Continuing his tour in Europe, The Prime Minister of Vietnam commemorates the extension of the partnership between Airbus and FPT, Vietnam’s leading IT firm, last week in Paris. This follows a series of signings between Vietnamese airlines and aviation technology suppliers like Roll-Royce and Safran. Find out more here. The partnership consists of the deployment of an open data platform of Airbus named Skywise with Asian airline users to enhance the digitalisation of aviation data management in daily operations.
Skywise to launch by the end of 2021
Witnessed by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the two companies signed MoU in Paris last week and the partnership eyes to assist over 140 airlines and 9500 aircraft within the region. This signing extends the ongoing partnership between FPT and Airbus as the two companies have been working together since 2017. The collaboration is not unforeseen as earlier this year in March, former Vice President of Airbus Frank Bignone had joined FPT as the Head of Global Digital Transformation.
A Glance at Skywise
Skywise is an open data system developed by Airbus to digitalise data collection and analysis to help decision-making in airlines. It offers three main functions: predictive maintenance, fleet health monitoring, and reliability premium. Predictive maintenance provides early alerts to system wear and tear and suggests required servicing in advance to avoid disruption in flight schedules. Fleet health monitoring will allow dynamic tracking of aircraft in real-time to provide alerts to enhance dispatch capability. The reliability premium built on top of the previous functions will provide airlines with advanced benchmark and analysis leveraging to identify issues and implement relevant solutions and continuous monitoring of the effectiveness of the solutions.
Paper to Digital
Commercial aviation operations generate an abundance of data each day. Back in the day, data such as fuel used, engine oils used, and a large amount numbers are jotted down by dispatch officers upon the arrival of an aircraft and are manually inserted into computers for analysis. Basically what Skywise does is connect airlines’ data systems to Airbus’ host where data is used for analysis and forecast while retaining commercially sensitive information between airlines. With a range of applications available to airline users, the real-time conditions of an aircraft are accessible from the dispatch office, allowing scheduling to be carried out with minimal delay.
What it means for each party
The benefits that Skywise brings to the table do not stop on the operators’ side and will eventually affect most components in aviation, including passengers. The real-time health monitoring function will allow transparency of delayed schedules for passengers, airlines, and MROs, making the adjustment of scheduling more flexible and effective. In the long run, system data collected will also be applicable in the next generation of aircraft manufacturing and designs. While the passengers may not notice immediately the convenience of Skywise brings forward, Airbus believes that it will be reflected in the near future in the form of new aircraft types and smoother operations.
If you would like us to explore deeper into how Skywise will be implemented, comment below to let us know.
