GEE OPERATIONAL SOLUTIONS

THE CONNECTED AIRCRAFT:IMPLICATIONS FOR ANALYSIS

PRESENTED TO AGIFORS ANNUAL SYMPOSIUMAUGUST 26, 2015

JOSHUA MARKSSVP OPERATIONS SOLUTIONS

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CHALLENGES

Operational analysis systems use data to improve future planning, reduce operating cost and manage disruption

Core data requirements: • Reliable, complete, historical & real-time data • Robust and scalable data storage infrastructure• Tools to process, analyze, apply data to decision making

Source & send data

Store & link data

Solve problems

Three related challenges

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OUR VISION: AIRCRAFT TO ANALYST CONNECTIVITY

Get Aircraft DataCurrent position

Fuel burnAircraft health

Connect w/EFB

Transmit Air-to-GroundPrioritize data feedsStream from aircraftUpload to aircraft

Platform independent

Process, Analyze & SolveAdd other data & contextAnalyze data & fill gaps

Identify specific problemsFind solutions

Interface between cockpit, avionics & in-flight connectivity

Reads avionics dataPresents on EFBs

Transmits to IFC systems

Cloud-based platform to process, analyze and informData from dozens of sourcesRobust big data architectureFront-end apps & solutions

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COMMUNICATING THE ROIConnected Aircraft capability impacts major cost categories

Alaska Airlines (27th largest world airline)Est. $100 million cost opportunity from analytics

Fuel

Crews

Aircraft

Maintenance

Airports

Overflight/ATC

$1.2 billion

$550 million

$400 million

$300 million

$300 million

$25 million

Alaska Group Operating Expenses (2014), From DOT Form 41, Annual Report

Optimize flight path, speed, altitude2% decrease in fuel = $24 million annual savings

More flown hours per crewmember+1 round-trip/month each = $36 million

Tighten schedules, increase flights+1 day of flying a month = $13 million

Predict problems; stage parts & laborLower cost & fewer cancels = $10 million

Use gates & equipment efficientlyIncrease utilization 5% = $15 million

Audit overflight and airport billsIdentify 5% errors = $1.25 million

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REAL-TIME AIRCRAFT DATA

INTERNAL AIRLINE DATA

INDUSTRY-WIDEAIRLINE DATA

AIRCRAFT DATAVIA CONNECTIVITY

AIRPORT, WEATHER & RADAR DATA

INTEGRATEDCLOUD-BASED

DATA WAREHOUSE

PLANNING & ANALYSIS

REAL-TIME OPS MANAGEMENT

What’s different from ACARS? Higher volume, lower cost, faster transmission, privacy & easy integration

What are the critical enablers? Transmission over in-flight connectivity (IFC) + cloud data warehouses

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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Current Generation Next Generation

Example AircraftB737NG, A320ceo,

B757/767, B777, B747-400, A330, A340

A380, A350, B787, B747-8i,

B737MAX, A320neo

Avionics bus Analog Digital

Streams of data 20-40 discrete streams of avionics information

Sensor data – thousands of simultaneous streams

Data generationper operating month 5 gigabytes 30 terabytes

(~30,000 gigabytes)

InterfacesRequires analog-to-digital conversion through EFB

or interface device

Native digital connectivity to installed inflight connectivity

systems

Next-generation aircraft generate terabyte-scale data

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AIRCRAFT DATA CAPTURE

Flight Track & Position Equipment State Events (Change in State)

Latitude & longitudeAltitudeSpeed

Winds aloftAmbient temperature

Pitch and bankBarometerG forces

Transponder

Flap, gear, brakeAutopilot settingsEngine settings

Thrust reverser settingsSquat switchTrim settings

Fuel flowFuel on boardCabin doorsCargo doors

Cabin pressure

Fault messagesOOOI times

Doors open/closedAutopilot on/off

Autothrottles on/offTCAS warnings

Frequency changes

Tapping DFDR/QAR bus enables real-time mirroring of key operational information in terrestrial data warehouses

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IN-FLIGHT CONNECTIVITY OPTIONSIFC platforms offer cost-effective transmission of data, especially when paired with ground-based WiFi and 3G/4G redundancy

Global satellite service (PAC, GEE, soon GoGo 2Ku)Multi-satellite network for global coverage, including oceanicReserved operational bandwidth + cost-effective transmission

WiFi between aircraft and airport networksRequires both aircraft and airport equipment, transmission only during aircraft turns, high bandwidth – ideal for QAR download

Cellular-based data transmissionSingle SIM-card solutions offer data backup capability at remote airports – but costly relative to WiFi and satellite

ACARS VHF radio transmissionCostly, slow, message size restrictions & limited to ground-based radar coverage; satellite-based redundancy costs 2-3x more

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DATA PROCESSING & ANALYTICSOn-demand cloud warehouses and big data analysis systemsoffer terabytes of extensible storage and fast processing

Shift to SSDs (flash storage) driven 10x increases in performance, and cost gap narrowing quickly versus traditional HDD

1.2TB of data can be processed in under 10 seconds with Amazon Redshift – one month of 787 data crunched in 4 minutes

Compression of data costs over time

• Cost effective to load all data collected in unified warehouses• Interface through human, machine or application interfaces

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SUPPORTING IFC BUSINESS CASESConnected Aircraft systems benefit both passenger experience and operational performance – estimate ROI accordingly

Data for airport & schedule performanceRich airport, flight and weather data drives improvements in aircraft turn programs, flight planning and schedule development

Real-time maintenance informationBeyond ACARS with multiple data streams, two-way machine queries – allows proactive maintenance resolution

Fuel optimization & conservation supportHighly detailed flight track information enables real-time modification of flight plans to optimize fuel consumption

Regulatory compliance and reportingReal-time flight tracking; tarmac rule compliance; safety reporting systems and flight crew duty eligibility

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CONCLUSIONS

• Connected Aircraft impacts major cost categories across airline operations – with material benefit to efficiency & revenue potential

• From aircraft to analyst, a system of end-to-end capability

• Cockpit: transform sensor & avionics data into usable formats

• Transmission: fast, real-time, global capability for air-to-ground

• Processing: cloud and big data tools to collect and analyze data

GEE Operations Solutions

From aircraft to analyst: connectivity and analytics for aviation operations

Platform neutral: EFB, connectivity, solutions partnerships increase utility

Stand-alone: provide analytics & data solutions that are immediately useful

Next-gen capability: scalability to collect, use data from digital aircraft