholder

Value Airline of the Year 2021 by Air Transport Low-Cost Airline of the Year 2022 by CAPA

The airline has six operating bases and has 33 percent of the Mexican domestic market serving 51 destinations with 107 domestic routes as well as more than 4 percent of the international market from Mexico with 37 routes. In 2021, we were recognized as Airline of the Year by Air Transport and, in 2022, recognized as Low-Cost Airline of the Year by CAPA center of Aviation.

Looking to the future of Viva Aerobus, the key word is growth. We currently have 90 Airbus A321neo aircraft on order which is linked to our objective of being an airline with one of the youngest fleets in the Americas; plus keeping an updated, high-tech fleet will support reduced fuel consumption as well as lower CO2 emissions. And that leads us nicely into the fuel efficiency project that is the main subject of this article.

“We didn’t know how we could improve our fuel efficiency projects if we couldn’t measure their impact.”

Figure 1

VIVA AEROBUS FUEL EFFICIENCY PROJECT

In 2013 and with only 19 aircraft at that time, we laid the first foundations for a fuel conservation culture in the company. There were some project initiatives here and there but it was in 2021, with 50 active aircraft in the fleet, that a dedicated fuel efficiency department was created with the sole objective of promoting fuel conservation initiatives to ensure that Viva Aerobus would become a greener airline (figure 2).

Our Fuel Efficiency Project Objective:

maximize fuel efficiency through projects that impact the main areas of our operation.

How to know we are doing things right?

How to improve our projects if we can’t measure their impact?

Dispatch Flight Ground

We also established the Fuel Committee whose goal is to maximize fuel efficiency through various projects and initiatives that impact the main areas of our operation including Dispatch, Flight and Gound Operations. Through this committee’s work, we began to formalize projects, allocate them to owners and create a plan to follow-up until they materialized. However, we were still facing the problem of how to know when we were doing things right. We didn’t know how we could improve our fuel efficiency projects if we couldn’t measure their impact. It was at that point when we began to look for a tool that would not only help us to measure our fuel consumption but also the savings generated by each initiative that we were implementing.

Our search led us to consider several of the different fuel management software solutions available in the market and we eventually decided on the one that was the best fit for Viva Aerobus which was SkyBreathe® from OpenAirlines (figure 3).

Fuel Management Software – Why SkyBreathe?

• Simpler User interface in comparison to competitors, even for smaller analyst teams.

• Capable of running complex fuel consumption efficiency analysis.

• Included mobile app for pilots to visualize their green SOPs performance.

• Integration of multiple data sources, such as FDR, AOC, OFP, and load sheets.

Compared to other products on offer, the SkyBreathe® user interface is straightforward and user-friendly which is super useful, especially for small teams like the one at Viva Aerobus. However, although it is straightforward to use, that does not mean that SkyBreathe® is limited in its capabilities: in fact, the solution is capable of running complex fuel consumption and efficiency analyses. During the selection period, we were able to talk with colleagues from other airlines who were using SkyBreathe® and, through that, we saw the numbers of analyses that could be performed with the solution. It really is amazing just how much it can do. Another very important point with using SkyBreathe® was that within the same suite there is the option to adopt a mobile app for pilots called SkyBreathe® MyFuelCoach through which they can view their own performance with green SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) in the flights they have carried out. And, of course, it’s very useful to have the information taken directly from the aircraft from different sources such as FDR (Flight Deck Resources), AOC (Airline Operations Center), OFP (Operational Flight Plan / Original Flight Plan), load sheets, etc.

“…the meetings were structured as weekly follow-ups so that we could ensure the effective deployment of the system in Viva Aerobus but they also helped us to build the user requirement document…”

Figure 2

Figure 3

SKYBREATHE® IMPLEMENTATION

The process of deploying SkyBreathe® at Viva Aerobus started in 2022 with the integration of historical data (figure 4).

SkyBreathe Implementation

SkyBreathe was deployed at Viva Aerobus over the course of 8 months.

In the process, some data integration difficulties occurred, however the OpenAirlines team was always open to walk the Viva IT team through resolution. at Historical data integration Onbording meetings User Requirement Document System Go-live

Figure 4

During this process, we also ran onboarding meetings with the OpenAirlines team; the meetings were structured as weekly follow-ups so that we could ensure the effective deployment of the system in Viva Aerobus but they also

helped us to build the user requirement document which includes all of the specifications for the customization of SkyBreathe® to ensure that it would work for our operations. Once all of that had been implemented, we had the go-live which included a week’s visit from the OpenAirlines team to provide SkyBreathe® training to different areas in the company; the field team, some pilots, some people from Dispatch as well as from Safety and the IT team.

The entire process, from selection to the go-live lasted close to eight months. There were some data integration difficulties; however, the OpenAirlines team was always available to walk our IT team through the resolution, so it never became a big issue.

“…the next step was to involve the pilots. Their involvement is through the SkyBreathe® MyFuelCoach application as mentioned above and the first step was to launch a call to all pilots to participate in a trial period…”

“It’s better to take time for the configuration to be ready before releasing it to the pilots than to release it quickly but with an incomplete configuration which can cause an immediate loss of credibility for the system on the part of the pilots.”

Post-trial changes

Some of the changes that we applied after completing the trial period included adjusting target altitudes at all airports for reduced acceleration altitude best practice. We also customized the tolerance for each best practice and, lastly, in light of the feedback we received, we only selected five best practices out of ten that had been deployed during the trial period. The five selected were:

• Reduced Acceleration Altitude — RAAL;

INVOLVING THE PILOTS

With all of that now competed, the next step was to involve the pilots. Their involvement is through the SkyBreathe® MyFuelCoach application as mentioned above and the first step was to launch a call to all pilots to participate in a trial period. In that trial period, SkyBreathe® MyFuelCoach had a preliminary configuration designed with the help of delegates chosen by the chief pilot. 55 pilots were involved to explore the app before it was rolled out to the whole pilot community. The original idea was to select around ten to 15 pilots designated by the chief pilot; however, there was a better-than-expected response to the invitation for volunteers.

The first plan was for the trial period to be one month but that was extended to three months following feedback received from industry colleagues who had already implemented SkyBreathe® MyFuelCoach in their airlines. During those three months, through the fuel committee, we sent constant communications to encourage the pilots to use the app and send their feedback about the configuration with the objective of having the app as ready as possible before the deployment to all the pilots in Viva Aerobus.

For any readers who might be considering this tool or one like it, I would say to pay close attention to the trial period and ask for as much pilot feedback as possible. It’s better to take time for the configuration to be ready before releasing it to the pilots than to release it quickly but with an incomplete configuration which can cause an immediate loss of credibility for the system on the part of the pilots.

• Reduced Flaps at Landing — RFLA;

• Reverse Thrust — REVT;

• Engine Out Taxi In — EOTI;

• Auxiliary Power Unit In — APUI.

Finally, we completed the official deployment of SkyBreathe® MyFuelCoach, including the five best practices listed above, to all pilots on June 6 2023 (figure 5.1).Involving pilots – MyFuelCoach

Figure 5.1

The official launch communication was by an email in which we gave a brief introduction to the application and presented different tools to make the process easier. These tools were a document with precise instructions for pilots on how to download, log-in and explore the app (figure 5.2).

Involving pilots – MyFuelCoach

MyFuelCoach download, login and usage instructions Document.

Figure 5.2

Another document had a clear description of each of the five best practices that were deployed in SkyBreathe® MyFuelCoach (figure 5.3).

“For Viva Aerobus, it is super important to be very transparent with the pilots and these documents also contributed to generating trust in the system.”

MyFuelCoach Best Practices configuration description Document.

Figure 5.3

For Viva Aerobus, it is super important to be very transparent with the pilots and these documents also contributed to generating trust in the system. We also

Initial and recurring e-learning training with the main green SOP's applicable to our operation.

Figure 5.4

Even though we had done all the above, after two months only 30 percent of pilots had used SkyBreathe® MyFuelCoach. In light of this, we had to ask

ourselves what else was left to do? This little video below illustrates what was our idea.

This video is from our campaign carried out in August 2023 where we visited all our operating bases and had one-on-one conversations with the pilots with the objective of promoting the use of SkyBreathe® MyFuelCoach. During these visits, we realized that many of the pilots had not even downloaded the application; so, we helped them to do so with a step-by-step approach. There were also a lot of pilots who had downloaded SkyBreathe® MyFuelCoach but couldn’t log in due to a user registration issue. We contacted the IT support team, explained what was happening and they were able to deal with that issue right away. We were also able to clarify any doubts about the application, mainly removing the concern that some pilots felt about the app being part of a witch-hunt or a punitive system. We clarified that we can constantly see and monitor pilots’ fuel consumption and savings but that will not have any negative consequences for them. During the visits we were also able to collect more feedback about the configuration of the best practices which helped with fine-tuning that part of the project. Finally, although it was not an initial objective of the tour, it turned out to be a valuable opportunity to discuss ideas and project suggestions with pilots, not only about the applications but also about more general fuel conservation topics. It turned out to be a useful experience for both the pilots and for the fuel team and we learned a lot from them… listen to your pilots; it’s very important. We finished that tour highly motivated and full of new ideas for the fuel committee that we are sure will help us to increase fuel efficiency.

“…something interesting and useful that OpenAirlines does is to arrange open days. In March 2023, we were able to attend the event in Toulouse which turned out to be an incredible experience…”

As a further step, we carried out an online survey for those pilots who were not available when we visited their bases, in order for them not to be left out of the activity. Among the questions, we asked them to rate the SkyBreathe® MyFuelCoach application which averaged 4.2 out of five and to rate our communication strategy which averaged 4.3 out of five. Figure 6 shows some of the feedback that we received.

Very good app to be aware of areas of opportunity to save more fuel.

MyFuelCoach

I like it and it’s extremely important, but I think we can add more best practices.

Good, simple and clear.

Excellent app to know the individual savings record.

I like it although there are some things that I have not been able to use since I do not know how to use it.

Excellent, very complete and with good feedback.

It’s not always possible to land with reduced flaps.

Figure 6

In general, the comments were very positive about SkyBreathe® MyFuelCoach and there were some ideas on points where we could improve. A few pilots remained resistant to the new app and we’ll continue working with them in the interest of fuel conservation. Also, in case we still don’t have enough feedback, something interesting and useful that OpenAirlines does is to arrange open days.

In March 2023, we were able to attend the event in Toulouse which turned out to be an incredible experience, sharing lessons learned with colleagues from around the world from different airlines with diverse organizational structures, different fleets but all with the objective to continually be greener. OpenAirlines has truly created a community of airlines and we are very pleased to be part of that.

WHAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED

After all of this effort, what have we achieved? Figure 7 is a graph that shows the impact of the Engine Out Taxi In initiative/practice before and after the deployment of SkyBreathe® MyFuelCoach and the pilot communication campaign that accompanied it.

Improvement

From 8.1kg CO2 savings per flight to 16.2kg CO2 savings Figure

As you can see, there is still some way to go but we believe that we are on the right path because we are increasing the application of this and the other best practices.

NEXT STEPS FOR VIVA AEROBUS?

We are continuing to promote among pilots not only the use of SkyBreathe®

MyFuelCoach but also a general culture about fuel efficiency and we are researching for the creation of an internal rewards program for pilots based on their rate of applying best practices. Now we analyze data collected by SkyBreathe® for continuous improvement in the different fuel efficiency initiatives that we have.

I hope that this brief introduction of Viva Aerobus’ continuing journey to fuel efficiency, what we have achieved and how we plan to carry on improving in the future will be useful for readers who are considering such a step for their own airline.

NANCY MADRIGAL

An aeronautical engineer with four years of experience in Safety and Security, Nancy is the leading member for audits, personnel training, and risk assessment activities. She joined Viva Aerobus in February 2022 as part of the Flight Operations Engineering team contributing to aircraft performance analysis and weight and balance processes. Nancy has been leading different projects for fuel consumption optimization since March 2023, involving different areas including ground operations, dispatch and pilots.

VIVA AEROBUS

Viva Aerobus is the leading ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) in Mexico and Latin America, with the lowest cost per seat of any publicly-traded airline in the Americas, implementing a successful business model focused on operational simplicity and creation of value, which enables it to maximize profitability at a route level and drive demand by tapping into its ultra-low-cost structure. Since its inception in 2006, Viva Aerobus has expanded its fleet from two to 81 aircraft as of Q4 2023.

OPEN AIRLINES

Drawing on eight years of R&D, SkyBreathe® came into the market in 2013 as an innovative eco-flying solution, based on Cloud, Artificial Intelligence, and Big Data, to save fuel and reduce airlines’ carbon footprint by up to 5%. SkyBreathe® is a 360° eco-flying platform designed to connect all stakeholders — Chief Pilots, Fuel Managers, Dispatchers, Pilots, and Performance Engineers, to name a few. The platform provides all the tools they need to build and grow a successful fuel efficiency program without juggling many different tools.

Operations Software Directory

Key ‘at-a-glance’ information from the world’s leading Operations software providers.

IT is a powerful force but, to leverage its greatest value, it must be harnessed and directed. It must also be able to handle huge and growing data streams that record every aspect in the ways that aircraft fly, how they are readied and the conditions they will meet. This challenge has attracted the best brains and most innovative enterprises to create IT solutions for one of the most demanding working environments, Aircraft Operations. Inevitably, there are many such developers and vendors offering solutions ranging from single function ‘Specialist Point Solutions’ to complete ‘End-to-End’ solutions covering the whole process.

Only readers will know the specific requirements of their businesses but we have assembled a directory of the best Operations software providers and listed them alphabetically to make it easier for you to undertake a brief-ish (there are 51 providers and the number continues to grow) survey of the market, preliminary to starting on any specification and selection process. Or you might simply read it to keep up to date with what is available today.

ACFT PERFO

W: www.acftperfo.com

T: +32 476 76 76 08

E: info@acftperfo.com

Location: Waterloo, Belgium

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• WORLD AIRPORT DATABASE

Compatible for ALL TO Performance soft

• All A/C Types TO. & LAND.

• Performance soft

• EFB SOFTWARE SUITE

• Operational support in Performance and Operations

• EFLS Electronic loading system ground operations

ACFTPERFO has acquired a solid experience in the development of electronic flight bags tools and related support since start up in 1999. Our products are in continuous evolution in order to adapt to new regulations or practices in this rapidly changing business. We use our expertise to help customers and our commitment is to find the best solution for any challenge an airline could face. Safety is a major concern of our ACFTPERFO team and our airport database has been developed to be the best on the market. It is maintained up to date using extremely efficient tools which guarantee the highest level of accuracy and follow up.

Air Support A/S

W: www.ppsflightplanning.com

W: flightwatch.ppsflightplanning.com

T: +45 7533 8889

E: sales@airsupport.dk

Location: Billund, Denmark

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• PPS Flight Planning, CrewBriefing

• Ops Control | Flight Watch

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Flight Planning

• Flight tracking

• Crew briefing facilities

AIR SUPPORT specializes in the provision of the desktop and cloud-based flight planning software PPS Flight Planning System (PPS) and the integrated CrewBriefing web application and flight tracking. The PPS Flight Planning System (PPS) is one of the leading flight planning systems in the world due to the optimization of operating costs along with its incredible and flexible usability. PPS generates a complete briefing package available directly on CrewBriefing or its accompanying app, providing the crew with online access to company messages, flight log, trip-tailored surface weather data, NOTAMs, wind- and significant weather charts and the high-quality vertical cross-sectional chart.

The combined synergy of PPS will ensure that your airline will have the most modern and powerful flight planning system available.

PPS offers:

• World’s most flexible airline flight planning system

• Automated filing, calculation and dispatch of all selected flights

• Automated data import from scheduling/crew/maintenance systems

• Automated data export to EFB solutions

• Automated consideration of company policies and dispatch parameters

• Automated high quality flight briefing packages

• Low acquisition and running costs offering highest costbenefit ratio in the market

• Premium flight tracking via OpsControl

Automated Systems In Aircraft Performance (ASAP)

W: www.asapinc.net

T: +1 724-742-4777

E: info@asapinc.net

Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• ASAP STAR System

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Runway Analysis

• Weight and Balance

• OEI Turn Procedures

• Drift Down

• Flt Planning/Sched/Res Integration

Automated Systems in Aircraft Performance, Inc. has been supplying runway analysis since 1995.

The STAR EFB and Flight Operations software would be a great asset by not only improving safety but also saving money through fuel planning and reduced wear on engines through the use of reduced power takeoffs.

The STAR product integrates runway analysis, weight & balance, drift down, flight planning, scheduling, reservations into one easy to use application. Along with these features the product also displays Weather, NOTAMs, and One Engine Inoperative escape routes.

To help manage users, devices, and system updates, the Mission Control Module eases the burden for the IT department. You may distribute the application through the Apple Business Manager for more control over software implementation and updates.

Additionally, the application has the ability to run with and without an internet connection, allowing pilots and dispatchers to always have the ability to calculate performance data. ASAP provides services for all aircraft variations, configurations, and engine types. All in one application.

Avionics Support Group

W: www.asginc.net

T: +1 305-378-9786

E: info@asginc.net

Location: Florida, USA

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Cockpit EFB Mounts, EFB Power Supplies.

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• STC Certification

• EFB Mounts

• EFB Power Supplies

• Avionic Products

• Avionics Engineerings

Avionics Support Group, Inc. (ASG) is a premier Avionics Systems Integration & FAA-PMA approved Aerospace Manufacturing and Avionics Engineering company. ASG’s competitive advantage can provide your company with a Single Source Solution for avionics engineering, manufacturing, aircraft installation technical support, Supplemental Type Certificate (STC’s), video surveillance, SATCOM, and much more. We lead the aerospace industry with our US patented Constant Friction Mount (cfMount™), EFB Integrated Power Supplies, and EFB Cradles.  Contact ASG today to learn how ASG’s Single Source Solution can work for your company!

ASQS (Advanced Safety and Quality Solutions)

W: www.asqs.net

T: +43 1 306 1234

E: sales@asqs.net

Locations: ASQS GmbH, Vienna, Austria, ASQS Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• IQSMS (Integrated Quality and Safety Management System)

• Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) Service

• The IQSMS Suite consists of a total of 10 modules, varying according to the operator. (Airlines, Business Jets, Helicopter, Airports, MROs...)

KEY BUSINESS SOFTWARE AREAS

• Quality Management Module

• Reporting Module

• Risk Management Module

• Document Distribution Module

• Emergency Response Planning Module

ASQS (Advanced Safety and Quality Solutions) is a global supplier of highly innovative QMS and SMS software for the aviation industry, supporting more than 200 large and small operators, including airlines, business jet and helicopter operators, groundhandling agents/FBOs, airports and maintenance organizations, in creating a safe and productive work environment.

The company specializes in intuitive, integrated, web-based solutions with exceptional customer support. ASQS’s core product IQSMS allows clients to manage operational data 24/7 online and offline with a single integrated tool which significantly simplifies daily tasks. The easy handling of the software creates a positive reporting culture, enables comprehensive quality management and proactive risk management to maximize productivity, reduce operating costs, and optimize internal and external working procedures. IQSMS automates laborious processes like the submission of ECCAIRS or IDX compliant incident reports which, combined with a consolidated, up-to-date regulations database, ensures legal compliance with national and international requirements and standards.

AVIOBOOK

W: www.aviobook.aero

T: +32 11 72 10 30

E: info@avio.com

Location: Belgium (Hasselt), France (Toulouse), Singapore & Piscattaway

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• AvioBook, AvioBook Connect, AvioBook Cabin, AvioBook Tech, AvioBook Base, AvioBook Systems, AvioBook Data, AvioBook Integrations, AvioBook SaaS

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• EFB software solutions

• EFB hardware solutions

• Suite of ground & flight application

• Navigation DataBase, weather data, ADS-B

AvioBook, a Thales Group company, supports airlines as a partner in their digital strategy. AvioBook offers a comprehensive and highly integrated suite of ground and flight applications, systems and solutions that connect all stakeholders and key assets in a safe and secure manner. This, combined with expertise in data and cyber security, gives airlines an edge through greater efficiency and ultimately sustainable, profitable growth.

Proven solutions from AvioBook make communication between the cockpit, cabin and back office faster and more efficient than even before.

With the integrated and secure AvioBook application suite, pilots, cabin crew, dispatchers and ground staff can be securely connected to each other, making communication more efficient and driving value throughout the operation.

AVTECH Sweden

W: www.avtech.aero

T: +46 8 544 104 80

E: sales@avtech.aero

Location: Sweden

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Aventus NowCastTM - The FMS Optimization

• Aventus SIGMA - Severe Weather service

• Aventus AIR — Weather Uplink

• Consulting Service — ACARS and connection

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Wind Uplink FMS Optimization

• Reduce Fuel burn and CO2 footprint

• Severe Weather application

AVTECH, specializing in tailored information to the cockpit, offers easy, automated and inexpensive improvements in FMS optimization.

The Aventus NowCast™ weather service give pilots access to weather data of the highest available quality, and when the data is fed into the aircraft Flight Management Computer, the actual aircraft trajectory can be optimized, reduce the fuel burn and CO2 footprint.

Working directly with Met Office (UK), the Aventus SIGMA service supply the cockpit crew with severe weather information, based on Actual route and time in the FMS. The service brings adequate, timely and correct information on turbulence, icing and other weather phenomena that affect safety and comfort. The SIGMA service sets a new standard on how, when and where your crew gets their information.

The Boeing Company

W: www.boeing.com/supportandservices

T: +1 206-655-2121

E: BoeingSupportandServices@Boeing.com

Location: 65 Offices Worldwide

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Business Consulting

• EFB Document Browser

• Electronic Flight Folder

• Fuel Dashboard

• Onboard Performance Tool

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• EFB applications

• Fuel Efficiency Solutions

• Consulting

Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. Boeing Support and Services combines airplane design and manufacturing expertise with unique access to fleet-wide operational data to offer optimization solutions.

With these offerings, Boeing addresses the evolving need for integration and optimization of data and information across the aviation ecosystem to empower smart decision-making. The portfolio includes services and solutions for flight operations, maintenance & engineering and procurement organizations to optimize the operational efficiency of airplanes and operations.

Boeing has more than 250 customers for its optimization solutions. The portfolio draws on solutions from a family of Boeing companies: AerData, Inventory Locator Services and Jeppesen, serving operators of Boeing and non-Boeing airplanes.

Bytron Aviation Systems

W: www.bytron.aero

T: 01652 688 626

E: info@bytron.aero

Location: Kirmington, United Kingdom

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• skybook aviation cloud

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Dispatch Portal

• EFB Application

• Airfield Watch

• Flight Following

• Crew Briefing

Bytron Aviation Systems has over 35 years of industry experience and understanding driving the development of solutions engineered to make a big impact in the aviation industry.

The business specializes in the design and building of fully fledged, reliable, integrated systems that ensure critical data is consistently distributed to the right place, at the right time on the right device, increasing awareness and accountability, improving information capture, reducing costs and streamlining workflows. Above all, improving communication between flight ops and flight deck.

skybook is Bytron’s core aviation solution that offers unrivalled flexibility, automation and integration, using the best and most reliable data sources to deliver all vital information across flight ops and dispatch and the flight deck. skybook enables operators and aircrews to work smarter, not harder and the firm’s proven award-winning solutions cover Flight Dispatch, Crew Briefing, Airfield Watch, Flight Tracking plus there is a class leading Electronic Flight Bag application. Contact Bytron today to arrange your introduction and trial.

CAE

W: www.cae.com

T: +1 (514) 341-6780

E: CivilFlightServicesSalesOps@cae.com

Location: Global presence

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Training Management

• Crew Management

• Flight Management

• Operations Control

• Airport Management

• In-Flight Services Management

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Flight operations software solutions

• Pilot and crew apps (Rosterbuster and RB Logbook)

CAE Flight Operations Solutions is an industry-leading digital platform trusted by the world’s top airlines and business aviation companies to optimize their operations. Every year, more than 50 million flights and over 200,000 crew members are supported by CAE’s flight operations software backed by a global team and unparalleled expertise.

Spanning crew, flight, movement, airport, on-board catering, and cost management, CAE’s customizable end-to-end solution improves decision making by harnessing the power of integrated data and advanced technologies to improve operational performance, profitability, employee satisfaction and passenger experience.

Comply365

W: www.comply365.com

T: +1 (877) 366 2365

E: info@comply365.com

Location: USA

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• ProAuthor (XML-Based Authoring Solution)

• Electronic Flight Bag (EFB)

• Digital Briefing

• Document & Communication Manager

• Training Solution (LMS Learning Manager)

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• XML-Based Authoring Solution (ProAuthor)

• Electronic Flight Bag (EFB)

• Digital Briefing Flight Release

• Document Mgmt. and Distribution Platform

• Targeted Distribution w/ Compliance Tracking

Comply365 delivers secure, cloud-based solutions, focusing on Authoring, EFB and Digital Briefing Solutions, as well as Targeted Distribution of Mobile Manuals.

The Authoring Solution, features ProAuthor: the aviation industry’s first and only XML-based solution for authoring, revising and distributing publications.

Comply365’s proven Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) solution lets crews access mission-critical information throughout each phase of flight.

Digital Briefing helps turn planes faster for more on-time departures with instant feedback to dispatchers when the flight crew accepts a release and signs Fit for Duty.

Comply365’s full-featured Document Management and Targeted Distribution Platform boosts productivity by delivering any type of manual or document directly to any mobile device or stationary workstation.

Conduce

W: www.conduce.net

T: 0044 333 888 4044

E: info@conduce.net

Location: Nuneaton, UK

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• eTechLog8

• eCabinLog8

• eCentral8

• eTraining8

• eForm8

• eDoc8

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Electronic Logbook (ELB)

• Cabin Log

• Electronic Forms Designer

• Document Viewer

Conduce pioneer mobile aviation solutions.

eTechLog8 is our world leading Electronic Log Book (ELB), fully approved by multiple Airworthiness Authorities and trusted by customers worldwide.

eTechLog8 eliminates the paper technical, cabin, and deferred defect logbooks, and replaces these with an easy to use, workflow controlled mobile solution. Available on both Windows and iOS, eTechLog8 is fully integrated with all the leading MRO and M&E systems. All eTechLog8 customers report significant benefits, ranging from improved efficiency, data accuracy and consistency to faster turnarounds, all contributing to reduced costs.

Conduce also offers a fully integrated suite of companion applications, which provide mobile paperless solutions for the cabin log, CBT training, custom forms, and ensuring key documents are at your fingertips.

Conduce has a sliding pricing scale, depending on fleet size and operates as a subscription model, with one flat fee, per tail, per month covering everything: hardware, software, 24/7/365 support, mobile data, future proofed upgrades and more. There are no hidden costs. Ask us today for a tailored proposal.

CrossConsense

W: www.crossconsense.com

T: +49 69 4035 7600

E: contact@crossconsense.de

Location: Frankfurt Germany

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Aircraft Fleet View

• ACSIS

• AviationDW

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Support and Hosting

• Consulting and Data Migration

• Business Intelligence solutions

• App and dashboard development

CrossConsense’s portfolio runs from AMOS Support, BI-Management, Data Migration and Hosting to the products Aircraft Fleet View, ACSIS and AviationDW. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian’s FLYHT Aerospace Solutions Ltd., CrossConsense also offers solutions for Fuel Management, Turn Process Management and other software applications as well as AFIRS hardware that collects data during flight.

AMOS Support: CrossConsense has a long tradition in providing support for AMOS with one single point of contact for 1st and 2nd level; also realizing well-planned and organized data migration projects for airline customers and Reporting and Business Intelligence Analytics.

Aircraft Fleet View is a user-friendly App that gives an always up-to-date view on an airline’s fleet status. It indicates AOGs, delays and other important information with the right level of detail to be useful but not crowded with information.

ACSIS is a powerful predictive maintenance software tool developed to assist any airline, operator, MRO facility and OEM to avoid AOGs, delays and turnbacks, improve aircraft utilization, and enhance safety.

AviationDW is a managed data warehouse, tailor-made for use with your backend system, e.g. AMOS. AviationDW simplifies KPI creation based on MRO System data.

EFB ADMIN SERVICES INT

W: efbadminservices.digital

T: +47 91689298

E: info@efbadminservices.digital

Location: Norway (HQ), UK, Spain & Türkiye

KEY BUSINESS SOFTWARE AREAS

• EFB Admin services under oro.gen.205

• Evaluation of EFB system & processes

• EFB Hardware & Software consulting

• EFB Connectivity

• EFB Training

EFB Admin Services Int. AS specializes in comprehensive EFB administration, offering unparalleled expertise under ORO. GEN.205 and a suite of cyber security services. With decades of experience in the aviation industry, the business provides tailored solutions across a multitude of aircraft models, including B7x7, A220/3x0, DHC-8, and more, ensuring compliance with EASA, FAA, ANAC and other regulations.

The team excels in both portable and installed EFB systems, offering bespoke training for EFB Managers/Administrators and flight operations staff. EFB Admin Services’ commitment to confidentiality is uncompromising, with strict adherence to NDAs ensuring the protection of clients’ sensitive information.

From Scandinavia to the UK, Spain, and Türkiye, EFB Admin Services’ global reach empowers them to deliver services worldwide, underpinning the aviation industry with robust cyber security certifications. The business’s technical proficiency spans vulnerability assessments, compliance checks, and MDM maintenance, with support for Windows, iOS, Android, and Linux.

EFB Admin Services not only guides clients through the intricate application processes for EFB permits but also provides thorough evaluations of existing systems, ensuring seamless EFB functionality. Their message is, “Partner with us for a secure, compliant, and efficient EFB experience that elevates your airline’s operational integrity to new heights”.

eTT Aviation

W: www.ettaviation.com

T: +1 208-424-9424

E: info@ettaviation.com

Locations: Boise, ID, USA

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• SkedFlex

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Flight & Crew Management

• Fleet (Movement) Management

• Qualification & Training Management

• Crew Pay

• Line & Preferntial Bidding

SkedFlex is a full-featured, affordable, innovative and expertly supported flight and crew management solution designed to meet your needs and exceed your expectations. With its scalable platform and optional modules, SkedFlex provides air operators the ability to successfully schedule and manage crewmembers, flights, and aircraft in a flexible, efficient, and visual manner. Coupled with its proprietary rules engines, SkedFlex helps ensure regularity compliance under the Code of Federal Regulation parts 117, 121, 125, and 135, for flight, duty, and rest limitations and additional company requirements and rule sets from regularity authorities can be incorporated.

Crew and Flight Scheduling are the core components for the visual mastery of complex operations. Crew Pay ensures pay accuracy and accountability, freeing employees and administrators to focus on productivity, not paperwork. Qualification and Training Management automates simulator and classroom scheduling, crewmember training delivery, currency, and qualification tracking. Line and Preferential Bidding provides an airline the option to build lines or trips for crewmember bidding, and allows crewmembers to establish standing bid criteria and further modify their bids as they desire. Entire fleets of aircraft can be scheduled in minutes with Fleet Management while scheduled inspections are displayed visually to optimize aircraft utilization around required inspections.

AIRCRAFT IT Operations

Evionica

W: www.evionica.com

T: +48 507 787 737

E: office@evionica.com

Locations: Poland (Warsaw), Austria (Vienna)

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Evionica WB

• Evionca FTS

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Weight & Balance Software

• Flight Training Software

• Computer Based Training

Evionica delivers smart software for Weight & Balance, Flight Training and Computer Based Training to Airlines, Airports and Training Organizations.

With over 100 clients the business is cooperating with recognized partners like Wizz Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa Aviation Training, Abu Dhabi Aviation Training Center and many more.

Evionica Weight & Balance Software: The solution allows users to reduce costs and has a very intuitive interface where training requires only 1 hour. Within 60 seconds you are able to produce a load sheet.

Flight Training Software: Streamline administrative processes for training. Automate operations and save time with cloudbased software, plus go paperless.

Computer Based Training: Pilot Training CBT with content explained in a straightforward way, having a natural lector voice, superior graphics and animation. A dark theme prevents users’ eyes from tiring. Small portions of information make it easier to remember content.

Evoke Systems

W: www.evoke-systems.aero

T: 03456 521 240

E: info@evoke-systems.aero

Locations: United Kingdom

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• EFOS Training

• EFOS Documents

• EFOS Leave

• EFOS Shift Log

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• EFOS Training

• EFOS Documents

• EFOS Leave

• EFOS Shift Log

Evoke Systems has a team of versatile and experienced independent specialists in crew training, leave management and information sharing and compliance software, who work closely with their partners – airlines, cargo and low cost carriers, private charter, and the wider aviation industry – helping to improve, streamline, connect and automate systems and processes that impact their people daily.

For over 20 years Evoke Systems has provided airlines with highly effective operational tools, which empower teams and users to carry out their roles safely and efficiently by being more informed, organized, and motivated.

Flatirons

W: www.flatironssolutions.com

T: +1.303.627.6535

E: info@flatironssolutions.com

Locations: Europe, Asia, USA, Middle East

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• CORENA Suite

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Content Management System (CMS)

• Interactive Electronic Technical Publisher (IETP)

• Maintenance & Engineering

• Flight Operations

• Tablet Solutions & Mobility

Flatirons provides consulting, technology, and outsourcing for content lifecycle management (CLM). For more than 20 years, we have served global Fortune 1000 customers in aerospace, automotive, electronics, financial services, government, healthcare, and publishing. Our customer engagements help organizations efficiently deliver the right information, at the right time, to the right people by leveraging structured content and digital media — Turning Content into Knowledge®.

The CORENA Suite by Flatirons is the leading content lifecycle management (CLM) solution developed specifically for organizations that rely on mission-critical data to design, manufacture, operate, or maintain complex assets over their product and service lifecycles as well as across multi-echelon business networks. For more than 25 years, the world’s leading airlines, aerospace manufacturers, OEMs, and defense organizations have relied on the CORENA product suite to create, manage, and deliver large volumes of technical information throughout its lifecycle. Today, CORENA customers rely on the CORENA suite to modernize their IT infrastructures, improve customer satisfaction, and maintain their competitive advantage.

Flightman

W: www.flightman.com

T: +353 1 5547203

E: info@flightman.com

Location: Dublin, Ireland

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• eJourneyLog

• Electronic Flight Folder

• Cabin Manager

• eTechLog

• Cabin Defect Log

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Connected EFB Applications

• Streamlining Flight Ops processes

• Full Electronic Techlog

• Cabin Defect Management

• Enhanced Passenger Experience

The Flightman solution suite enables airlines to streamline their operational processes across Flight Operations, Maintenance and Inflight Services. Transforming data into meaningful insights.

FlightWatching

W: www.flightwatching.com

E: beaujard@flightwatching.com

E: contact@flightwatching.com

E: romain.blanquet@flightwatching.com

Location: Toulouse, France

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• APU Fleet Management

• Wilco data platform

• Wilco fuel saving platform

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• APU & nose to tail predictive maintenance

• Fuel saving solutions

• Engine trend monitoring

• Aircraft data market place

• ACARS cost saving solutions

FlightWatching has a high level of expertise in Aircraft systems and data management (QAR, DAR, SAR, ACARS, ACMS). Our solutions are agnostic, do not require any HW nor SW modification and allow real time interaction with the aircraft.

Our customers are:

• MROs looking for solutions to build their own fleet management solutions

• OEMs willing to explore and collect aircraft data related to equipment behavior

• Airlines chasing solution to cut fuel burn on ground

Contact us for your customized digital solutions.

Flygprestanda

Performance Engineering

W: www.flygp.se

T: +46 40 642 00 10

E: sales@flygp.se

Location: Malmö/Sweden

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• GURU2 Aircraft Performance, M&B and AODB App

• DAD — Dynamic Airport Database (AODB)

• Runway Analysis Charts

• Load & Trim Sheets

• Driftdown Analysis

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Aircraft Performance

• Mass & Balance

• Airport Obstacle Database with Notams and Engine Out Procedures — compatible with Guru2 and any OEM aircraft performance software.

• Integrations with EFB/EFF platforms and Flightplanning software.

• Driftdown analysis

With more than 50 years of aviation experience, Flygprestanda develops EFB solutions for Aircraft Performance, Mass & Balance and has a global Airport Obstacle Database. With performance solutions for more than 300 aircraft types; Flygprestanda is an ideal partner for mixed fleet operators.

The Guru2 Aircraft Performance and M&B App ensures safe flights, minimizes engine wear, maximizes takeoff weight and makes administration straightforward. It includes an AODB and integrates with major EFB/EFF platforms and Flight planning systems. The Guru2 App works offline on iPad or Windows tablets/computers and is accessible online.

Covering more than 10,000 airports worldwide, Flygprestanda’s Airport Obstacle database (DAD) includes obstacle data, NOTAMs and engine out procedures. The DAD is available in Guru2, but it is also compatible with OEM Aircraft performance software.

Flyht

W: www.flyht.com

T: 1-403-250-9956

E: info@flyht.com

Location: Calgary, Canada; Denver, USA

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• FLYHT AFIRS 228 Iridium SATCOM Solution

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Actionable intelligence

• Airborne hardware

• Communications solutions

• Weather sensors

FLYHT’s traditional services are transforming into Actionable Intelligence that integrates the airline, airport and aircraft data into actions that increase profits and an airline’s competitive advantage.

FLYHT’s customers have the advantage of real time data from their onboard AFIRS technologies and every airline can benefit from the integration of the data between airline, airport, and aircraft. With more than 80 airlines operating over 800 aircraft and with 2,000 Airbus installed units we are confident the AI solutions being developed, using our proprietary jetBridge technology, will be well received by our current and future customers

The integration of FLYHT’s traditional real-time AFIRS data services combined with the technology coming of age in other industries such as IoT, Edge computing, blockchain and Cloud infrastructure, along with data capture data from RFID, Wi-Fi, and other devices creates an opportunity for FLYHT’s customers to get maximum benefit from these technologies for little or no capital investment.

AIRCRAFT IT Operations

Gözen Digital Aviation

W: www.gozendigital.com

T: 902126621050

E: info@gozendigital.com

E: commercial@gozendigital.com

LOCATION: İstanbul

NAMES OF PRODUCTS MARKETED

• Operator

• Simorg

KEY BUSINESS SOFTWARE AREAS

• Planning

• Scheduling

• Training

• Maintenance

• Compliance

Gözen Digital Aviation has its main focus on creating advanced digital solutions in the aviation industry, while also carrying the responsibility of digital strategies and transformation of all group companies. Through utilization of our know-how accumulated from various fields of aviation, GDA aims to create new and functional niches in the digital market.

Simorg redefines simulator flight training management. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools that optimize scheduling, compliance, reporting, and overall training efficiency. Its tech-forward approach combines userfriendly interfaces with intelligent functionalities, allowing for smoother operation and a more agile response to the dynamic needs of the industry.

Operator is a versatile flight operations solution designed to streamline processes, minimize human errors, and provide 24/7 support. Its intelligent automation, customization options, and round-the-clock support make it an invaluable tool for aviation organizations worldwide.

Honeywell

W: www.aerospace.honeywell.com

Location: Phoenix, AZ and Atlanta, GA

Ideagen

W: www.ideagen.com

T: 01629 699 100

E: info.marketing@ideagen.com

Location: UK (HQ). Bulgaria. USA. Australia. Dubai. Malaysia. India.

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Honeywell Flight Efficiency

• Honeywell Forge Performance+

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Fuel Efficiency Software

• Flight Data Analytics

• Enterprise Performance Management

• Sustainability Software

Honeywell products and services are found on virtually every commercial, defense and space aircraft in the world. With an unmatched heritage of innovation that spans more than a century, our aim is to solve the greatest challenges CEOs, pilots, operators, passengers, finance, maintenance and cabin crews face — and transform the way we all fly. We deliver improved fuel-efficiency, more direct and on-time flights, and improved operational efficiency through advanced SaaS offerings like Honeywell Flight Efficiency and Honeywell Forge Performance+. With one of the industry’s most comprehensive portfolios of hardware, software, and services, we transform the entire aviation operations ecosystem, from the flight deck to the MRO facility.

Honeywell Flight Efficiency is the industry’s most advanced and capable fuel efficiency and airline data analytics solution. More aircraft rely on Honeywell Flight Efficiency to improve flight efficiency and reduce carbon emissions than any other solution. Often replacing multiple point solutions, our software connects stakeholders across the entire organization to provide a unified source of truth for all operations-related data. Our advanced analytics help users to uncover the hidden potential beyond standard best practices. Even airlines with mature and sophisticated fuel-efficiency programs have unlocked significant additional savings by implementing Honeywell Flight Efficiency.

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Ideagen Coruson

KEY BUSINESS / SOFTWARE AREAS

• Incident management & reporting

• Document control & policy management

• Performance monitoring

• Operation risk management

• Audit management

Used by leading aviation organizations, Ideagen Coruson is designed to ensure seamless coordination and enable a holistic approach to safety management, allowing you to optimize incident response and risk reduction strategies for long-term success.

By leveraging real-time data and comprehensive insights, you can make informed decisions and implement proactive measures to enhance safety across your operations.

BENEFITS: A scalable, user-friendly and functionally rich solution that helps build a proactive and risk-aware culture, comply with regulations, and improve efficiency and productivity.

• Organization-specific smart forms

• Document management and change control • Bowtie risk module and business analytics.

FEATURES: Take real control of the management and governance of quality, risk, compliance and safety across your organization. Minimize risks, anticipate problems, harness knowledge and learning and turn it into actions that will help you thrive. • Action management

• Document control and policy management • Audit management • Change control

• Business process modelling and automation

• Incident management and reporting • Operation risk management

• Performance monitoring.

With Ideagen Coruson, embed safety management throughout your organization and promptly respond to current events while proactively analyzing trends to mitigate future risks.

Information Design One

W: www.id1.de

T: +49 69 244 502 0

E: sales@id1.de

Location: Germany

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• aFuel

• aWall

KEY BUSINESS / SOFTWARE AREAS

• Fueling Optimization

• Digitalization

• Business Intelligence

• Data Analytics

• Process Improvements

Information Design turns aviation data into valuable and insightful information — with the goal to create information and design it. Based on that philosophy, they’ve developed unique IT solutions and worked with some of the world’s renowned airlines, airports, and aviation corporations.

aFuel — The World’s Largest Digital Fueling Network: aFuel is the system of choice when it comes to digitalizing the operational fueling process. The digital exchange platform connects airlines with a huge load of into-plane agents around the world. Due to its swift implementation and worldwide coverage of airports, airlines benefit right from the start.

aWall — Great Success Arises in Real-Time: aWall is the world’s only aviation real-time dashboard, which unites fieldproven live metrics and clear data visualization on top of a scalable and cloud-based business intelligence platform — exclusively developed for airlines, airports, and ATC

Jet Aviation Staffing

W: www.jetaviation.com/services/staffing

T: 1-201-637-2211

E: neil.engerran@jetaviation.com

Location: 47 Locations Worldwide

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Permanent & Direct Hire Placement

• Temporary & Freelance Placement

• Outplacement

• Staffing Marketplace

KEY BUSINESS / SOFTWARE AREAS

• Payroll Solutions

• Permanent Placement

• Temporary Placement

• Outplacement

Behind every seamless journey, is the perfect team. Since 1983, Jet Aviation Staffing has been supporting the industry’s most prominent aviation companies by attracting and placing top talent. With thousands of direct hire placements of crew members, maintenance professionals, support staff, management and executive positions, and many more disciplines, Jet Aviation Staffing continues to perfect the art of staffing. When you want to find the very best career opportunity, you can rely on a team of dedicated professionals. On behalf of their external customers, Jet Aviation Staffing upholds in-depth and extensive standards to ensure they are recommending the best talent. Dedicated to the details, Jet Aviation Staffing’s expertise ensures a perfect career opportunity match for each of their candidates and a seamless experience for their customer.

Logipad

DextraData

W: www.logipad.aero

T: +49 201 95975 0

E: info@logipad.aero

Location: Essen, Germany

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Logipad

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• eBriefing / EFF

• iOs & Windows EFB Management

• Cloud-based or on prem & fully customizable

• For pilots, cabin and maintenance

DextraData, an IT consulting company and independent software vendor located in Germany, is the company behind Logipad. The Essen-based specialists for digitalization have understood the potential of the solution. Initially, Logipad was developed in 2002. Since then, Logipad has been providing airlines with a trusted Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) solution. Logipad makes flight management simple, fast and smart for pilots, crew and ground staff. Due to a single sync transaction process and modules like document management, eForms and eBriefing / EFF, Logipad reduces paperwork. It focusses on process optimization through digitalization and is flexible and adaptable to the user’s needs. Logipad latest version offers top notch security standards through 2FA.

Furthermore, DextraData’s portfolio includes: Business Consulting, Cloud & Managed Services, IT Service & Enterprise Management, Next Generation Infrastructure, Modern Work / Software Infrastructure and Program & Project Management.

Lufthansa Industry Solutions

W: www.LHIND.de

T: +49 40 5070 30000

E: marketing.sales@lhind.dlh.de

Location: Germany, Albania, Switzerland, USA

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Volabase

• iFF

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Process consulting/organization

processes

• IT consulting (processes, technologies, infrastructure)

• MRO & Flights Ops consulting

• Program and project management

• Strategy consulting

Whether it’s about developing a company-wide digitalization strategy, networking machines, moving systems to the cloud or providing solutions and platforms for analytics and AI, using IT services to network machines or providing mobile platforms for cross-company collaboration... whenever companies want to address digitalization, Lufthansa Industry Solutions is the right partner.

Lufthansa Industry Solutions combines technical expertise with strong industry knowledge and thus support customers when they introduce new digital technologies. They characterize this as...

“We are at home in the digital world: We are digitalization.”

Lufthansa Systems

W: www.LHsystems.com

T: +49 69696 90000

E: marketing@lhsystems.com

Location: Headquarters: Germany, Locations in 16 countries worldwide

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Lido

• NetLine

• SIRAX

• SchedConnect

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Operations Solutions

• Flight Deck Solutions

• Commercial Solutions

• Finance Solutions

Lufthansa Systems is a leading airline IT provider determined to shape the future of digital aviation. It draws its unique strengths from its ability to combine profound industry knowhow with forward-looking technological expertise for more than 25 years. The company offers its more than 350 airline customers an extensive range of successful and, in many cases, market-leading products. These innovative IT products and services cover all of an airline’s business processes – in the flight deck, in the cabin and on the ground – and offer customers a wide range of economic benefits while also contributing to improving efficiency and competitiveness. In addition, Lufthansa Systems supports its customers both within and outside the Lufthansa Group with consulting services and the experience it has gained in projects for airlines of every size and business model.

Lido — integrated solutions for every phase of the flight.

NetLine — the integrated scheduling and operations solution from planning until the day of operations.

SIRAX — our portfolio of integrated solutions provide 360° financial process coverage.

SchedConnect — ideal codeshare connections including schedule data exchange and a central flight repository.

Motulus.aero

W: www.motulus.aero

T: +44 7932 173833

E: steven.rushworth@motulus.com

Location: Hoboken (Antwerpen), Belgium

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Integrated Crew Scheduling (Pairings and Rostering), Tail Assignment, Network Optimization and Schedule Building

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Motulus Integrated Crew Scheduling (MICS)

• Motulus Tail Assignment (MTA)

• Motulus Network Optimization (MNO)

For many airlines operating costs, fuel and crew costs form a significant part of their cost base. The delivery of an efficient and robust plan whilst continuing to guarantee an excellent customer offering and employee satisfaction is critical to an airlines success, The complexity of such a plan, and its importance to an organisation makes creating schedules and operational plans ideal candidates to be solved by optimization.

At Motulus.aero we enjoy solving the problems that haven’t been solved before by deploying the next generation in optimization products. By combining pioneering algorithms with the power of cloud computing we are able to tackle these complex and large scale problems.

Specialising in crew scheduling (pairing and roster production), tail assignment and network optimization we help organisations to reduce crew costs, increase aircraft and equipment utilisation, reduce fuel and operational costs, improve revenue opportunities, increase crew and colleague satisfactions, and improve operational robustness.

Having deployed products to a number of industries Motulus had an original mission in aviation to develop innovative products for airline crew resource scheduling problems. Following successful implementations with two European airlines the teams expertise has now been stretched to solve network optimization and tail assignment problems.

Nabla Mobility

W: https://www.nabla-mobility.com/ E: tanaka.shinji@nabla-mobility.com

Location: Tokyo, Japan

NAVBLUE

an Airbus Company

W: www.navblue.aero

E: communications@navblue.aero

Location: 2 Rond-Point Emile Dewoitine, 31700 Blagnac, Toulose, France. Waterloo, Canada; Hersham, UK; Stockholm, Sweden; Bangkok, Thailand; and Gdansk, Poland

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Untangle API

• Weave

• Sandbox

KEY BUSINESS SOFTWARE AREAS

• Integration

• Turbulence prediction / avoidance

• Weather data

• Fuel efficiency

Nabla Mobility has employed various efforts to decarbonize Mobility. However, most initiatives are ‘Manufacturing focused’ and not from an ‘Operation of fleets’ perspective. It is a widely known fact that decarbonization of the aviation industry will not be achievable simply by switching aircraft and fuels to those with lower carbon emissions. Nabla Mobility aims to innovate mobility by optimizing the ‘Operation of Fleets’ with technology.

• Electronic Flight Bag applications

• Fuel applications

• Dispatch & Crew Planning

• Airspace & Airport Consulting

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Electronic Flight Bag & Documentations

• Fuel Solutions

• Ops Control Center Solutions

• Consulting

• Flight Data Analysis

NAVBLUE is a leading services company, wholly owned by Airbus, dedicated to Flight Operations solutions and services for airlines and aircraft operators, on the ground and onboard. NAVBLUE combines aircraft manufacturer expertise, flight operations know-how and agile development to enhance operational efficiency, optimize resources and increase productivity, for a safe and sustainable aviation.

NAVBLUE delivers a reliable, optimum and customized user experience to more than 600 customers worldwide, in a range of areas, including digital cockpit operations, Operations Control Centre (OCC) systems, Flight Ops Engineering and Performance Based Navigation (PBN).

NAVBLUE employs 500 employees spread across the world, with offices in Canada, France, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, UK and US and representatives in several other countries across the globe.

NVable

W: www.nvable.com

T: +44 141 280 0050

E: contact@nvable.com

Location: UK

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• ConNVerge for Aviation

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Electronic Techlog

• Electronic Forms (Assessments)

• Document Management

• Operational Analysis

• Station Operational Compliance

The concept behind our CoNVerge platform is simple. We believe that businesses should have the flexibility to easily innovate and add new applications to their toolbox, without being stifled by legacy technology or a single technology brand.

CoNVerge is all about minimising risk, fuss and capital costs and maximising efficiency. Provided as a service, it combines a hosted environment and web portal with mobile applications and data interfaces to virtually any system.

The platform is easily integrated into your existing business systems and brings together the best tools to handle data acquisition and data analysis — all on scalable infrastructure. Best of all, we even take the day-to-day management off your hands.

Our CoNVerge platform is blazing a trail in the aviation sector. In a hi-tech industry, where the stakes are even higher, long-standing clients such as British Airways Cityflyer know they can rely on NVable and our custom-designed software to make things simple, safer, more secure and streamlined. We provide airlines with technology solutions that reduce effort, improve processes and produce useful information, with one simple goal — to change things for the better.

Bring everything together and do IT better when you bring onboard CoNVerge and NVable.

Off Block

W: www.offblock.aero

T: +49 7951 95200-80

E: nadja.ayadi@offblock.aero

Location: Germany

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• OffBlock Corporate

• Offblock Personal

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Crew Management Solutions for Airlines

• Pilot Logbook

• Flight Crew App

• OffBlock Family

OffBlock GmbH, based in Crailsheim, Germany, is dedicated to innovative software solutions for the crew management sector. Since its founding in 2018, the start-up has very quickly developed into a 21-strong team behind the brand. On the B2B side, the company offers a cloud-based add-on solution for airline crew management systems. On the B2C side, the portfolio includes an interactive all-in-one app that bundles flight crew communication, including roster management, on one platform. The OffBlock app is also a complete digital pilot logbook.

OpenAirlines

W: www.openairlines.com

T: +33 (0)5 31 61 52 18

E: stephane.nitenberg@openairlines.com

Location: France, Hong Kong, USA, Canada

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• SkyBreathe® Analytics — Fuel management software

• SkyBreathe® MyFuelCoach — Pilot engagement app

• SkyBreathe® OnBoard — Real-time eco-flying app

• SkyBreathe® APM — Aircraft Performance Monitoring

• SkyBreathe® OCC — On-time performance analysis

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Fuel Efficiency

• EFB app for In-flight optimization

• Aircraft Performance Monitoring

• CORSIA & EU-ETS Management

• On-time performance analysis

Starting from the observation that every year, nearly 660 million tons of CO2 are emitted by airplanes, i.e. more than 20 000 kilos of CO2 per second, OpenAirlines has developed innovative solutions to help airlines reduce their costs and environmental impact.

Drawing on eight years of R&D, SkyBreathe® came into the market in 2013 as an innovative eco-flying solution based on Cloud, Artificial Intelligence, and Big Data to save fuel and reduce airlines’ carbon footprint by up to 5%.

Every department contributes to a safe and efficient fuel culture. That’s why SkyBreathe® is a 360° eco-flying platform designed to connect all stakeholders — Chief Pilots, Fuel Managers, Dispatchers, Pilots, and Performance Engineers, to name a few. The platform provides all the tools they need to build and grow a successful fuel efficiency program without juggling many different tools.

REDifly

W: www.redifly.com

T: +41 43 555 31 65

E: las@redifly.com

Location: Switzerland (HQ), Ireland

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• REDiFly Pilot Log

• REDiFly Tech Log

• REDiFly Cabin Log

• REDiFly Command (Ground System)

• REDiFly Core (Integration Module)

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Full Electronic Technical Logbook

• Digitization of paper process

• Data harvest, storage & analytics

• Maintenance and scheduling integration

• CAME & compliance support

• Defect management

REDiFly delivers a sleek and modern Electronic Technical Logbook. We are an independent, data-driven company that offers bespoke software solutions for the aviation industry. We provide a comprehensive framework that can integrate with an airline’s current systems, including MRO, flight scheduling, and crew management, amongst others.

What do we do? At REDiFly we work with the key people involved in digitizing your current paper-based aircraft technical logbook. In doing so, we increase levels of safety and regulatory compliance, streamline flight-to-ground connectivity and enable digital archives of secure and searchable aircraft records. We provide a seamless intersection between flight operations and aircraft maintenance to minimize communication errors while maximizing the efficiency of daily operations.

What makes us different? We are an independent company that applies a user-centric approach by working closely with our customers through the onboarding, trial and go-live phases of an implementation. Our flexibility means that REDiFly adapts to your current processes rather than the other way around.

The SA Group

W: www.scanav.com

T: +45 7950 8000

E: sa@scanav.com

Locations: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Czech Republic, Greece, Bahrain, CIS, India and Malaysia

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Scandinavian Avionics’ Tablet Based EFB Solution

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Electronic Flight Bag Solutions

• Avionics Certification

• Avionics Installation

• Avionics Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul

• Avionics Training

Scandinavian Avionics offers a state-of-the-art, future-proof, tablet based Class 2 EFB solution, which provides the functionality to meet today’s operational requirements of airlines and aircraft operators and in addition is simple to upgrade in the future to meet coming requirements.

The concept consists of two ruggedized 10.1” Panasonic tablets installed in the cockpit combined with a data integration center and a communication unit installed in the avionics compartment. The data integration center is used for power, aircraft interface and server capability and the communication unit enables and controls the data communication between the EFB system and the airline’s ground infrastructure.

The SA Group provides complete turn-key avionics solutions for civil and military aircraft.

SkyNet Aviation

W: www.skynetaero.com

T: +61 7 3860 5511 (Option 1)

E: sales@skynetsatcom.com

Location: Brisbane, Ausralia

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• SkyNet Aviation REACH

• Number of modules: 5

KEY BUSINESS SOFTWARE AREAS

• REACH Aero

• REACH LASAW

• Operations Control Centre (OCC)

• REACH Consulting

SkyNet Aviation provides web-based Operations Control Centre (OCC) software and services for aircraft operators.

REACH® Aero provides: Centralized day-of-ops software web platform; Flight Following and Monitoring; Scheduling, Crewing, and Rostering; Flight Dispatch (direct integration with Boeing ForeFlight); Engineering Planning; On-time Performance (OTP) tracking and reporting; Post-flight data analytics; Third-party API integration; and proprietary technology merges all aircraft tracking sources (ADS-B, satellite, ACARS, cellular) into one interface

REACH® LASAW provides: Landing Approach Surveillance and Warning; Combined hardware/software solution; Pre-landing alerts and warnings; Surveillance for incorrect approach path; and Longer range flight tracking and notification through ADS-B

REACH® OCC provides: Installation and support for REACH® Aero in your OCC; and Third-party OCC services including overnight coverage and charter support

REACH® Consulting provides: Bespoke consulting services for your OCC; SOP and Operations Manual writing; Audit preparation and support; and OCC layout and design

SITA FOR AIRCRAFT

W: www.sita.aero

E: worldwide@sita.aero

Location: Switzerland - Regional offices: Spain, France, Canada, USA, UAE, UK, Brazil and Singapore

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• SITA Flight Folder

• SITA eWAS

• SITA OptiFlight®

• SITA Mission Watch

• SITA Mission Control

• SITA Safety Cube

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Connected EFB Applications

• Weather Situation Awareness

• Inflight Fuel Burn Optimization

• Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Safety Management

SITA For Aircraft represents the aircraft arm of SITA. SITA is the IT provider for the air transport industry, delivering solutions for airlines, airports, aircraft and governments. Today, SITA drives operational efficiencies at more than 1,000 airports. SITA’s technology provides solutions that help more than 40 governments strike the balance of secure borders and seamless travel, while delivering the promise of the connected aircraft to more than 400 airlines on 17,000 aircraft globally.

SITA is powering a digital shift to make air travel more connected, seamless, efficient, safe and sustainable. Its communications network connects every corner of the globe and handles vast volumes of data every second.

SITA is 100% owned by the air transport industry, with a presence in 200 countries and territories and a customer service team of more than 2,000 people around the world.

SkyPath

W: skypath.io

T: +972-3-9003510

E: Contact@skypath.io

Location: Tel-Aviv, Israel; USA

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• SkyPath™ Turbulence

• SkyPath™ PIREPS

• SkyPath™ data services

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• EFB iOS App

• Dispatch flight planning WEB module

• Management Analytics and Bi

• Incidents and playback Debrief

• EFB and WEB integration SDK & APIs

Skypath is world’s leading turbulence and auto-PIREPs data service provider whose alert system improves cabin safety and cuts airline operating costs. Established in 2015, It is a one-of-a-kind software-only solution which provides unique turbulence data based on a smart patented algorithm.

SkyPath already has more than 30K subscribers, including major US airlines. Airlines using SkyPath join a larger crowdsourcing network, and gain access to turbulence mapping generated using SkyPath’s patented AI technology and real time airborne data collection. SkyPath provide service to thousands of users a day and is becoming the industry gold standard

Smart4Aviation

W: www.smart4aviation.aero

T: +31 20 654 1824

E: info@smart4aviation.aero

Location: Netherlands, Poland, Canada, USA

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Smart LOAD, Smart COMM, Smart BRIEF

• Smart VIEW+, Smart OPERATIONS MANAGER

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Weight and Balance

• Communication and Alerting

• Pilot and Cabin Crew Briefing

• Flight Planning and Tracking

• Fleet Management

Smart4Aviation is one of the fastest growing companies in aviation operations, founded to provide web and mobile based products and services designed to optimize, simplify and improve airline operations. Our company is committed to delivery of the highest quality, most innovative and costeffective, state-of-the-art solutions to support all of your current and future operational business needs. Our products effectively manage all operational business units, such as Operations Control Management, Load Planning and Weight & Balance, Communications (all Operational and Corporate branches), Flight Planning, NOTAM Management, Flight Dispatch, Flight and Cabin Crew Briefing, Weather, Flight Tracking and Aircraft Performance.

Our web based and mobile solutions with an exceptional support are recognized within the industry as being some of the most dependable and innovative in the market. All of our current customers such as among others Air Canada, Delta Air Lines, Qantas, Emirates, Air France, easyJet, Alaska Airlines, Iberia and Cebu Pacific have all benefitted from implementing Smart4Aviation solutions.

Smart4Aviation’s web and mobile-based solutions have been acknowledged as the “Smart Choice” within the industry by a number of international and domestic air carriers.

StorkJet

W: www.storkjet.com

T: +48 600 800 528

E: info@storkjet.com

Location: Poland

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• FuelPro — Fuel Efficiency Dashboard

• AdvancedAPM — Aircraft Performance Monitoring

• FlyGuide — EFB app to engage pilots

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Fuel efficiency

• Flight Profile Optimization

• Aircraft performance monitoring

• Idle Factor

We help airlines save fuel and reduce CO2 emissions by analyzing their flight data.

StorkJet is the only company on the market that provides a full scope of fuel efficiency solutions for all aircraft types:

FuelPro — Fuel Efficiency Dashboard powered by AI to save fuel within 44 initiatives from all flight stages.

FlyGuide — an engaging EFB app designed by pilots for pilots, which helps prepare for the flight, gives real-time support during all flight phases and shares reliable feedback.

AdvancedAPM — Aircraft Performance Monitoring software provides up-to-date performance factors for accurate fuel planning.

Idle Factor — for descent optimization.

In 2022 StorkJet helped its customers save over 60 million USD and reduced carbon emissions by 186k tons. These achievements have earned StorkJet numerous awards, including being named the world’s best technology company last year.

Taillog

W: www.Taillog.aero

T: 0045 2929 3020

E: sales@taillog.aero

Location: Roskilde, Denmark

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Taillog EFB

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Digital OFP

• Weight & Balance

• Journey-/Techlog

• Data Analysis tool

• Aircraft Data integration

TAILLOG EFB System is a fully integrated EFB and flight progress tool containing your flight plan details, company documents, weather charts and NOTAM’s, to name a few. The digitalization of the workflow amongst operators is of high priority to Taillog EFB System and they have achieved this with a ‘Go for Simplicity’ approach ensuring satisfaction amongst their customers.

TAILLOG interfaces with pre- and post-flight systems and enables both automatic and manual control, supporting calculation of abeam times and fuel consumption thereby eliminating miscalculations and human errors. Their EFB is continuously evolving based on the market developments and Taillog’s latest capability of retrieving, utilizing and distributing data from the aircraft directly within their EFB, which is truly optimizing the efficiency amongst operators throughout their respective departments.

The Weather Company

W: www.weathercompany.com

T: (800) 872-2359

E: aviationsales@weather.com

Locations: USA, UK

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Fusion

• Pilotbrief

• Total Turbulence Alerting

• Weather Forecast Services

KEY BUSINESS / SOFTWARE AREAS

• Weather infused flight tracking

• EFB weather application

• Turbulence Alerting via ACARS

• Terminal, en route & IROPS Forecast

The Weather Company, specializes in providing advanced weather solutions to the aviation industry, addressing the critical challenges faced by dispatch, pilots, and operations. These teams operate under high pressure, monitoring multiple systems for essential information to maintain safety and efficiency. With nearly 75% of air traffic delays attributed to inclement weather, costing the airline industry billions annually, there’s a pressing need for accurate, comprehensive, and actionable weather data.

The Weather Company’s aviation solutions portfolio is designed to enhance operational decisions, ensuring flights are safe, efficient, and profitable. By leveraging precise, personalized weather insights, airlines can reduce operational costs, minimize weather-related disruptions, and improve the passenger experience. These solutions include applications, expert forecast services, and access to a wealth of weather data.

With nearly three decades of aviation forecasting expertise, The Weather Company equips its customers to manage disruptive weather efficiently, ensuring safety, compliance, and exceptional passenger experiences. They help you navigate the complexities of weather impacts, enabling informed decision-making for better operational outcomes.

TrustFlight

W: www.trustflight.io

T: 44 (0) 330 229 0219

E: info@trustflight.io

Location: Leamington Spa, UK; Edinburgh, UK; Luton, UK; St Helier, Jersey

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Tech Log, Task Cards

• Digital Logbook

• CAMO (service)

• Aircraft Registry (service)

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Aircraft log books

• Aircraft maintenance task cards

• Digital and paperless working

• CAMO support

• Aircraft Registry support

From inception, TrustFlight has been ingrained in the aviation industry. Founded by two commercial pilots with a proven track record at the intersection of technology and business, the business has grown considerably and with stability, having recently celebrated the opening of a fourth office.

Throughout, TrustFlight gained an incredible team with backgrounds spanning different areas of aviation and technology, ensuring a solid presence in the industry. Now offering a range of products and services within the sector, TrustFlight helps to remove costly paperwork and associated errors, preserve aircraft value, and increase efficiency and safety in aircraft operations.

Five values shape TrustFlight’s culture, guide the business’s work and the way it grows. Integrity Transparent and open: offering trust to partners and assuming it from them. Responsibility Owning the work they do and taking responsibilty for it: striving to make it the best possible.

Leadership Leading from within: providing support for the team to do incredible work and drive the industry forwards. Innovation Products are crafted for the future needs of the industry, going beyond what exists in the market. Excellence Every one of TrustFlight’s values contributes towards the excellence in their products.

Ultramain

W: www.ultramain.com

T: +1.505.828.9000

E: sales@ultramain.com

Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• ULTRAMAIN® v9™ M&E / MRO

• ULTRAMAIN Mobile Mechanic™

• ULTRAMAIN Mobile Inventory™

• ULTRAMAIN ELB™

• ULTRAMAIN M&E / MRO: 31 modules including: Configuration Management; Line/Base Mx Planning; Line/ Base Mx Scheduling; GATe; Quality Assurance; Asset Management

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Maintenance & Engineering

• MRO

• Military Maintenance

• Maintenance Planning & Scheduling

• Paperless Customer Care on Mobile Devices

• Electronic Technical Logbook

Ultramain Systems, Inc. develops M&E / MRO and ELB software for the aviation industry and is the only aviation software provider with customers running full, end-to-end paperless operations from the cockpit to the ground.

ULTRAMAIN v9, featuring Mobile Mechanic and Mobile Inventory enables real-time paperless data collection for the full maintenance and inventory process. Combine ULTRAMAIN v9 with ULTRAMAIN ELB, the easy-to-use electronic logbook, and the entire maintenance process becomes paperless. Contact us to learn what you need to equip your organization with customer mobile devices and see why elite aviation customers around the world are choosing ULTRAMAIN to reduce costs and increase aircraft up time.

Vistair Systems

W: www.vistair.com

T: 01454 550663

E: info@vistair.com

Location: United Kingdom and USA

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• DocuNet

• SafetyNet

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Aviation Document Management (All format types inc. PDF, XML, S1000D, I Spec 2200)

• Electronic Flight Bag (EFB)

• Document Management and Distribution Platform

• Maintenance & Engineering

• Flight Operations

• Compliance Tracking

• Form Creation and Management

• Aviation Safety Management Software

Vistair provides document, safety, and quality management technology solutions to support the delivery of improved safety, compliance, and operational efficiency that results in significant commercial savings to aviation organizations. Combining technology, development expertise and service delivery, Vistair’s suite of aviation technology solutions provides both commercial airlines, aerospace and defense organizations with an approach that helps demonstrate a clear link between increased reporting and a change in procedures and behaviors, which fundamentally drives a safer organization.

Document Management: DocuNet is the aviation industry’s leading end-to end document management solution, providing a coherent, single point of control for editing, publishing, distributing, and viewing all operational documentation. It provides the flexibility to access documents via the web and mobile devices and can also manage documents in all formats.

Weathernews Inc.

W: global.weathernews.com

T: 00 45 392 78720

E: skysales_eu@wni.com

Locations: Tokyo, Oklahoma, Copenhagen, London Moscow, New York, Paris, Athens, Sao Poulo, New Delhi, Kathmandu, Yangon, Bangkok, Singapore, Jakarta, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Manila, Taipei, Shanghai, Seoul

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Go or No-Go Decision Support

• Personal weather briefings

• En-Route Weather Forecast

• Foster Flight Watch

• Foster EFB

• Flight Operations Control Support

• Airspace Critical Operations Support

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Airlines weather support

• Daily weather forecast

• Weather IT solutions

Weathernews Inc. is a private weather company operating worldwide within 44 different industries, collecting weather data from various sources as well as using their own proprietary infrastructure. They use their proprietary infrastructure to provide support where there is no or scarce weather information.

Weathernews Inc. supports flight dispatchers, operations members and pilots with a wide range of services during all phases of the flight, from planning, en-route and landing. The business serves customers in Star Alliance, SkyTeam, oneworld and Value Alliance, with support for more than 350 airports, Weathernews Inc.’s risk communicators are available to assist users in any weather-related needs.

Weathernews Inc. has more than 30 years experience supporting and servicing airlines, and strives to learn each airline’s weather-related needs and challenges to fully support and ensure safety, efficiency and contribute to sustainability.

Weathernews Inc.’s services are easily accessible through web links, and were developed with the focus of user friendliness and clear user interface.

Web Manuals International

W: www.webmanuals.aero

T: +46 (0)40 694 10 40

E: info@webmanuals.aero

Location: Sweden, USA

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S)

MARKETED

• Web Manuals

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Monitoring

• Authoring

• Editing

• Publishing

• Distribution

Web Manuals International AB has developed knowledgemanagement solutions for the aviation industry since 2008, with the headquarters in Malmö, Sweden and an office in San Diego, California. Web Manuals is a tool for digitizing manuals to simplify authoring and distribution of company manuals for the aviation industry.

Web Manuals is available as a Software-as-a-Service subscription, with minimal training and configuration required to get started. The service includes support, hosting, availability monitoring, maintenance, and at least two system upgrades per year.

We set the standard for digitizing manuals for the aviation industry by providing an easy-to-use solution enabling endto-end control, compliance, agility and cost-efficiency.

In short, our clients save time and money in editing, publishing and distributing their operational manuals while being able to publish new revisions as often as needed and gain a full control of their documentation and communication systems.

The Web Manuals Compliance Libraries enable compliance automation by allowing controlled real-time compliance monitoring of company procedures linked to Implementing Rules and Acceptable Means of Compliance in the EASA and FAA regulations, as well as a number of aviation standards such as IOSA, IS-BAO and ARGUS.

Yonder

W: www.yonder.info

T: +41 43 215 27 94

E: contact@yonder.info

Location: Zurich, Switzerland

NAME(S) OF PRODUCT(S) MARKETED

• Yonder

KEY BUSINESS/SOFTWARE AREAS

• Smart Documentation Management

• Knowledge Management System

• Workflow-based Content Distribution

• Compliance Tracking

• Content-based Learning

Yonder leverages the full potential of digitalization with dynamic content rather than static documents to provide innovative solutions for operations manuals, guidelines, regulations, and standards.

Yonder brings all documents together; smart documents make life much easier for aircrews and ground staff:

· Dynamic content: Moving beyond PDFs with user-specific profiles — end users always get the right information at the right time.

· Personalized change updates: Tell specific user groups an update has been made and ask for a read receipt if required.

· Native offline apps: all content available anytime, anywhere.

Yonder also has many advantages for document managers:

· Smart workflows: Revision- and document-specific workflows enable authorized users to trigger, discuss, check and approve changes effortlessly in fully-integrated solution.

· Automate manufacturer revisions: OEM Manuals automatically imported and revised — even if customized by the operator.

· Compliance connector: Content can be linked with regulations and standards and a workflow is automatically triggered whenever these change, ensuring full compliance.

AIRCRAFT IT Operations

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