Etihad Airways will use GE Aviation and Accenture?s sophisticated Taleris software to harvest and analyse gigabytes of data generated by hundreds of sensors working inside its planes
The tools will allow Etihad to monitor planes in real time, reduce fuel costs, manage plane maintenance, and even spot problems before they happen.
Werner Rothenbaecher, Etihad?s senior vice president for technical issues, said that the services advanced capabilities will help Etihad ?to make rapid and informed decisions in relation to maintenance, while gaining technology leadership in diagnostics and prognostics health monitoring. With Taleris? prognostics, we will be able to predict future faults and take proactive measures which result in less unscheduled disruptions to our global operations.?
GE Aviation and Accenture launched Taleris in 2012. The joint-venture provides airlines and cargo carriers with tools to predict, prevent and recover from operational disruptions like those caused by severe weather.
?The aircraft is clearly the airline?s biggest and most important asset,? said Andy Heather, vice president of engineering at Taleris. ?Traditionally, however, the aircraft has not been well connected into the airlines? digital systems, operations and maintenance to the same degree, leaving significant potential value unrealised.?
Heather said Taleris?s approach to optimising aircraft systems and predicting maintenance takes advantage of the hundreds of sensors already present inside new planes.
?Most modern aircraft already have many thousands of parameters flowing around their digital networks,? he said. ?Our goal is to integrate the aircraft data in a broader environment with the rest of the airline IT.?
The analytical tools from Taleris will help Etihad?s fleet of advanced Boeing and Airbus planes keep their engines and other mechanical systems in the best working order, burn fuel more efficiently, and repair parts before they fail.
The system will also help Etihad keep down maintenance costs, reduce operational downtime and lower the chance for passengers to encounter unexpected equipment maintenance-related delays.
