Page 65 - World Airnews Magazine February Edition 2021

NEWS

flexibility shown by some can predict unplanned events
airlines has been remarkable to or survival curves at aircraft or
open this new revenue stream even component level.
and keep commercial jets from But getting a deeper
being parked - Emirates, LATAM understanding and predictions
and Lufthansa among other require operational knowledge
airlines have all taken on the of historical maintenance cycles
challenge. and impacting factors.
As the true impact the This is where airlines or MROs
pandemic has had on the need to make sure they can
industry begins to be ascer- extract, store and analyse this
tained, I forecast that more data from their supporting
and more airlines will transition software. This data allows AI
their commercial planes into and machine learning to create
cargo to explore an avenue a much more reliable picture of
in commercial aviation that is what really leads to failures and
still very lucrative - and some how Minimum Equipment List
airlines are continuing to modify (MEL) can lead to AOGs.
planes for cargo use despite
coronavirus easing in some I see a rise in commercial
areas of the world. airlines and MROs turning to AI
As with the parking of aircraft and ML technology to improve
however, if the preighter trend their predictive analytics and
maintenance capabilities.
reverses, there will be a need
to quickly re-convert these
aircraft to meet passenger SUSTAINABILITY WILL GET
demand - and that is achieved SERIOUS
with software designed to track Sustainability is an ever-increas-
and manage every aircraft right ing issue within the commercial
down to the component level, aviation industry as customers
whatever its purpose. become even more aware of the
environmental impact of flying.
AI AND ML HELP AIRLINES Many climate activists’ groups
AND MROS PREDICT THE have expressed fears that due
UNPREDICTABLE to the financial impact of the
Delays are costly and with the coronavirus crisis, corporations,
financial impact of the pandemic including commercial airlines,
weighing heavy on commercial will abandon sustainability
carriers and MROs alike, and emission reduction
mitigating this cost will be a goal commitments.
for the industry. But the financial impact
Customer trust is already the pandemic has had on the
at a low, so airlines and their industry, as well as the complete
MRO partners will want to shut-down of operations for
help protect this as they return many airlines, has made more
aircraft to service and welcome sustainable processes come into
passengers back. focus - the complete restart of
the aviation industry is predict-
Data from IFS Maintenix users ed to be based on a much more
over the last 5 years shows sustainable model.
that 45% of all parts removals The IATA has outlined that, it
were unexpected -the industry is continuing its programme to
is in desperate need of more slash CO ² emission by half in the
intelligent predictions for next three decades.
maintenance on AOG faults,
remaining operating life and Some of the industry’s leading
repetitive defects. OEMs, commercial airlines and
And due to the shut-down, MRO players are also seriously
airlines will want to keep costly committed to reaching the aim
Aircraft on Ground (AOG) repairs of being Net Zero by 2050 and
to a minimum - IFS Maintenix continues to invest in - and use
data shows a machine learning - SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel)
approach to aircraft analytics and are calling for government
can lead to a 30% increase in support for this.
uptime. Rolls Royce is introducing
Those A&D organisations a new service plan to make
who had already invested in AI engines easier to maintain and
therefore more sustainable:
and machine learning reported repair, don’t scrap.
Alex Azabache on Unsplash the pandemic had less of an They’re using new technology,
impact on their operations, as
machine learning (ML) models such as snake robots, to access

World Airnews | February Extra 2021
— 18 —