ALKHOBAR, 21 January 2003 — Information technology (IT) has already made impressive inroads into daily life at ground level. So it’s about time that IT took off in a big way with the air transport industry. It might seem surprising that during a period when many airlines are struggling to keep flying, their spending on IT is increasing. But there are rational reasons for such investments. IT can help airlines bring down costs, manage resources, increase customer satisfaction and enhance safety.
That the Middle East’s air carriers have joined the IT implementation drive is shown by the fact that revenues are up in the region for SITA, a global provider for integrated information and telecommunications solutions to the air transport industry.
According to Hani El-Assaad, SITA’s president, Middle East and Africa: “Our achievements across the Middle East are driven primarily by the great awareness of the region’s governments and airlines of the importance of technology in boosting efficiency and cutting costs. In this region, airlines’ investment in IT was predicted to be on average higher than that in other global markets and SITA has benefited from that growth. Particularly in areas of migration to the Internet, airlines in the region are realizing the competitiveness and added value of Internet-based operations and communications.”
The Airline IT Trends Survey, conducted by NSM research on behalf of SITA and Airline Business magazine, concluded that in 2003, 61 percent of carriers worldwide expected to boost the budget allocated to technology investments.
Along with an increased focus on automation and migration to the Internet, El-Assaad believes that airports in the region are going to take the lead in installing information management systems to more effectively handle passenger information details and data exchange.
“Currently, the majority of SITA’s business in this region is with the airlines and the rest with governments and then airports,” said El-Assaad. “In the next few years we expect to see the airport proportion growing dramatically and our passenger screening, baggage management and border control systems strongly position SITA in this market.”
Discussing IT use in airlines in a theoretical sense might not give the best idea of exactly what is possible. So consider a few of these scenarios. An airplane bounces data off a satellite to the ground about a malfunctioning component and mechanics are ready with the replacement part when the airplane taxis to the gate. Pilots carry laptop computers into the cockpit, plug them in, and perform the airplane-systems’ check while receiving up-to-the-minute weather reports about their route, all without a single scrap of paper.
What five years ago would have seemed the stuff of an overactive imagination, the Boeing Company is working to make available now through its Crew Information Services (CIS) suite of service solutions. Boeing is managing its CIS effort through the Information Services group of the Commercial Aviation Services business unit, a part of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
“Boeing is offering solutions that will put new, valuable levels of information technology onboard airplanes,” said Ray Marzullo, vice president, Boeing Flight Services.
“Boeing intends to offer content, applications, and services that connect all the data generated by an entire flight operation — in the air, on the ground and in the hangar — and make it meaningful to all users: Pilots, mechanics, flight attendants, operations departments and airport users — and other potential customers.”
CIS comprises three major areas of effort: Outfitting the airplanes, deploying the communication system, and deploying the applications and services. Boeing will be able to install CIS equipment onboard new Boeing airplanes in production, as well as retrofitting airplanes that are flying in any airline’s fleet, including McDonnell Douglas-legacy aircraft.
Options for airplane equipment will range from furnishing users with personal electronic device (PED) equipment unconnected to the airplane, to installing equipment fully integrated into the airplane’s systems. The level of system integration will be up to each individual airline.
In order for airlines to take full advantage of its benefits, CIS systems will require additional data communications bandwidth. Current data communications are provided over cost- and bandwidth-constrained systems. But there are near-term solutions for expanding bandwidth, and they are in the process of being deployed.
CIS will be able to take advantage of all communications capabilities available to the aircraft. These would include general purpose capabilities such as cellular telephone systems; local-area wireless for airport terminal area usage; VHF Data Link Mode 2 — an increased-bandwidth version of current VHF; broadband satellite communications such as Connexion by Boeing; new Inmarsat capabilities; and other emerging in-flight data communication services.
“But, communication and computing equipment by itself doesn’t add value for customers,” Marzullo explained.
“What they need are complete solutions including the applications and services that help them achieve greater operating efficiencies.”
Boeing intends to develop and deploy software applications and services that utilize the new aircraft and communications equipment.
For these services to be meaningful to customers, they must be available as fleet-wide solutions. CIS will offer a complete range of products and services customers can select as a package, or as individual enhancements.
For example, the days of pilots enduring the backache caused by lugging heavy bags filled with navigation charts and logbooks and manuals from flight to flight are coming to an end. Jeppesen, a Boeing company, has created the Electronic Flight Bag (EFB). Not only will the EFB shrink those heavy pilot’s bags onto a computer hard drive, but it will also give airlines increased revenue, reduced dispatch delays, and savings in fuel usage and longer engine life, while enhancing pilot situational awareness and even improving security.
The Jeppesen EFB will be available in both laptop form and as an integrated part of the flight deck. This gives customers the option to choose whether they want a portable, stowable solution, or a hardwired package that will be certified for all phases of flight.
The EFB digitizes vital charts, manuals and logbooks. These include:
— Navigation charts that are designed for all phases of flight;
— Flight operations manuals that direct pilots in the correct sequence of events to perform for that aircraft, for that destination, and for any geographical area;
— Airport qualification information that assists pilots with supplementary safety information regarding flying into difficult airports;
— An electronic logbook that allows instant reporting of aircraft faults, and offers quick referrals to needed reference materials;
— An electronic pilot logbook that allows pilots to track flight times and experience.
It’s important to note that the EFB does more than just eliminate paper. The EFB includes an instant weight-and-balance calculator that allows the pilot to calculate the ideal speeds and engine setting for an aircraft instantly, in any weather, on any runway, with any payload. In addition, the EFB increases safety by enhancing runway situational awareness. Basically what this means is that the EFB integrates geo-referencing technology, such as Global Positioning System technology, with Jeppesen airport taxi charts, so pilots always know where the aircraft is at an airport, from the runway to the gate. The EFB also gives flight crews a viewer for cabin surveillance systems, helping them heighten onboard security.
Future features under development for the EFB include: Better fault reporting linking to additional applications and documents; refined electronic checklists; real-time weather information; and real-time notice to airmen (NOTAM) information that gives pilots the NOTAMs pertinent to the route of flight for their aircraft.
While the EFB will be an excellent aid to flight crews, on the ground CIS is finding ways to facilitate airplane maintenance and bring down turnaround time. CIS is using technology to make the airplane another node on the airline’s information network.
Components like the portable maintenance aid, in which mechanics shrink troubleshooting time by carrying portable diagnostic devices with them onto the airplanes, serve to reduce the interval that airplanes are at gates and increase their utilization — the hours when they are in the air earning revenue for the airline. CIS improves the integration and planning of maintenance, station-to-station coordination, and interaction with airport services.
It also provides airplane health monitoring, maintenance prediction, linking flight operations with maintenance operations at airlines and, in general, migrating all of these capabilities toward real-time connectivity.
“The potential benefit to airlines is enormous,” Marzullo said. “Between flight operations and maintenance operations alone, we estimate the suite of products and services could save airlines hundreds of thousands of dollars per airplane every year.”
All these new IT solutions for airlines and pilots are terrific, but would airline passengers be interested in onboard access to IT resources? Surveys done for Boeing show that 70 percent of business travelers pack portable computers in their carry-on bags. Twenty percent of frequent fliers stated that they would be willing to spend $35 per flight for broadband access onboard. Internet access could be important to airlines’ bottom lines. Eighteen percent of frequent fliers said they would be extremely likely to switch flights in order to have broadband access.
Boeing will make broadband services available through a wholly-owned subsidiary — Connexion by Boeing. According to Stanley Deal, director, Connexion by Boeing, onboard broadband service will enable full e-mail access, real-time unrestricted Internet access, real-time secure access to corporate intranets, premium television and radio content, and airline information and passenger services.
“Passengers want the ability to get to their content even when they are in the skies,” said Deal. “VIP and executive aircraft are already making use of Connexion by Boeing while operating in the continental USA. Lufthansa will be the first commercial airline to try broadband connectivity for passengers, followed by British Airways and Japan Airlines. Connexion by Boeing would be available on Airbus aircraft as well as Boeing planes because operators flying both types of aircraft would want the product installed across their fleets.”
It is expected that the service will be most popular on long haul flights, although there may be some initial problems to overcome. Battery life of laptops is limited. This could restrict the service’s use unless the airlines install more power point outlets. Voice over IP is not currently on offer with Connexion by Boeing due to privacy issues. Perhaps most troubling would be the decision on whether to filter the Internet access. Allowing unfiltered broadband would enable airline passengers to download pornography onto their laptops in the confined quarters of an airliner.
“Content filtering would be possible as requested by individual airlines,” said Deal. “That would not be a decision made by Connexion by Boeing.”
Within a decade Deal expects that 4,800 aircraft would have Connexion by Boeing installed. This means that eventually, even above the clouds, it will be impossible to escape the demands of our networked planet.
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