Air India buys GE Aerospace’s engine monitoring software

·      Air India group to use GE Aerospace solutions to optimize flight operations 

·      FlightPulse® with animation will be used by over 5,000 flight crew

 

By Ajai Shukla

Business Standard, 12th Mar 24

 

GE Aerospace announced on Monday a landmark contract for flight operations software with Air India, the Indian airline that was bought by the Tata Group in 2022. 

 

With this strategic collaboration finalised, Air India has become the first enterprise in India to adopt GE’s FlightPulse® pilot app, together with “Safety and Fuel Insight,” for its entire group.

 

Safety Insight will provide Air India with access to advanced analytics and real-time data monitoring to enhance safety and ensure optimal performance across its fleet.

 

Fuel Insight will provide Air India with comprehensive fuel efficiency solutions, enabling the group to optimize journeys for more efficient fuel management.

 

“The GE FlightPulse® software is agnostic to the type of engine and airframe it is being used with and will work across all aircraft fleets in the Air India group,” stated a GE Aerospace spokesperson, in response to a question from Business Standard.

 

“FlightPulse® puts a pilot’s personal historical flight data, and any insights derived from it, securely and directly into their own hands. This increases flight crew awareness of safety and efficiency trends. For example, a pilot may be aware that there are specific fuel savings procedures in place (such as engine-out, taxi-in), but may be unaware of their own contribution to the overall success. FlightPulse® is designed to close that gap,” the spokesperson said.

 

“A typical scenario is the probability of holdings and go-arounds, by runway, time of day and weather conditions, and the actual fuel burn associated with such events when they do occur. Having direct access to data-driven insights fosters the crew’s confidence in the plan, promotes informed decision making and provides greater situational awareness,” said the spokesperson.

 

The FlightPulse® pilot app and its embedded “animation module”, will drive engagement with more than 5,000 of Air India’s flight crew by providing them with insights from personalized flight data. 

 

Air India is poised to drive substantial changes in its operational landscape. GE Aerospace’s software solutions will further enable the enterprise to cement best practices in flight safety and transform its fuel efficiency program across all flight operations.

 

“Air India group airlines are thrilled to collaborate with GE Aerospace and integrate their innovative solutions into our operations”, said Klaus Goersch, Chief Operations Officer, Air India.

 

Air India is navigating through a major, five-year, transformation roadmap under the aegis of Vihaan.AI. The first phase of this transformation, called the taxi phase, was recently concluded, and focused on fixing the basics.

 

This includes bringing back to service many long-grounded aircraft, adding talent across flying and ground functions, rapidly upgrading technology and strengthening  customer care amongst others.

 

Air India has an extensive domestic network and operates non-stop flights to cities around the world, across the USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Far-East, South-East Asia, Australia, and the Gulf.

 

GE Aerospace is a world-leading provider of jet engines, components and systems for commercial and military aircraft with an installed base of more than 44,000 commercial and 26,000 military aircraft engines.