Aircraft IT Operations Issue 4

ISSUE 4 • WINTER 2012

Future EFB Platforms

iPad is not the only choice

Planning fuel burn: a holistic budget is a useful budget Reducing fuel burn: taking fuel saving programs seriously Operations control: what can one system do?

White Papers: M2P Consulting, OSyS, ETS Aviation, Aviation Experts. Vendor Flight Log: BYTRON PLUS: News, Webinars and Operations Software Directory…all in our new, convenient landscape format

Is your airline equipped for today’s fast changing world?

Adopt fast, adapt faster

Can you switch services and applications on and off instantly? Are smartphones all your passengers need to book, check in and board?

Can you communicate and exchange operational information with your pilots around the globe?

And can you share real-time information with your workforce, wherever they are?

Now you can say “yes” every time.

Discover SITA’s intelligent airline vision at www.sita.aero/airlines

04 Latest News and Technology updates A New Year brings old and new challenges for Airlines and aircraft operators. Check the latest developments on http://www.aircraftit.com/Operations and here in AircraftIT Operations e-journal for the news, and who is making it, set out for your convenience.

Editor’s comment Aircraft IT Operations: looking to tomorrow’s capabilities and future needs.

Every issue of Aircraft IT Operations brings new developments. IT advances at such a pace and we want to ensure that Aircraft IT comes to readers in the most accessible and convenient format for their busy lives. Also, one advance often leads to another.

When we introduced the iPad app in the last issue, we struck a chord with a fast growing number of IT professionals. But they also asked if we could update from the traditional portrait to landscape orientation. That would enhance the reading experience for iPad users and those whose PC monitor or laptop screen is in the popular wide-screen format. We listened and bring you this latest issue in the landscape format that a majority of readers now prefer.

And, while on the matter of iPads, you’ll see in the News section that we are already working on a second generation app with enhanced features to add yet further value to your copy of Aircraft IT. But, of course, however we deliver it to you, our main concern is that the information in Aircraft IT Operations should be of the highest quality and from professionals who not only know their subject but also are well able to share their knowledge with our readers.

This issue includes items with different perspectives on the challenges of fuel budgeting and fuel saving; the already growing platform complexity that faces those selecting an EFB and the future systems requirements if Operations Control is to continue to do more to optimize operations.

As well as that, the Aircraft IT live demonstration webinars just go from strength to strength. With hundreds of participants already having participated to research the software package most appropriate for their needs, readers can also access past webinars and, of course, future webinars (already planned until mid-2012) are open for every reader who registers.

We feel really great about packing so much into your Aircraft IT issue: we hope that you’ll read it, enjoy it and use it to build your own knowledge bank.

Ed Haskey, Editor, Aircraft IT Operations COVER IMAGE: The Flight Focus Platform – Enhanced Class III EFB Solution CLICK HERE: Send your feedback and suggestions to AircraftIT OPS AircraftIT OPS is published bi-monthly and is an affiliate of Aircraft Commerce and part of the AviationNextGen Ltd group. The entire contents within this publication © Copyright 2012 AviationNextGen Ltd an independent publication and not affiliated with any of the IT vendors or suppliers. Content may not be reproduced without the strict written agreement of the publisher.

The views and opinions expressed in this publication are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of their companies or of the publisher. The publisher does not guarantee the source, originality, accuracy, completeness or reliability of any statement, information, data, finding, interpretation, advice, opinion, or view presented.

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Publisher/Editor:

E-mail:

Telephone:

Website: Copy Editor/Contributor: Magazine Production:

E-mail:

Ed Haskey ed.haskey@aircraft-commerce.com +44 1403 230 700 or +44 1273 700 555 www.aircraftIT.com John Hancock Dean Cook deancook@magazineproduction.com

10 WHITE PAPER: Future EFB platforms and hardware Christophe Mostert, Managing Partner at M2P Consulting GmbH Future choices and directions for EFB platforms are already more diverse than just iPad, and developments currently underway will by no means hand the market to Apple. But what are the choices today and how do they differ from one another?

16 WHITE PAPER: Managing fuel spend Siow Litingtung and Simon Mayes Consultants at OSyS Creating a useful fuel budget requires more than simply uplifting last year’s actual fuel burn by X%. There are many more variables than just the price of fuel that will generate variances in fuel burn and a good budget takes them all into account.

20 VENDOR FLIGHT LOG: Stephen Bailey explains the business thinking behind BYTRON’s success In the latest of our Q&A pieces, we ask Stephen Bailey, Managing Director at BYTRON Ltd., to open his ‘Vendor Flight Log’ for AircraftIT. 21 Upcoming live Operations software demonstration webinar A preview of the live Operations Software Demonstration Webinar for AIR SUPPORT’s PPS PCbased flight planning software system with integrated web based crew briefing system on 16th February 2012.

22 Past webinars: knowledge transfer and access for industry experts View Video Recordings of our Past Live Operations Software Demonstration Webinars See full information and view video recordings of past Live Operations Software Demos, including: Smart4Aviation, Optimized Systems and Solutions (OSyS) FuelPlus and FLYHT 24 WHITE PAPER: How to ensure an effective fuel saving program Ian Britchford Head of Fuel Conservation ETS Aviation (formerly EasyJet Fuel Conservation Manager) Fuel saving programs are becoming increasingly important for all sorts of reasons; too important to be the part-time add-on to another full-time function. Properly addressed, programs should leverage the best from experience across the business.

26 WHITE PAPER: The future of Operations Control Christian Lambertus and Benjamin Walther, Managing Partners at Aviation Experts PCS GmbH & Co. KG The role and function of operations control is growing as airlines add cost optimization to stability as objectives for flight operation. But, if they are to do more things, operations controllers will need better and easier to use systems.

30 Operations Software directory A detailed look at the world’s leading Operations IT systems.

4 | NEWS | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | WINTER 2012

Aircraft IT Operations welcomes Aviation42, IDMR Solutions, T&A Systeme GmbH, SITA, AvioVision and IFR France P

rofessionals in Aircraft IT face a daunting task: it isn’t just selecting the best system but being responsible for a significant investment that must have the capability not only to serve the airline or aircraft operator’s needs today but also for the future. Add to that the significant array of solution providers in the market, with the task of identifying all those who might have a solution appropriate for one operator’s purposes, let alone analysing, reviewing and comparing those solutions, and it would put even the best IT executive’s skills to a very demanding test.

Aircraft IT Portal aims to make that task more straightforward by providing a single platform on which potential software buyers can compare vendors. It is therefore with particular pleasure that we welcome six new Vendors to the portal: Aviation42, IDMR Solutions, T&A Systeme GmbH, SITA, AvioVision, IFR France and bring to 26 the number of Operations IT Vendors showcasing their software solutions on Aircraft IT Operations; offering unparalleled opportunities for airlines and aircraft operators to search through and keep upto-date with the latest software solutions and upgrades.

Aviation42 is a software company focused on providing Airlines with solutions in Sabre Reporting and Integration; Custom software development; Data Migration; System Integration; Middleware; RADIXX Interfaces; Fatigue Data Extracts. Developers are chosen very carefully by a business that prides itself on high levels of staff retention and consistency.

IDMR is a global provider of technical documentation management solutions designed exclusively for fleet operators, MRO providers and OEM organizations.

These solutions have proven success in increasing operational performance and decreasing operational cost while ensuring airworthiness, safety and regulatory compliance for airlines including Atlas Air, Polar Air, JetBlue and World Airways.

T&A Systeme GmbH is an IT-Service & solution provider, founded in 1994. The company has around 60 employees focused on customers with up to 10000 devices. They have solid international experience and, in addition to consulting services, the firm is a strategic partner for development of scalable future proof IT-solutions. With Logipad T&A provides an EFB Management solution, to handle and support any data on Class-I, Class-II and iPad Devices with one standardized ground process.

SITA is a specialist in air transport communications and IT solutions, delivering and managing business solutions for airline, airport, GDS, government and other customers. The firm’s portfolio includes managed global communications, infrastructure and outsourcing services, as well as services for airline commercial management, passenger operations, flight operations, aircraft operations, air-to-ground communications, airport management and operations, baggage operations, transportation security and border management, cargo operations and more.

AvioVision is a young Belgian company created to bring innovative solutions to common problems identified in mission-critical industries, such as aviation: AVIOBOOK® is the company’s next generation EFB software solution. With backgrounds as pilots and management executives, the founders of AvioVision have experience of keeping essential information up to date, looking for dispersed information in sometimes critical situations in the cockpit and the difficulties of communication between the airline’s backoffice and its pilots worldwide.

IFR France offers KEOPS (KEys for Operations and Planning System) as a complete information system for the spine of Airline operations. With the system, information is controlled and enhanced as events occur (Quotations, Flight launching, Performances, Analysis, Crew training and Logistics …) to analyse the activity and process its associated costs.

These financial data update a database to generate budget simulations, or hypothetic flight costs.

With this further extension of the line-up of high-quality IT solution providers, it is more than ever the case that Aircraft IT Portal is the place to go for airline and aircraft operator professionals seeking new software options or upgrades, or simply wishing to keep up with the latest developments. Either using the site itself, with its practical software search engine, or this eJournal, or in the live software demonstration webinars regularly hosted on the platform and the valuable recordings of past webinars also available on the site, Aircraft IT makes a challenging task more straightforward. The portal channels users’ professional skills, experience and knowledge towards a range of available solutions from which to select the one most suited to theirs and their business’s needs.

Flight Focus partners with ETS Aviation, putting the focus on Fuel Efficiency

Flight Focus announced in November 2011 that it has selected Aviation FuelSaver to Power its Fuel Management application on the firm’s Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) PLATFORM. Teaming up with Fuel Saving Specialist, ETS Aviation means Flight Focus can now offer clients further significant cost efficiencies by integrating the Aviation FuelSaver software into their Connected Electronic Flight Bag Platform. This joint offering includes consultancy, a key benefit to a successful Fuel Management program.

Stef Slavujevic, who heads the Global Sales and Business Development team for Flight Focus said, “Fuel efficiency is one of the highest priorities for airlines worldwide. Using [the] EFB platform solves the issues of gathering data required for Fuel Saving analyses, [feeding] the data directly into the FuelSaver software… real time or post flight.”

ETS Aviation has developed ETS Aviation FuelSaver combining software with consultancy on a low‐cost subscription basis. Aviation FuelSaver is led by Ian Britchford, formerly easyJet Fuel Conservation Manager where he was responsible for spearheading multi‐million‐dollar fuel‐saving initiatives.

Work commences on V2 of AircraftIT for iPad

Conduce Software announced in December 2011 that they have started work on the design and development of version 2 of AircraftIT for iPad, the highly successful app version of AircraftIT.com The first version of the AircraftIT app was launched in October of 2011 as a simple eReader for the latest AircraftIT eJournals. Version 2 is planned to allow users to browse back issues of the eJournals with alerts and downloads of the latest issues.

It is expected that the new version will be available for a free download from the iTunes app store early in the New Year. Please visit the Aircraft IT website for more information. The current version of AircraftIT for iPad can be downloaded by clicking here.

Lufthansa CityLine ups Avro RJ efficiency with Pacelab CI OPS

Regional carrier Lufthansa CityLine announced the January 2012 purchase of additional licenses for cost index software Pacelab CI OPS in order to optimize the operational efficiency of its BAe Avro RJ85 aircraft. The software will supply variable speed tables for the climb, cruise and descent phases, which can be used to create cost index-optimized flight plans.

Pacelab CI OPS is the brainchild of Lufthansa CityLine and Berlin software provider PACE. When run on Electronic Flight Bags, Pacelab CI OPS enables flight crews to determine the most cost-efficient trajectory in any given situation and to achieve significant enroute savings. The software is standard issue on board Lufthansa CityLine’s Bombardier and Embraer regional jets and is progressively being introduced to regional sister airlines Eurowings, Augsburg Airways and Air Dolomiti.

WINTER 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | NEWS | 5

SITA delivers realtime scheduling for 2,500 Oman Air staff

Oman Air announced in January 2012 the adoption of SITA’s resource management solution for planning, rostering, management and real-time scheduling of work tasks for its 2,500 employees at Muscat International Airport.

The new system allows tasks to be communicated to work crews using mobile communications and captures operational status and billing information in real-time. Implementation of the system will be completed early in 2012 and the agreement extends for five years.

This is SITA’s first deployment of the solution in the Middle East since WorkBridge A/S, an air transport industry provider in the field of mobile resource management solutions, became part of its airport solutions division in 2010. The resource management system is now an integral part of SITA’s overarching next-generation Airport Management Solution, focused on proactive, real-time control of airport operations.

Air France Contracts navAero for Multi-Fleet EFB Program navAero announced in January 2012 acceptance of the signed contract from Air France for supplying the t•BagC22 Electronic Flight Bag computer and display system hardware and technology/engineering services to fulfill the requirements of the Air France – New Generation EFB program. This initiative covers the airline’s fleet of A320, A330, A340 and 747 aircraft.

Dual networked installations of the navAero t•BagC22 hardware systems – featuring built-in HSDPA/UMTS/GRPS/EDGE and WiFi connectivity – will be installed on the aircraft flightdecks.

The installations will also incorporate the recently commercialized navAero Aircraft Interface Device (AID) for certified connectivity to aircraft systems to enable deployment of advanced software applications. navAero will also be providing proprietary developed software, integration services and Supplemental Type Certification (EASA STC) for each aircraft type.

Installation of the EFB systems will begin with provisions in mid-2012, and full implementation by the end of 2013.

OSyS signs contract with flydubai to make low cost carrier EU emissions compliant

Optimized Systems and Solutions (OSyS) signed a contract with flydubai in December 2011 to support the airline’s fuel conservation initiatives, as well as assisting in European Union (EU) emissions monitoring & reporting activities. OSyS will assist flydubai, Dubai’s pioneering low cost airline, with its fuel management strategy, including Emissions Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) that will enable the airline to meet EU standards should it start flying to member states in the future.

OSyS material explains that a trend is emerging in the aviation industry, regardless of business model and size of company, of airlines investing in proven means of managing operational fuel usage. While audits and recommendations are necessary steps, airlines are finding that an IT solution is a key to recognizing measurable fuel savings and maintaining initiatives. Every airline has volumes of data; seeing the exceptions and understanding where to focus drives accurate and timely response, enables practical changes.

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ARMS® and InfoPrompt® are Registered Trademarks of Sheorey Digital Systems Ltd. Mumbai, India.

6 | NEWS | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | WINTER 2012

AeroMechanical Services announce orders

First AFIRS 228 production units shipped to customers AeroMechanical Services Ltd. shipped the first three production units of the next generation Automated Flight Information Reporting System (AFIRSTM) 228B to customers for implementation and integration testing in November 2011. The production units passed the quality assurance tests conducted by the Company prior to shipment as well as all hardware and software tests.

AMA will receive Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) on many models when flight tests are completed later this year. A ‘provisions’ STC has already been received for the Boeing 777, the Bombardier CRJ 900 and the Hawker 987 series and a launch installation has been completed on the Hawker. The equipment must undergo a flight test to complete each STC and the CRJ 900 will be the next to fly.

The 228B is the first release in the series of 228 products, which are a new generation of AMA’s AFIRS product line. When the AFIRS 228S is completed in early 2012, the AFIRS 228 family will be fully certified to provide safety services, voice, data, text, and electronic flight bag (EFB) integration, including support of ACARS over Iridium and FANS over Iridium. It is anticipated that one version of the 228 – the 228U – will provide Link 2000+ Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) compliance for some aircraft types and will be available before the EU deadlines.

New AFIRS 220 contract signed in Nigeria

Also in November 2011, AeroMechanical Services Ltd. signed a contract with a Nigerian airline for the Automated Flight Information Reporting Click here for full SOFTWARE details and for a demo

System (AFIRSTM) 220. The contract requires AMA to install the AFIRS 220 on six Fokker 100 aircraft for a leading domestic operator in Nigeria. The airline will use AFIRS to automate data, gain operational data accuracy from its aircraft and increase operational efficiency. The customer will benefit from all AFIRS features, including automated Out, Off, On and In (OOOI) times, engine trending, airframe and engine exceedances, flight tracking and satellite voice communications.

The airline is another operator in Nigeria taking steps to follow the recommendations of Dr. Harold Demuren, Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), to implement a flight tracking system to increase safety and improve airline operational efficiency.

AeroMechanical Services awarded European Patent

AeroMechanical Services Ltd. announced in December 2011 that it has received a patent from the European Patent Office for the Aircraft Flight Data Management System. AMA owns all its patents outright and with the receipt of this patent, AMA has patents for its products and services on three continents.

The patent covers AMA’s signature trademarked product, the Automated Flight Information Reporting System (AFIRSTM). The first patent for this product was received in April 2007 from the United States Patent and Trademark office and a subsequent Certificate of Invention Patent from China was announced in a news release on June 1, 2011.

Generally, other countries accept patent rights from Europe and the

United States in their own jurisdictions.

The European patent relates to the delivery of data from airborne hardware through ground-based infrastructure and covers everything that AMA currently provides its clients.

AeroMechanical Services signs a new Canadian customer

In January 2012, AeroMechanical Services Ltd. signed a contract with an airline that will become the Company’s largest Canadian customer for seven Automated Flight Information Reporting System (AFIRSTM) 220 and 12 of the next generation AFIRS 228B, for a total of 19 aircraft. The contract requires AMA to install AFIRS 220 and AFIRS 228B on Boeing 737-200, 767-200F and ATR–42/72 aircraft. The airline has been in business for over half a century, operating in major Canadian centers and remote northern regions; also operating charter flights within the country.

AFIRS will enable real-time flight following and 24/7 connectivity between the aircraft and operations through the Iridium satellite communications system. The airline will also utilize AMA’s other services including engine trending, airframe and engine exceedances, and Out, Off, On and In times. The airline will use the data AFIRS provides to operate its Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) program, a type of safety monitoring program.

AMA will provide equipment and services to the airline over a five-year contract. Installations are scheduled to begin within the year and be completed over the next 18 months. The installations for the Boeing 767-200F and ATR–42/72 will commence upon AMA receiving all necessary certifications and no issues are anticipated for the completion of the certifications.

WINTER 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | NEWS | 7

SkyWork Airlines select Aviobook EFB

Right at the end of January 2012, AvioVision signed a contract with Swiss operator, SkyWork Airlines, to equip its fleet with the AVIOBOOK® EFB. SkyWork Airlines will use the AVIOBOOK® to further enhance its efficiency and growth based on the current features and expansion options that the EFB platform provides.

SkyWork Airlines will use Class 1 devices on its Dornier and Bombardier fleet, starting with a basic suite of modules consisting of MAIN, LIBRARY, WEIGHT & BALANCE and PERFORMANCE. In a second phase, this basic set will be expanded with REPORTS, OFP and BRIEFING to yield a completely paperless flight deck environment and integrated airline concept.

Smart BRIEF CABIN – Best Mobile App in 2011 Webbies

The 2011 Webbies, by Flightglobal, winners were announced in early February 2012 and, in the awards’ newest category, Best Mobile App, Smart BRIEF CABIN was named winner by judges Henk Ombelet, Flightglobal’s head of product development, and Sergio Mello, founder and chief executive of SATISFLY. The judges were impressed with the breadth of functionality provided by this app, developed by Smart4Aviation and available on iPhone, BlackBerry and Android. They acknowledge that feedback from crew had been very positive and take-up very fast as, in the words of the judges, “Smart Brief Cabin takes access to cabin crew management systems to a new level”.

Smart4Aviation is especially pleased about the success of Smart Brief CABIN because The Flightglobal Webbies award this year makes the firm’s Smart BRIEF CABIN application a ‘Triple Crown Winner’, with its previous recognition through the ‘Mercurys’ Award in Processes and Systems category, and ‘Best Technical Innovation – Airline’; both awarded in 2011.

WHO’S IN THE NEWS: AIRLINES AND AIRCRAFT OPERATORS About flydubai

flydubai currently operates a fleet of 17 aircraft with many more due to be delivered in the months and years ahead – the carrier has ordered more than 50 Boeing 737 aircraft. The operating model is simple with customers only paying for services they want to receive. flydubai operates from the modernised Terminal 2 building on the north side of Dubai International Airport.

About Oman Air

Oman Air, the designated carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, is committed to the basic objective of providing safe, reliable and profitable air transport services for passengers and cargo as well as other aviation related services. Oman Air has its hub base at Muscat International Airport in Muscat.

About Air France

Air France is the French flag carrier, one of the world’s largest airlines and a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group. It operates a mixed fleet of

Airbus and Boeing wide-bodied jets on long-haul routes, and uses Airbus A320 family aircraft on shorthaul routes.

About Lufthansa CityLine

Lufthansa CityLine, as a wholly-owned Group company of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, is one of five partners in the Lufthansa Regional concept.

Currently, 6.4 million passengers fly with Lufthansa CityLine every year. With its fleet of 60 medium- and short-range jets, CityLine serves all important airports across Europe with a total of up to 350 daily flights.

About SkyWork Airlines.

Founded in 1983, SkyWork Airlines is a young and dynamic airline focusing on the passenger as the center of its services. Currently SkyWork operates 4 Dornier 328 and 2 Bombardier Dash-8 Q400 aircraft out of Bern, Switzerland to over 11 destinations in winter and 25 in summer. SkyWork Airlines has also been the first airline to provide iPads to all their passengers in flight.

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8 | NEWS | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | WINTER 2012

WHO’S IN THE NEWS: VENDORS

Click here for full SOFTWARE details and for a demo

About Flight Sciences International

Flight Sciences International is a provider of comprehensive fuel conservation programs for commercial airlines. Since 1992, Flight Sciences has helped airlines worldwide to reduce their fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

About AVIOVISION

About ETS Aviation

ETS Aviation has specialized in fuel‐efficiency programs and emissions data management since early 2009. The firm created Aviation FuelSaver™, software and consultancy program having already launched a software and consultancy solution called Aviation Footprinter™, for managing EU ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme) requirements.

About navAero

navAero, headquartered in Sundsvall, Sweden develops and commercializes electronic flight bag products.

About PACE

About AeroMechanical Services

EU-ETS Emissions Trading System Aviaso/EU-ETS ensures full compliance with the

Full regulatory compliance Automated data collection

EU Emissions Trading System legislation. The software supports fully automated data collection,

and comes with adapters directly connecting to the major airline IT systems. High data quality is

Guaranteed high data quality

achieved with over twenty ready-made validations

and cross-check routines. Besides all standard

EU-ETS reports many more reports are available for additional analyses and auditing purposes.

Aviaso

connecting aviation and software

Comprehensive reporting

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www.aviaso.com

Aviaso Inc. · Huobstrasse 10 · CH-8808 Pfaeffikon · Switzerland · Phone: +41 55 422 0000 · www.aviaso.com · info@aviaso.com

AvioVision N.V. is a Belgian company offering solutions facilitating the integration of technologies in its products to deliver smart solutions for front line and back-office staff and able to react quickly to customer requests. These abilities support their EFB product and the service for customers. The team at AvioVision combines an extensive background in aviation and thorough knowledge of airline flight operations, with an expert knowledge of mobile IT platforms and software usability.

About Flight Focus

Flight Focus Pte Ltd is a flight operations solutions and services provider for the aviation industry.

The primary business is to provide for airlines an open and complete Electronic Flight Bag solution via the Flight Focus PLATFORM. Flight Focus has headquarters in Singapore, with offices and staff located worldwide.

AeroMechanical Services Ltd., under the brand name FLYHTTM, provides proprietary technological products and services designed to reduce costs and improve efficiencies in the airline industry.

The company has patented and commercialized three products and associated services. Its premier technology, AFIRS™ UpTime™, allows airlines to monitor and manage aircraft operations anywhere, anytime, in real time.

About Optimized Systems and Solutions (OSyS)

OSyS is a long-established business with a history of commercial aviation expertise, and with a number of airline customers taking advantage of the company’s Fuel Management Solution.

About SITA SITA specializes in air transport communications and IT solutions for airline, airport, GDS, government and other customers.

Created and owned by the air transport community, SITA is the community’s dedicated partner for information and communications technology.

PACE, with offices in Germany and the US, develops and distributes intelligent software solutions for aircraft and engine manufacturers, airlines, MRO providers and leasing companies; supporting the entire life cycle of the aircraft, from marketing and design to customization and flight operations. Major areas of application are conceptual aircraft and aircraft systems design, cabin configuration, performance analysis and the management of fuel and operational efficiency in flight operations.

The WEBBIES Awards

The WEBBIES Awards, from Flightglobal, celebrate and acknowledge the best and brightest aviation websites and online activities. Now in its fourth year with new and improved categories, Flightglobal welcomes entries and nominations from the entire online aviation community, from established industry leaders to striving newcomers to enter themselves or nominate an airport, airline or aircraft manufacturer or other aerospace company.

THE AIRLINE & AEROSPACE MRO & FLIGHT OPERATIONS IT CONFERENCE 2012 – MIAMI, 13TH & 14TH MARCH 2012 The World’s leading MRO and OPS IT Conference in the Americas for airline and independent MRO personnel involved with reviewing, selecting or using MRO & Flight Operations IT systems.

Presentations including : iPad/Tablet technology in the Flight Deck EFB Project Management MRO Data Migration Possibility of a paperless MRO Industry Fuel Management Solutions Airline Mergers – merging 2 MRO systems together

Workshops including : An iPad/Tablet Strategy Masterclass An EFB Masterclass Business Analytics for the Airline MRO Industry Independent Auditing of MRO Implementations Fuel Saving Masterclass Discuss your current or new system requirements with and have demos from over 40 leading MRO and Flight Operations IT suppliers in attendance.

Two nights free accommodation available for Aircraft IT Members (airlines, aircraft operators and MROs) registering via +44 1403 230 888/307 or stephen@aircraft-commerce. com and quoting registration code MIA2012.

Hear and discuss the latest industry trends and developments

For further details on the Miami conference and our EMEA version of the event in Frankfurt, 12th & 13th June 2012 and APAC version in Bangkok, 17th & 18th October 2012 call +44 1403 230 888/307 or visit: www.aircraft-commerce.com/conferences/

10 | WHITE PAPER: M2P CONSULTING | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | WINTER 2012

W

Future EFB platforms and hardware It may seem like an iPad market today but, as Christophe Mostert, Managing Partner at M2P Consulting explains, other solutions are available and developing fast

ithin the last decade, the whole aviation industry has begun to focus to an increasing extent on its ecological footprint. Airbus’ and Boeing’s recent announcements to introduce their new, more economical Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX series are clearly in line with that trend. The European Union also still wants to include the aviation sector into its carbon emission-trading scheme. In addition to all of this, the price for jet fuel has risen dramatically over the last 10 years and, as a result, airlines are working to reduce their kerosene consumption. This can most easily be achieved through more economic engines and less overall weight.

One area where weight can be reduced is in the cockpit with regard to the documentation that a pilot needs. Whereas, originally, several large folders of paper manuals, route charts and other documents were necessary and so had to be carried on board, pilots today can have all of the necessary information available within one device. The ‘Electronic Flight Bag’ (EFB) has become increasingly common in the last couple of years as it is not only lighter than traditional paper based flight bags but it also allows for easier distribution of updates to maps and documentation.

With the success of the Apple iPad, the number of major airlines around the world that are starting to use tablet based EFBs is growing rapidly. At the same time, an increasing number of hardware manufacturers are now entering the market while software vendors are adapting their programs to the new possibilities. But, while the concept of tablets in one form or another is not entirely new, until the introduction of the Apple iPad in 2010, those were mostly derived from standard PC technology and therefore relatively large and heavy.

Nowadays, the iPad is undoubtedly the most popular tablet on the market, but is it also the best EFB platform available? Do airlines selecting iPad based EFB solutions receive the same value for money and as good a technical solution as they do with other offerings on the market? Is the whole iPad discussion just current hype or will it have a profound and lasting impact on the airline industry?

With this article we try to shed some light onto these questions. The first part provides a good overview of what the actual differences between a regular laptop and the new tablet solutions are. After that we will compare Apple’s iOS platform against Google Android and Microsoft Windows.

Hardware

Apart from the form factor, the main difference between laptops and tablets are the CPUs. The Intel and AMD CPUs used in PCs and laptops implement the so called ‘x86’ architecture whereas Apple and Android tablets are built around CPUs which implement the ‘ARM’ architecture. Where the former offers a lot more performance, the latter is far more power efficient

WINTER 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WHITE PAPER: M2P CONSULTING | 11 Click here for full SOFTWARE details and for a demo

The ‘Electronic Flight Bag’ (EFB) has become increasingly common in the last couple of years as it is not only lighter than traditional paper based flight bags but it also allows for easier distribution of updates to maps and documentation and therefore optimized for mobile devices. However, the two architectures are not compatible, i.e. software written for one of the architectures cannot be run on the other without adaptations.

Until the recent introduction of tablets into the cockpit, EFBs were typically based on standard laptop computers. And due to the evolution of laptops over the last two and a half decades, in some key aspects they have an edge over tablets: • They offer higher performance than tablets: the processing power of the best available CPUs in laptops is of an order of magnitude greater as is the size of the internal storage or the amount of main memory. This also helps to boost their price/ performance ratio as does the tough competition in this market.

• There is a large variety of devices to choose from: from small, light and cheap netbooks, through models able to run on battery for even the longest long-haul flights to extremely robust devices that can resist water and dust; hardware manufacturers supply laptops to suit almost every possible application.

• Laptops are built to be flexible and extensible using standard components and interfaces. Possible extensions include scanners and printers, TV and radio receivers, external hard drives, keyboards, mice and monitors; to name but a few.

Against this, tablets are an exciting new option as an EFB platform and they also offer some specific advantages over laptops: • They are light and compact. Typical tablets weigh between 600 to 800 grams, whereas there are only very few laptop models that weigh less than 1500 grams without making too many compromises; e.g. in… build quality, performance or price. Also, tablets are roughly the size of a printed magazine.

• They can be used more intuitively. The use of touch gestures allows the literal implementation of Bill Gates’ vision, from 1995, of “information at your fingertips”; introduced by Apple with the iPhone and perfected with the introduction of the iPad. • In everyday use, tablets have a longer battery life than most laptops.

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12 | WHITE PAPER: M2P CONSULTING | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | WINTER 2012

The Flight Focus Platform – Enhanced Class III EFB Solution.

So, what impact do these different features have on their use as EFB? With currently available tablet based EFB solutions, performance is not a problem, because the tablets are used mainly as a replacement for paper based maps and documentation. Displaying, say, a moving map or NOTAMs, or searching for airport specific information does not require a great deal of processing power.

Although laptop based solutions are also used to calculate take-off performance data and, for this function, need more processing power, these calculations are done before take-off. Therefore the performance gap between tablets and laptops may not have as much impact in daily use as might be expected.

On the one hand, faster tablets are rapidly being developed and the first quad-core devices have been available since before the end of 2011, narrowing the aforementioned performance gap. On the other hand, this rapid development of new devices may also pose problems, especially in an aviation environment.

First of all, new devices have to undergo certification by the responsible authorities (e.g. the FAA) to be used as EFBs; this costs time and money. Secondly, the positions of buttons and interfaces as well as the dimensions are not standardized and consequently, docking stations and other accessories are not interchangeable between different devices, mostly not even from the same manufacturer. Last but not least, older models are probably not compatible with newer

software updates (see below).

To address these problems, many laptop manufacturers offer models that are either available for an extended timespan and/or that offer compatibility with the same accessories over several hardware generations. The tablet market, however, is currently focused on consumers rather than on business users and therefore such stable platforms are not yet available for tablets.

For use in the cockpit, extensibility is currently not so much of an issue since Class 1 EFBs are used independently from the aircraft and, at most, need a power source and probably a mount. However, the development of tablet-based Class 2 EFBs is likely to suffer from the lack of extensibility options and standards.

Software platforms

The operating system is another important consideration in an EFB device. Most importantly, the more appealing a platform is to developers and software vendors, the more competitive the market becomes and, as a result, the more the choices and the better the prices will be. Secondly, the timespan for which an operating system is supported by its manufacturer and the extent to which software compatibility is maintained between different versions determines the longevity of an airline’s investments in EFB related hard- and software.

Searching for EFB Solutions on iPad and other Platforms?

Use the Aircraft IT Operations Portal to: • Search through a list of major EFB Vendors • Explore the possibility of the iPad in the Flight Deck • Watch live EFB software demonstration webinars Visit the Aircraft IT Portal for full details by clicking here.

WINTER 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WHITE PAPER: M2P CONSULTING | 13 Click here for full SOFTWARE details and for a demo

Apple offers a popular and homogeneous, yet tightly locked, eco-system. Android is very open and offers more diverse hardware than Apple while Windows still is the most versatile and proven platform of the three. It also offers extensive support for enterprise environments Last but not least, in the case of tablets the choices of operating system and hardware are interdependent: the iPad runs on Apple’s iOS whereas the rest of the market uses Google Android. In this respect, laptops are more flexible: while Microsoft Windows remains the most popular operating system, a large number of Linux distributions are available as well. On Apple’s computers, MacOS X is another option.

As an operating system for personal computers, Microsoft Windows has dominated the market for two decades. Due to its large market share and widespread use by businesses, Microsoft traditionally attaches great importance to protecting its customers’ investments.

One aspect of this is to maintain downwards compatibility in Windows, i.e. software written for an older version of Windows also runs on later generations of the operating system. Microsoft also offers support options to provide security updates and hotfixes for a given Windows version for at least ten years after market launch. These advantages have helped to make Windows a very attractive platform for developers of EFB solutions.

While Windows based EFB solutions were first introduced more than ten years ago, Apple’s iOS is still a new player in this market and one which differs in several aspects. Apple’s business model is based on a tight integration of hardware and software. Applications (‘apps’) for the iPad can only be bought in and installed from Apple’s own AppStore (where they earn Apple a 30% commission on the revenue generated).

This integration allows Apple to offer a homogeneous platform to developers who, in turn, have to optimize their software for only a limited number of devices.

Combined with easy access to millions of potential customers through the AppStore, iOS has quickly become the platform of choice for a lot of app developers. Therefore, in the past, many apps available on iOS have been published for Android either later or not at all. Also, due to the limited number of different devices running iOS, Apple offers updates even for relatively old devices. For example, the iPhone 3GS introduced in June 2009 received the recent update to iOS5 whereas the Google Nexus (presented in January 2010) will not be updated to the new Android 4.0.

Furthermore, the amount of accessories and additional hardware available for Apple’s devices is not matched by those of any competitor in the tablet market. However, these advantages come at a cost both for developers and professional users.

First and foremost, Apple effectively has a hardware and software monopoly for the iOS platform. For instance, Apple reviews apps before offering them in the AppStore and even reserves the right to remotely uninstall them under certain conditions. Another example is Apple’s refusal to support Adobe Flash or alternative browsers on its devices.

Also, Apple’s strategy clearly focuses on consumers rather than business users and adapts its products and services for the latter only if necessary. For example, to make the concept of the AppStore more viable for enterprise customers, Apple recently introduced a ‘Volume Purchase Program’ for centralized software purchase and provisioning. However, it is currently only available to enterprises in the United States.

With the Linux based Android, Google takes a different approach. In contrast to Windows and iOS, Android is open source and can be used by manufacturers free of charge. Only if they want to use the ‘Market’ (the Android equivalent to the AppStore) and Google software, such as Google Maps, do manufacturers need to have their devices certified by Google. But even on certified devices it is possible to install software from other sources than the Google Market. This strategy, however, is a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, it leaves room for hard- and software adaptations to special requirements, leading to more diverse hardware offerings. Panasonic for instance has just announced the Toughpad A1, a robust Android tablet whose protection against water, dust and impact is certified to the MIL-STD-810G and IP65 standards.

On the other hand, the open structure of Android may lead to a fragmentation of the market. The longterm results of this remain to be seen in the future.

In the smartphone market Android has reached a market share of 52.5 % in Q3/2011 according to market researchers Gartner. In the next few years, the tablet market will probably develop in a similar way. Accordingly, Android is becoming increasingly

14 | WHITE PAPER: M2P CONSULTING | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | WINTER 2012

ABOUT M2P CONSULTING

M2P is a consulting company with considerable expertise and broad knowledge within the Travel, Transport & Logistics industry. Excellent consulting proficiency, entrepreneurship and the competence to reliably create value, build the basis for the firm’s promises and achievement to deliver innovation, strive for performance and care about people. By providing high quality content coupled with distinct methodologies, M2P has helped to sustainably improve customers’ performance for more than a decade. The company challenges top performers and attracts high potentials due to its open-minded environment.

By keeping promises and providing measurable value, M2P partners clients, focusing on three business areas: Management Consulting, Professional Services and IT Services.

Christophe Mostert

Managing Partner, M2P Consulting

important as a platform for professional app developers and the above quoted shortcomings in the availability of apps on Android are already being reduced.

Summary and outlook

Air Berlin just recently announced that they are going to upgrade their whole fleet with Windows based EFBs from NavAero. While NavAero also offer tablet based solutions, they still consider these to be only Class 2 EFB ‘Lite’ Systems. However, in contrast to the solution used by AirBerlin, tablet based EFBs are not fixed in the aircraft and can be used in other situations, e.g. for briefings or (with a built-in camera) to document technical issues inside or outside the aircraft.

All three platforms — Apple iPad/iOS, Android tablets and Windows laptops — have specific advantages. Apple offers a popular and homogeneous, yet tightly locked, eco-system. Android is very open and offers more diverse hardware than Apple while Windows still is the most versatile and proven platform of the three. It also offers extensive support

for enterprise environments but is not optimized for tablets. From the EFB perspective, the iPad still has to demonstrate that its consumer oriented hardware can withstand the rough flight ops environment. In this regard, Android tablets are already in the lead but still lack EFB software support.

All things considered, we believe that the EFB of the future will be a tablet that combines three main properties: the diversity of Android hardware, the efficiency of the ARM platform and the enterprise features and long-term stability of Windows.

What today may sound like wishing for the impossible is likely to become planning for the feasible with the launch of Windows 8, which is expected for the fall of 2012. Windows 8 will offer a user interface that is optimized for tablets and — for the first time — will not only run on x86- but also on ARM-based CPUs. The first prototype tablets running Windows 8 have already been shipped to developers and major manufacturers such as Asus and Nokia have announced their support.

The next step in the evolution of EFBs probably has just appeared on the horizon. n

A native of Frankfurt Germany, Christophe Mostert has a Master of Computer Science and Economics.

He is a founding partner of M2P Consulting. M2P Consulting is a Frankfurt-based management consulting firm specializing in productivity improvement and process automation in airline operations as well as other areas of the aviation industry. Christophe has over 18 years experience in the aviation industry.

He has worked on a wide variety of projects ranging from process reengineering and IT implementations to various feasibility and strategy studies for both airlines and airports around the world. He was most recently the project manager for a successful MRO system implementation at a major Eastern European airline.

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16 | WHITE PAPER: OSYS | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WINTER 2012

The fuel budgeting complexities Understanding the complexity of fuel budgeting, say Siow Litingtung and Simon Mayes Consultants at OSyS, is a very important step towards mastering this critical process

F

uel Budgeting is a difficult, time consuming and potentially flawed process that has to be undertaken by all airlines but with few achieving any real degree of accuracy. Based on experience in the industry, we understand that fuel budgets are anecdotally inaccurate up to +/- 10%, which equates to a large financial impact for any airline.

Fuel budgeting involves collecting large volumes of data, related to operational fuel burn and from various sources, before turning it into a cost model

to manage fuel expenditure. However, simply taking data from the previous calendar year as a baseline and adding a conservative factor to pad next year’s budget will rarely produce an accurate forecast for fuel expenditure. This inherent inaccuracy often results in the need for re-forecasting activity throughout the budget period. Static, two dimensional spreadsheets are generally the tool of choice for the current generation of airline fuel budget setters. This can result in a lengthy process, error prone, often frustrating for all stakeholders involved and, as often,

not providing the required visibility across all factors that need to be considered in the budgeting process.

Changes and variances to the budget are also difficult to manage with this process.

As an alternative, by using the right solution and taking advantage of all operational fuel data available, the process can be both dynamic and collaborative, leading to greater accuracy. Managing the operational data and understanding its complexity can, in turn, improve the underlying assumptions within a fuel budget. This supports better insight to be delivered

two dimensional spreadsheets are generally the tool of choice for the current generation of airline fuel budget setters. This can result in a lengthy process, error prone, often frustrating to the right functions within an organization and for the necessary changes to be applied to generate the new budget more accurately. Additionally, any substantial variance from fuel budgets can be identified earlier and appropriate corrective measures taken to calculate a better forecast. Our experience at Optimized Systems and Solutions (OSyS) indicates that a typical fuel budget can include error in excess of 10%; however, by using analytics through a flexible, intuitive Fuel Management Solution (FMS), this can be significantly reduced.

WINTER 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WHITE PAPER: OSYS | 17 Click here for full SOFTWARE details and for a demo

Manage your data

Airlines have a network of complex operational systems that contain direct and indirect fuel related information.

Depending on the level of IT data integration, some of the fuel data (e.g. fuel uplift recorded on invoices) may be time consuming to extract and, even then, yield inaccurate or inconsistent results. Good data quality is critical to influence the right organizational behavior and it supports the correct assumptions required for fuel budgeting. An automated FMS can consolidate all fuel data into a single, trusted database with inherent tracking of data quality.

Understand the complexity

Airlines use various Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track and forecast fuel usage once the fuel budget has been set. Some, such as Burn per Block Hour, are simple measures that do not take into account many

operational factors, and therefore, understanding their variances can be challenging. Some of most common factors that affect fuel usage are: • Aircraft/Engine performance; • Aircraft type changes; • Fuel savings initiatives; • Crew technique; • Payload; • Routing; • Weather; • Airspace restrictions; • Congestion.

Understanding the complexity of all these factors will improve the assumptions and accuracy of fuel budgeting. Once a fuel budget has been set, managing the data complexity and reporting the impact of the variances are crucial to maintain forecast accuracy, and to indicate if and when re-forecasting becomes a requirement.

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18 | WHITE PAPER: OSYS | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WINTER 2012

Apply changes to generate the new budget

Traditionally, a fuel budget is created by a wholesale regeneration of what happened in the previous year, but with some minor alterations. In order to better understand operational complexity, various functional teams are consulted for input: • The Sales teams have targets for load factor and revenue, and to highlight any exceptional routes so that type changes and increased capacity can be accommodated in the plan.

• The Flight Operations team may have specific targets to reduce fuel consumption using methods such as improving pilot technique, reducing engine taxi fuel, promoting Flaps 3 landings when applicable and reducing the amount of discretionary fuel loaded.

• Marketing and Cabin Services may be changing the onboard service, increasing onboard sales or passenger convenience items.

• Engineering can target processes such as engine washing and aerodynamic cleanliness for fuel efficiency improvement.

Prior to issuing the fuel budget for the next season, many iterations involving all key stakeholders, are normal. The process can involve multiple, extensive ‘deep-dives’ into the fuel data and producing a variety of ‘what-if’ scenarios.

Performance deterioration of aircraft and engine assets do not often get the consideration that is necessary in fuel budgeting process but the engineering maintenance

program for the fleet can significantly alter operational fuel burn signatures over the course of the season.

Aligning the level of engineering maintenance and rework with the fuel burn targets for the next season develops a more comprehensive fuel budgeting picture.

Initiatives such as single engine taxi can substantially impact fuel burn, and taking this type of initiative into account within the budgeting process, again, produces a more complete and accurate forecast.

Additional considerations may involve comparing block times from previous schedule operations to this season’s program as slot times may have changed; this may potentially require flying faster to meet punctuality goals. As part of the iterative process, APU usage at individual airports may also have to be reviewed and optimized to take into account existing and future ground handling contracts to ensure cost effectiveness.

Beyond these examples and considerations highlighted, in reality there may be many more levers with varying impact on fuel which should be taken into account across an airline’s network, in order to appropriately generate a new budget. It is therefore much more beneficial to have a flexible, automated Fuel Management Solution with in-built modeling that easily manages the intricacies of creating and monitoring the budget, keeping sight of whether it is in line with strategic targets .Optimally, an FMS should capture the essence of operational complexity into one fuel budget value with the ability to adjust for operational forecast changes.

WINTER 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WHITE PAPER: OSYS | 19

the engineering maintenance program for the fleet can significantly alter operational fuel burn signatures over the course of the season. Aligning the level of engineering maintenance and rework with the fuel burn targets for the next season develops a more comprehensive fuel budgeting picture Understand and manage variance

Once the fuel budget has been established, the constant challenge to understand and manage variances to the budget begins. Invariably an approved fuel budget becomes outdated since it cannot reflect actual operational variables (e.g. more passengers were carried for a particular month than what was assumed in the budget and therefore fuel usage was higher). This ‘measure the measurement’ activity can be painfully time consuming. A robust FMS can easily help differentiate between any variance due to justified attributable causes as opposed to performance related inefficiencies that need to be addressed. Using an effective FMS will greatly facilitate communicating variances from the fuel budget plan (and their reasons) to the appropriate airline budget holders, thus reducing decision making complexity. This is best executed through an automated solution that can configure complex business rules to alert on non-adherence to best practice, or to track shifts in performance using predictive modeling capabilities – both at an individual asset and network wide level. Utilizing high quality, trusted data and model driven information provides insights to the efficiency and effectiveness of initiatives, and to policy adherence.

ABOUT OPTIMIZED SYSTEMS AND SOLUTIONS (OSYS)

Today’s operational environments are becoming increasingly complex, resulting in exploding data volumes and decision-making in silos that produce and share information on a limited basis. OSyS Operations Optimization solutions harness the true power of data, enabling better decision making based on the essential drivers that affect a company’s operational performance, using evidence based analysis to supplement expert opinion. OSyS has been serving the commercial aviation market with proven optimization solutions for over a decade, delivering important innovations for critical functions such as fuel conservation and emissions environmental impact reporting. Find out more at www.o-sys.com

Siow Litingtung

Consultant, Optimized Systems and Solutions (OSyS)

© Banol2007 | Dreamstime.com

Summary

Better fuel budgeting using an automated Fuel Management Solution has obvious financial and operational benefits. With an accurate budget based on good assumptions, airlines will be able to cut out unnecessary expense, save money, and take intelligent action when variances occur. Therefore, they can maintain a sharper focus on keeping their business competitive by responding more quickly to changing customer needs, by maintaining an accurate fuel budget for planning purposes and by delivering actionable insights across the entire organization. n

Siow Litingtung is a Consultant at Optimized Systems and Solutions (OSyS). Based in Derby, England, Litingtung leads operational fuel modelling for OSyS. Prior to assuming his consultant role in January 2010, Litingtung spent 10 years in various groups within RollsRoyce plc. During this period, Litingtung has held a variety of technical performance roles within the Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace business for Trent 500, 700 and 900 large engine programs, as well as corporate & regional and military engine projects in Rolls-Royce North America.

He was also the Fuel Conservation Manager for easyJet within their Operations team and he managed a broad, cross-functional program of fuel conservation initiatives to deliver the corporate target for fuel burn efficiency improvement.

Litingtung holds a B.Sc. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Washington and a M.Sc. in mechanical engineering with emphasis on propulsion and aeromechanics from Purdue University.

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Simon Mayes

Consultant, Optimized Systems and Solutions (OSyS)

Simon Mayes is an experienced Fuel efficiency Manager with more than 20 years at one of the UK’s leading airlines. His extensive experience in Operations and Engineering includes such roles as Maintenance Control Centre Manager, Operations Engineering Manager and Planning and Logistics Manager. As Fuel Efficiency Manager Simon worked closely with IATA, Star Alliance and the Lufthansa Group on fuel efficiency initiatives and measurement techniques. He has also worked directly with the UK Department for Transport, Department for Energy and Climate Change and the European Union regarding implementation and verification of EU ETS. Within his tenure, Simon led a programme that reduced fuel consumption by 2.9%.

Simon has been an airline pioneer in the analysis of flight efficiency, encouraging adoption of computerised analysis and reporting tools.

On joining OSyS, Simon has taken on a Senior Consulting role involving maximising the value attainable from such systems, and contributing to the forward product roadmap for the OSYS Fuel Management Solution (FMS).

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Vendor Flight Log

20 | VENDOR FLIGHT LOG | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WINTER 2012

Stephen Bailey, Managing Director, BYTRON Ltd.

management experience in a variety Stephen Bailey is a qualified industrial engineer with over 35 years companies. He has considerable of industries, including the position of managing director in three The last twenty years has been spent experience in business process redesign and company turnaround. but with significant involvement in working in aviation data systems, principally in an executive role ted systems dedicated to Aviation analysis and design, leading to the delivery of leading edge integra s licence. both in the UK and overseas. Stephen also holds a commercial pilot’

Success behind BYTRON AircraftIT: Your name, your job title and the name of the business?

Stephen Bailey: Stephen Bailey; Managing Director; BYTRON Ltd. AircraftIT: How did BYTRON get started?

SB: BYTRON was founded in 1984 by the late Richard Harris and his wife Irene, who remains a director of the company. Richard, a long-haul pilot, had a passion for electronics and, on acquiring an IBM PC in the early 1980s, he immediately dived into programming. Although his vision was far ahead of its time and the market was not ready for it, his persistence paid off when BYTRON’s Flight Data Management System came to the attention of the UK CAA. We are proud of the fact that we sent the world’s very first computer-to-computer AFTN [Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network] message which went from NATS [National Air Traffic Services] Aberdeen to BYTRON Humberside Airport on the 4th of February 1989.

I joined the company in 1992, my first project being a pilots’ self-briefing system at Manchester Airport for the Queen’s opening of T2 in 1993. We moved into airline operations with slot management for [UK charter airline] Flying Colours in 1996.

AircraftIT: What is the attraction of aircraft operations related Software and Hardware?

SB: Everyone who joins BYTRON has a passion for some aspect of the flying business. The result is a cluster of highly technically talented development and support people with a terrific knowledge of aviation operations and a real interest in how best to improve human interaction with data systems.

I suppose the simple answer to your question is that the attraction is something to do with our history!

AircraftIT: What is the guiding business principle that drives BYTRON? SB: Well, there’s more than one, but a phrase we coined in 1993 for the Manchester Airport installation, ‘Right Data, Right Place, Right Time’, is the high-level message and, to achieve this for the industry we work in, another principle is to give all our people the freedom to be creative, to become masters of their craft and thereby help make ground breaking changes to the way in which things are done.

AircraftIT: What has been BYTRON’s greatest business achievement to date, and why?

SB: BYTRON operations dictate that these are of a technical nature. AFTN messaging started the evolutionary trail in 1989. Other firsts include providing the software to track FPL routes for The USA/Saudi Peace Shield Project (1994), the Bahrain CAA FDMS installation (1996) that made a real attempt to link ATC with airport operations, Internet Briefing in 2000 and the successful porting of a Windows based EFB suite of applications to the iPad (2011).

AircraftIT: What have been BYTRON’s disappointments and what have you learned from them?

SB: Disappointment is momentary and usually results in a new challenge. Like most SMEs in the

aviation sector, the greatest challenge is getting your message across. Even today, many airlines still task departments with looking for individual solutions applicable only to their department. The truth is that the implementation of so called ‘EFB technology’ must be attacked in a much more holistic way if the full business potential is to be realized. Most other significant industries and business operations solved these problems many years ago.

AircraftIT: In a sentence, how would you summarize what BYTRON does for aircraft operations customers?

SB: BYTRON is a technology company designing and implementing software solutions aimed at revolutionizing data management to achieve a seamless flow of near real time information across an entire organization, improving operational performance and the reduction of costs.

AircraftIT: What is new on BYTRON’s development horizon?

SB: Every BYTRON development over 27 years has been ground breaking. The words ‘do something different’ routinely echo round our development rooms. So the answer is: ‘everything visible on the BYTRON horizon is new, and everything just over that horizon will be new’.

AircraftIT: What will be the next big thing in Operations software and hardware?

SB: We are witnessing a slow awakening of airline boards of management to the benefits of a full electronic flight bag [EFB] implementation. By ‘full’ I mean an implementation that [also] delivers all the downstream benefits. The so called paperless cockpit is not the entire answer: addressing embedded outdated practices is also essential: • The realization that by deploying available technology, business performance can be transformed through a near real time understanding of what is really happening; • Back office systems that enjoy near real time connectivity with their major revenue earning assets, the aircraft and the crews; • Imagining the elimination of internal personnel and data silos; cutting through the inertia and mind numbing administrative silt that has built up, growing ‘like Topsy’, during more than sixty years of commercial flying; • The solutions to achieve this are a reality today and certainly not ‘over the horizon’. Most multiple retailers have been using this sort of technology for the last decade or so.

AircraftIT: What do you want your customers to say about BYTRON? SB: An innovative, reliable, responsive, knowledgeable and flexible provider of high quality aviation data services. We now understand what ‘closing the loop’ means to our business.

AircraftIT: Stephen Bailey, thank you for your time.

WINTER 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WEBINARS | 21

Upcoming Live Software Demonstration Webinars at www.aircraftit.com/Operations/Webinars.aspx this February Sign up to free live online software demonstrations for a perfect introduction to the world’s leading Flight Operations Software vendors and to learn how they can assist and add value to your operations

Live Flight Planning and Crew Briefing Software Demonstration Webinar n Session 1: 16th February 2012 - 06:30 AM GMT/UTC n Session 2: 16th February 2012 - 15:30 PM GMT/UTC n Duration: 1 hour plus Q&A. n n n n

n n n

Session Agenda Introduction to AIR SUPPORT A/S. PPS Flight Planning & Crewbriefing.

INTEGRATION (slide show). n Scheduling, Rostering, Maintenance; n PPS Flight Planning; n CrewBriefing; n Autodispatch / Semiautomatic / Manuel Dispatch; n FMS, ARCARS; n EFB. CrewBriefing DEMO. Flight Planning DEMO. Question and answer session.

n SPEAKER Thomas Schori, Customer Relations Manager/Airline Consultant

WEBINAR OVERVIEW

During the Webinar session you will see a full, live demonstration of AIR SUPPORT’s PC-based flight planning software system with integrated web based crew briefing system. This is known as PPS - Preflight Planning System and CrewBriefing - aimed at commercial airline operators covering regional/charter/ cargo/national airlines and military operators. Today the PPS solution is used by aircraft operators across 32 countries, operating more than 400 aircraft types and variants every day.

The PPS software solution is powered by LUFTHANSA Systems worldwide navigation data including all global route restrictions. Data services included also provide worldwide updated data such as NOTAMs, Surface Weather data, Wind and Significant Weather charts. Everything is tailored to the specific routes operated – all based on original source data.

You will see that AIR SUPPORT also specializes in the provision of advanced interfaced solutions aimed at airline operators who utilize 3rd party scheduling, maintenance and crew planning systems. Interfaced solutions are powered off the operator’s automated and dynamically optimized data output.

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22 | WEBINARS | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WINTER 2012

View Video Recordings of our Live MRO Software Demonstration Webinars at: www.aircraftit.com/Operations/Webinars/Past.aspx Flight Briefing (for iPad & Mobile Devices), Communications & Flight Tracking Software Demonstration

Live Webinar Masterclass: How to create your next fuel budget and understand variance 15th September 2011

1st September 2011

n Session OVERVIEW

n Session OVERVIEW

This Webinar showcases Flight Briefing, Communications and Flight Tracking. The Smart BRIEF solution is designed specifically for iPAD and mobile devices, and delivers real-time key operational data including: Flight crew schedules & Rosters, NOTAMS, Load Control and Weather Information; plus more you’ll see in the demo.

You’ll learn how to create your fuel budget and understand variance, and: Ensure consistent, complete and accurate baseline data; Identify and account for fuel burn factors; Understand the effects of fuel initiatives; Translate the budget into specific targets; Factors contributing to budget deltas; Improve carbon credit and fuel hedging.

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WINTER 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WEBINARS | 23

About the Live Software Demonstration Webinar Recordings These Live Software Demonstration Webinar recordings provide airlines and operators with the perfect chance to view, at a convenient time of their own choosing, the different Flight Operations Software solutions on the market. Each webinar is an hour long and offers an excellent overview of that IT Vendor’s software solution with the cost savings and increased efficiency they can deliver.

The different software demonstrations include: EFB, iPad technology for the Flight Deck, Fuel Saving Solutions, plus more.

Live Software Demo: FuelPlus’ Fuel Management Solutions 17th November 2011

Click on the following link to view a full list of the recorded Live Operations Software Demo Webinars: www.aircraftit.com/Operations/Webinars/Past.aspx An outline of four of the Webinar Recordings can be seen below.

How it works.

Sign up for all the sessions or pick and choose your preferred Vendors. Once approved the video recording will appear in your Member’s Area at the Aircraft IT website and you will be able to view it as many times as you like.

Live Aircraft Connectivity Masterclass: the future of connectivity – connecting you to what matters 8th December 2011

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24 | WHITE PAPER: ETS AVIATION | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | WINTER 2012

Measurement, insight and action

How to ensure an effective fuel saving program Ian Britchford, formerly easyJet’s Fuel Conservation Manager and now Head of the Fuel Saver Program at ETS Aviation, highlights the importance of engaging all parts of the business in the quest for fuel efficiency as a continuing management challenge.

Fuel conservation software can’t do it all on its own.

You need some experience and expertise to locate the priority areas, and to implement the initiatives that can then be tracked in the software. In practice, a fuel saving program should be seen as an evolving partnership between software engineers, data analysts and the flight operations team.

Fuel saving software must present the data clearly as it has to be understood by different personnel, and flight crews may only have limited time to access the data they require. The software must be designed from the user’s perspective, as this will ensure it will be more easily accessed and used effectively. Reports on all monitored parameters must be presented in ways that help users to quickly identify where savings can be made, maximizing the efficiency of the fuel saving team.

A fuel saving program should also be individually tailored, because every airline operates in its own way. Fuel initiatives and data required may be similar, but an understanding of each airline’s actual operations is crucial if the fuel saving program and the initiatives through which it is delivered is to be really effective.

Who should be champion for fuel conservation?

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A

viation fuel now represents around 40% of an airline’s total operating costs: and fuel prices are predicted to continue rising. This, coupled with the 2012 introduction of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), has created a scenario where aircraft operators are focused on reducing fuel consumption. Airlines are also becoming more aware of their customers’ environmental concerns and are looking for ways to promote their brand’s green credentials and reduce their carbon footprint.

Access the relevant data

Most aircraft operators already generate the data required for a fuel saving campaign but the information is held in different systems such as flight planning, operation control and tech logs. One incidental benefit of the EU ETS requirement is that all aircraft operators must now record and report their fuel burn data and, even with this basic information, it is possible to identify significant potential savings.

What is then required is to consolidate data from the different sources, to show clearly the fuel use at every stage of the operation, and to provide analysis of the data through which potential fuel savings can be identified. Which is where some smart software comes in handy.

One incidental benefit of the EU ETS requirement is that all aircraft operators must now record and report their fuel burn data and, even with this basic information, it is possible to identify significant potential savings.

Many smaller operators do not have the resources to monitor their fuel-burn with sufficient accuracy to support a fuel saving program. They also resist expensive consultancies and avoid the majority of software systems available because of the high costs and the fact that their effective use requires a great deal of analytical expertise.

However, most operators must collect the emission data for the EU ETS, and this normally falls to someone within Flight or Ground Operations. As a result of increasing costs, many pilots and key ground operations personnel are working long hours and do not have the time or expertise to dedicate to a successful fuel saving program in addition to managing the ETS data. In our experience, if it’s not the EU ETS person handling the fuel saving initiatives, it’s a part-time role for someone from the Flight Operations department. And this is even the case for some of the larger operators!

Fuel saving should not be solely the responsibility of Flight Operations, since many savings can be made in optimizing procedures and planning even before the flight departs. Flight Planning, Engineering and Finance departments can all have a part to play in an effective fuel saving program. In fact, to maximize the potential benefits, such a program must extend across all departments. While safety will always be the

WINTER 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WHITE PAPER: ETS AVIATION | 25

An accessible fuel saving program

At easyJet, I was that Fuel Conservation Manager reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer number one priority, a fuel efficiency program needs to challenge all the current operating procedures and look for best practice from each relevant department.

Embracing fuel conservation at easyJet

Following an IATA audit, UK low-cost airline easyJet, with a fleet of over 200 aircraft , decided to hire a Fuel Conservation Manager to oversee their fuel saving program. The ideal candidate for this role within an airline is not a pilot, but someone who will take into account the whole business and introduce fuel efficiencies for that airline across all the operational parameters.

The support of senior management is a key requisite to drive through new initiatives. Therefore it is recommended that a Fuel Conservation Manager is independent and has a cross-functional role. At easyJet, I was that Fuel Conservation Manager reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer and with access to all the departments within the Operations Team, plus the support of a senior manager when assistance was required from outside of our department. Fuel saving is not a universally popular topic within an airline as it tends to generate additional work for already challenged teams.

However it does offer the chance to realize significant savings From my recent experience at ETS Aviation, working with operators such as Evergreen International Airlines, Malev Hungarian Airlines and Air Seychelles, I have established two key principles. Firstly, that no two airlines operate in the same way, and secondly that fuel saving initiatives won’t be taken seriously unless they are actually achievable. Here’s a simple example: the benefits of engine core washing are widely understood but, if your aircraft depart early and before a ground power run can be carried out due to noise limitations, there is no point trying to implement this practice as part of the fuel saving program.

How to get support for the program internally

To assist the cross-functional support for fuel saving initiatives at easyJet, we implemented a Fuel Saving Committee (FSC) bringing together on a regular basis all of the key stakeholders and making each department aware of the initiatives that had been adopted. These review meetings enabled effective communication of recommendations and their impact through the whole business, and ensured the program got full support. An FSC should consist of all key stakeholders: Flight Operations, Ground Operations, Operations Control, Pre-flight Planning, Scheduling, Engineering, Finance and Commercial.

At easyJet we found the best way to get people to buy into the changes was through presenting them with accurate data. When presented with historical operational data, colleagues were able to realize the potential benefits of and reasons behind the fuel saving initiatives. Overall we successfully implemented many fuel saving initiatives, from one engine taxi and aircraft engine coatings, to reduced APU burn and less additional fuel carried — procedures which generated multi-million dollar fuel cost savings.

Until recently, only large airlines had the time and resources to gather the key data sets and merge them for uploading into a system. These operators had the resources and potential savings to cover the cost of investment in developing internal programs or to pay for external consultancy. At ETS Aviation we approached the problem from a different direction. We developed a piece of software that could do most of the hard work, and this enables us now to offer all the benefits of a fuel saving program at a fraction of the usual cost of running an internal department or hiring an external consultancy.

ETS Aviation’s fuel saving program is designed for all aircraft operators, no matter what the type or size of fleet, and works through a combination of expert consultancy and our dedicated Aviation FuelSaverTM software. It is a specialist on-site solution with on-line consultancy included, and includes software updates and data upload services as part of the service.

The system targets fuel saving managers in airlines but can also be used by non-fuel saving experts, including Pilots, CFOs, CEOs and Ground Operations Managers.

As a spokesperson for Malev Hungarian Airlines put it recently, “Even the initial fuel saving assessment was a very valuable project which has already helped us to improve Malev’s Fuel Conservation performance”. n

Ian Britchford

Head of Fuel Saver Program, ETS Aviation

Ian has worked in a variety of roles within the aviation industry, gaining both manufacturer and airline experience. He has worked for BAE Systems and Rolls Royce supporting airlines across the world in fuel saving and operational efficiencies. His last role was with easyJet where he was responsible for their fuel saving programme and ETS compliance. During his time at the company, he was responsible for introducing fuel initiatives, which, led to multimillion dollar savings

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26 | WHITE PAPER: AVIATIONEXPERTS | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WINTER 2012

Whereas 10 to 20 years ago, controllers were administering operations largely in terms of stability, they now find themselves being asked to optimize operations wherever possible

The future of Operations Control Christian Lambertus and Benjamin Walther, Managing Partners at aviationexperts PCS GmbH & Co. KG, discuss trends in development and usage of Operations Control Systems.

I

n the airline business, operations control (Ops control) is the art of managing a preplanned schedule in the conditions prevailing on the actual day of operations; the objective being to fly this schedule with a minimum of changes. The typical view of operations control is of a process triggered when particular unscheduled occurrences force a change of plan for a single flight or group of flights, with Ops control then trying to regain the original plan as quickly as possible. In general, most controllers are expected to act only when the plan is threatened by ‘real world’ events. When there are no conflicts or disruptions, the

schedule will be flown as planned.

This focus has shifted in recent years driven by economic changes and increasing competition in the industry. Whereas 10 to 20 years ago, controllers were administering operations largely in terms of stability, they now find themselves being asked to optimize operations wherever possible. In times of low margins and high cost pressure, the challenge for controllers is to maintain operational stability and, additionally, to save costs through optimization. Today, data streams of available information on flights are nearly infinite and this information can be used to the advantage of

the airline in optimizing opportunity costs. Ops control is evolving and moving to become more than just a coordinator of the airline’s assets during production.

It is gradually developing a role in the airline’s cost control policies and, in that sense, beginning to attract the awareness and interest of management.

These new requirements in the job profile of a controller need to be mirrored by parallel developments in the capabilities of Operations Control Systems (OCS), handling more information and supporting the controller in taking informed decisions. While stability has become a task for automated algorithms, the

economics of operations and product quality are in the hands of and drawing on the experience of controllers.

Systems are able to control standard adjustments in the schedule in response to outside occurrences whereas controllers can use the available data to manage costs and conduct individual adjustments with a view to optimizing operations.

But, judging from the history of operations control systems, it seems that this development was never foreseen. As already mentioned, the focus of OCS in the past was more towards ensuring a stable flight schedule which, in turn, drove the key functionalities of OCS to, for example, reducing crew changes, reacting to technical problems to minimize aircraft on ground (AOG) events, managing aircraft reserves and communicating with the cockpit.

These days, most optimization measures occur during the preplanning phase. Fuel optimization is the exception to this rule, being mainly controlled from the flight deck during the operational time frame. As soon as the operations time clock starts to tick down, the sole focus is on getting the job done. The main objective is still a smooth operation according to schedule: in Operations, ‘stability’ remains the magic word.

But let us come back to the infinite numbers of data available in an airline’s databases. What if Ops control was able to use this data and, as a result, was then able to optimize the operational schedule according to cost factors? It is true that, in most Operations Control Centers (OCC), this thought process seems, at first sight, to fly in the face of the credo of operational stability. However, this new mindset holds a potential for cost control at a stage in the process that most airlines have not yet identified as a possible source for savings. Nevertheless, the costs of optimization also have to be measured. Attention to stability should always play a role in the decision to optimize the operational setting. Therefore, optimization should only take place where it causes no change to service stability as perceived by the passenger, the end customer. With the vast amount of data taken from reliable sources, OCCs could become active centers for cost saving.

The only question is: how to make the best use of the available information?

WINTER 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WHITE PAPER: AVIATIONEXPERTS | 27 First of all, we should take a look at the new data which is available. It also has to be said, that the examples presented here are only an outline of the total opportunities that might be available.

One important data stream that will have been refined in terms of quality, volume and availability is information on handling processes performed at an airport, reflecting the status of a flight before departure.

Any controller is able to turn this information, combined with his or her personal experience, into a measurement of probability. This is a huge factor in Ops control that can be increased in terms quality and accuracy by the enhanced level of information provided.

It will be especially true for airlines that operate high frequency continental networks and have high aircraft utilization. Their operating model is based on using all resources to the fullest extent possible. Information about a flight’s ground handling status is valuable to the controller, who has to take care of operational stability at the hub during peak time, when the flight will arrive.

Decisions can be made faster and earlier if the controller has the information on all available aircraft in nearly real-time and is able to build alternative scenarios as a counter measure to certain irregularities which might have occurred, or might potentially develop.

Large legacy carriers might have an advantage here as their assets, in terms of aircraft, have a slightly lower level of utilization, due to the nature of their business model. With these large fleets operating in and out of intercontinental hubs, the complexity is generated by the traffic mix of short and long-haul flights which are linked to each other, creating a network-wide dependency. Knowing in good time that the A330 in Miami has suffered a delay of 20 minutes due to the procedure of off-loading a passenger, will give the controller the time to immediately evaluate the situation of the upcoming flight and its impact on the network at the airline’s hub in Frankfurt. Whereas in the past this information was available to controllers mostly after take-off at Miami and only on receiving the timestamps that were linked to aircraft’s movements, they can now start examining the further development of the flight under ‘real world’ conditions. This will include a check-up on all critical components affecting this flight to determine the probability that the flight might make up the delay or whether it will bring the delay to the hub due to en-route weather conditions or an inbound arrival peak when approaching Frankfurt. In this way the controller can start preparing actions and recover operational stability earlier, but still with enough time

to thoroughly consider cost savings according to the philosophy: ‘If I have to change something anyway, then I might as well optimize.’

With regard to our example specified above, it is also possible to include new data into the information flow of the Ops control system. Features like Google Maps or weather services can be taken from the internet and integrated into the system so that the controller has a common source for all information.

“Our controllers were operating on four screens with three being used for the OCS and one was used for applications showing an internet browser with 37 tabs open and active during the entire time;” says Axel Goos, System Manager OPS Control System and Warehousing at Lufthansa German Airlines.

He adds that, “by integrating the information into our new OCS, controllers have a central platform bundling all necessary information, making the process of elaborating a high quality decision much more convenient for the controller. The benefits are at hand: motivated controllers being eager to make the best out of the given situations with the tools they have.”

Another way of putting this important argument is that you cannot repair a Roll Royce with a 40 year old, rusty incomplete toolbox you found in the garage under a pile of junk.

But, returning to our flight from Miami to Frankfurt: with the data on passengers that today’s checkin and departure control systems hold, controllers receive accurate information earlier. Integrating Checkin data provides information on the actual load. This can be a factor in decision making for flights at the hub, being fed by our Miami-Frankfurt flight. With the flying time still to be completed, it is now possible to trigger processes to sell, on the onward flight, the seat of the off-loaded passenger.

Even if the time frame is very short, it reduces the likelihood of a wasted seat, however this seat is filled in the end.

It might also be an opportunity to relieve an overbooking problem and reduce overbooking costs. Being able to sell such last minute seats on one flight per day in a large network such as Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways and the like are operating will, on 365 occasions, generate revenue that otherwise would be lost.

Granted, all the examples used are test cases working in theory, although the individual functions described have been proven in projects. Also, one should always keep clearly in mind that stability remains the main goal, and it should never be sacrificed for optimization.

But, the new generation of OCS will have capabilities that can reduce the controller’s standard workload

Decisions can be made faster and earlier if the controller has the information on all available aircraft in nearly real-time and is able to build alternative scenarios as a counter measure to certain irregularities

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28 | WHITE PAPER: AVIATIONEXPERTS | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WINTER 2012 by use of automation. The capacity that this will generate can then be used to focus on optimization of operations to the benefit of the bottom line. These savings may not appear as huge amounts in any single case, but aggregating the volume of flights and the different saving potentials will lead to an amount of cost savings sufficient to justify the investment in enhancement and development of new OCS software, with a realistic and economically feasible return on investment for each airline.

The development of OCS is certainly one of the most complex processes for airlines. This is linked to the stability and availability requirements for OCS being much higher than with other systems. A system failure, wrong data or malfunctioning interfaces can lead to enormous problems and irregularities, resulting in tremendous losses on the bottom-line. It is also important to bear in mind the direct impact on passengers.

In reality, the development of OCS during recent decades has been at a slow pace. Most airlines operate stable systems, which have been enhanced with additional data but little new functionality. The implementation of major new technologies from other fields has never been on the agenda for system vendors and users: for instance, in the field of graphical user interfaces (GUI), many airlines still rely on outdated technologies. This is largely because user interfaces

have never been the focus of development and so even major airlines are operating OCS based on the Motif GUI Toolkit which was first introduced in 1980. Notwithstanding that Motif was a milestone in graphical user interface development and very a powerful tool, GUIs in the wider world continued to evolve over the past 20 years. To draw a comparison with a personal computer; it is like working with Windows 3.0 when everything else is working on Windows 7.

Let us take a more detailed look at the developments of recent years.

One of the main characteristics of Ops control is its ability to perform several tasks at the same time, especially when it comes to major disruptions. In the past a controller was limited to a single Gantt chart which made it very complex and time consuming to work on more than one problem at a time. The current trend is similar to that of internet browsers, using multiple tabs which are more or less independent of each other. A controller can build one scenario in one tab while, at the same time, focusing on another issue in another tab. Although considered as a simple enhancement by those in the industry, the usage of multiple tabs/Gantt charts eases the work of a controller tremendously.

Let’s again apply the comparison of OCS and internet

browsers, where tabbed browsing was introduced as early as 1994; nobody is using a browser without that feature today. Indeed, Microsoft lost a huge market share because they were one of the last to introduce the tabbed browsing technology.

Beside the use of multiple Gantt charts, another important development is the integration of enhanced filter tools. In the past, OCS provided huge GUI interfaces which made it nearly impossible to work with. Similar to a lot of other software tools, the trend

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WINTER 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WHITE PAPER: AVIATIONEXPERTS | 29 in OCS is now turning to socalled ‘Property Widgets’.

Compared to traditional filter GUIs, the use of property widgets is much easier and faster, and the results can be shown in real time while the task is being performed.

Altogether, the development of OCS during the next few years will be very much driven by enhancements to user interfaces and an adjustment towards standardized systems. Controllers will no longer be prepared to accept difficult to use systems as they did in the past.

The complexity of such systems is reduced when the right balance between automation and decision support can be established. Automation, as the logical approach when it comes to process improvements, is a lever that needs to be discussed and evaluated. On the other hand, decision support philosophy keeps the responsibility and decision making in the controllers

hands, by serving as a powerful tool to provide the right information at the right time in the right format.

Instead of focusing everything on GUI enhancements, a lot of effort, during recent years at both system providers and airlines, was put into the development of decision automation. This included automation of specific problem solving processes as well as the optimization of the complete flight schedule. The latter is definitely one of the most complex automation/ optimization problems in the industry.

With regard to the fact that increasing amounts of detailed information are available in airlines’ databases, one has to ask the question how this vast amount of information can be applied towards better Ops control. There is certainly scope to increase the quality of decisions made but the question resulting from this conclusion is how this quality is measured. Are airline managers still aiming to reach the perfect state of operational stability as their only goal? Or do new technologies enable controllers to optimize customer satisfaction and reduce the impact of OCC as a pure cost center to instead contribute to the airline’s bottom-line?

Instead of focusing everything on GUI enhancements, a lot of effort, during recent years at both system providers and airlines, was put into the development of decision automation.

To cope with the economic challenges of operations control, the focus of developers should turn to areas that have been sacrificed on the altar of perfection in stability and functionality. And a first major consideration should be improvement in terms of user friendliness. New GUIs with graphical enhancements, in line with common IT developments, will facilitate greater ease of use and access to information. In the optimal case, users will find a commonality with their personal computers at home and be intuitively able to navigate through the system to the required function or information. This will reduce the time needed for a task and stress levels generated. Users can access more detailed information by choosing multiple perspectives to look at the same issue and come up with an individual solution to the problem.

Enhancements in the area of Ops control will be driven by the new perspective on cost optimization in the operating timeframe. Therefore OCS can be improved by applying automation measures to resolve ‘standard’ irregularities and deviations from the plan.

However, to achieve the status of being able to optimize operations without harming operational stability, OCS need to evolve into information platforms for their users, bundling all available information. The success for IT vendors will be in the configurability and flexibility of the OCS to sort, display and link information in the way the user requires. As for the

ABOUT AVIATIONEXPERTS

aviationexperts is the consultative partner of many airlines and airports, specializing in the implementation of strategic plans and projects, starting where strategy consultants stop. By focusing on the practical and feasible realization of projects, the firm creates competitive advantages for clients. All aviationexperts consultants combine practical industry knowledge with proven methodologies to enable clients to reach their strategic goals. As one cannot eat an elephant with one bite, they help to cut it into digestible pieces, guaranteeing the success of a mission.

airlines’ part in the development of new OCS, they have to be aware that, as in other fields of the business, no development comes without investment. It also requires a change of mindset to establish the new philosophy. Then one thing is certain: Ops control will be a successful cost-saving center, when users are provided with the right tools. n

Benjamin Walther

Managing Partner, aviationexperts

Benjamin started as an internal consultant at Frankfurt International Airport working in ground handling process optimization projects. After graduating in Business Information Systems at the University of Applied Science in Frankfurt, he worked on airports and airlines projects around the world with an international aviation consultancy, becoming a recognized expert for airline and airport operations, working at the interface between IT and business. In 2009 he co-founded aviationexperts.

Christian Lambertus

Managing Partner, aviationexperts

After starting with Apron Control at Frankfurt International Airport, Christian studied for a degree in Aviation Management at IUBH, working during his studies as a consultant in airport master planning, examining airport operational concepts. Following his degree, he moved into the airline business in Network Performance and Planning for a major Middle-East carrier. Also, with Revenue Management expertise he entered aviation consulting in 2007, before cofounding aviationexperts in 2009.

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30 | SOFTWARE DIRECTORY | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WINTER 2012

Aircraft Management Technologies

W: www.flightman.com T: +353 1 8061000 E: info@flightman.com

Company formed: 2000; Office Location: Dublin, Ireland (HQ) Name of Product Marketed • Flightman™ Electronic Flight Folder Number of Modules................11 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Flightman™ connects aircraft to airlines’ backend systems via onboard EFB software applications and provides airlines with significant costs savings in both Flight Operations and Maintenance • Flightman™ runs on all classes of hardware (FAA EFB Class 1, 2, or 3) • Is independent of hardware vendor • Supports all aircraft types • Is able to host third party applications and is independent of operating system AMT (Aircraft Management Technologies) was founded to address the need in the market for an electronic means of capturing and reporting data between aircraft and central back office systems. Flightman™ represents a common sense application of emerging technologies that can automate existing processes in the cockpit, cabin and on the ramp, in turn reducing costs. AMT’s Flightman™ product is a complete Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) software solution. Flightman™ enables airlines to be compliant in all aspects of onboard flight operations in a cost effective manner and provides a platform for future revenue generation applications in the cabin. AMT’s patented, award-winning Flightman™ software comprises three main elements: 1) a set of onboard software applications, 2) a ground server for the management of EFBs, and 3) capabilities for optimized communications between the onboard software and ground systems.

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AIR SUPPORT A/S

W: www.airsupport.dk T: 0045 7533 8889 E: pps@airsupport.dk Company formed:1988; Office Location: Billund, Denmark Name of Product Marketed • PPS - Preflight Planning Solutions, CrewBriefing Five Key Business/Software Areas • Flight Planning • CrewBriefing facilities AIR SUPPORT specializes in the provision of pc-based flight planning software systems with integrated web-based CrewBriefing — PPS and CrewBriefing - services to private and commercial business aircraft operators, regional/charter/cargo/national airlines, military/utility operators and flight service providers.

Today, PPS is used by aircraft operators throughout 32 countries operating more than 3000 turboprop and jet aircraft daily consisting of more than 350 different aircraft types and versions.

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W: www.arconics.com T: (00353) 1611 4625 E: info@arconics.com

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Company formed: 2001; Office Location: Dublin, Ireland Name of Product Marketed • Manual Manager, AirPortal, EFB Viewer Number of Modules..................5 Five Key Business/Software Areas • EFB Document Management • Airline content management • Flight crew notices management • Mobile document viewer apps • EFB document viewer

Company formed: 2009; Office Location: Poland, UK, Denmark, Switzerland Name of Product Marketed • Sabre Reporting - Data Migration - Software Development - System Integration Middleware - Check Optimiser - RADIXX Interfaces - FAST Fatigue Data Extracts Number of Modules.............. n/a

Arconics is a leader in content management software and services for airline operators. Our team has over 10 years of world-class expertise in airline operations and document standards, web and mobile applications and XML data processing. Arconics provides EFB Document Management for Notices, Manuals and Forms on EFB Class 1, 2 & 3, Web and Mobile.

Arconics products reduce costs, improve efficiency, and ensure regulatory compliance. Thousands of flight and ground operations staff, pilots and cabin crew depend on Arconics products to help safely and efficiently operate their fleets every day.

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Aviaso Inc.

W: www.aviaso.com T: +41 55 422 0000 E: info@aviaso.com

Aviaso connecting aviation and software www.aviaso.com

Company formed: 2003; Office Location: Pfaeffikon, Switzerland Name of Product Marketed • Fuel Efficiency, EU-ETS, Airline Portal, ART - Aviation Reporting Tool, CCP - Crew Capacity Planning Number of Modules.............. n/a Five Key Business/Software Areas • Fuel Efficieny • EU-ETS • Airline Portal / Intranet • ART - Aviation Reporting Tool • CCP - Crew Capacity Planning Aviaso is an international software company developing products exclusively for the aviation industry.

The first product — the Airline Portal — has been deployed at Belair Airlines in 2003. Since then, the product-portfolio has been continuously extended into various areas of the aviation industry.

Besides developing its own products, Aviaso is also developing custom-specific software and realizes system integration projects for aviation companies. Furthermore, Aviaso maintains datacenters in Switzerland and Sofia and provides customized hosting-solutions for aviation companies.

Aviaso has its head office in Switzerland and software development centers in Sofia/Bulgaria and Kharkiv/ Ukraine. Please, visit our website www.aviaso.com for more information about the Aviaso products and services.

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Five Key Business/Software Areas • Sabre Reporting & Integration • Data Migration • Software Development • System Integration • Middleware Aviation42 is a software company focused on providing Airlines with highly skilled, cost effective solutions in: Sabre Reporting and Integration; Custom software development; Data Migration; System Integration; Middleware; RADIXX Interfaces; and Fatigue Data Extracts

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Aviovision NV

W: www.aviobook.aero T: + 32 16 29 89 80 E: info@aviovision.aero

Company formed: 2010; Office Location: Leuven, Belgium Name of Product Marketed • AVIOBOOK / EFB for Airlines & Business Aviation Number of Modules................10 Key Business/Software Areas • Main • Operational Flight Plan • Briefing • Weight & Balance • Charts • Performance • Reports • Library • Tools • EFB Ground Administration Tool AvioVision N.V. is a young Belgian company that is offering an innovative and comprehensive EFB solution, by facilitating integration of technologies in its EFB products, combining them with operational excellence into smart solutions for front line and back-office staff.

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WINTER 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | SOFTWARE DIRECTORY | 31

BYTRON

W: www.bytron.com T: +44 (0)1652 688626 E: info@bytron.aero

Company formed: 1984; Office Location: Kirmington, North Lincolnshire, UK Name of Product Marketed • skybook®eFB, skybook.aero, skylightES, Slot Management, Fuel Monitoring, AIS Notam Management Number of Modules..................6 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Electronic Flight Bag • Pre-flight Briefing • Airport CDM • Flight Data Management Systems • Air Traffic Control & Operational Management Systems BYTRON is a UK based company specialising in aviation data systems that provides totally integrated flight data management solutions, delivering operational data reliably to aircraft operators, airports and air traffic control. We provide a wide range of products and solutions, including EFB (Class I & II) solutions, Airport CDM, and much more.

The company’s design philosophy is, and has always been, to provide highly flexible, technically innovative, and compliant user-oriented solutions. With over 25 years of experience supplying aviation systems, we are experts at getting the right data, to the right place, at the right time.

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ETS Aviation Ltd.

W: www.etsaviation.com T: +351 91 580 1007 E: dscarlisle@etsaviation.com Company formed: 2009; Office Location: Gibraltar, UK Name of Product Marketed • Aviation FuelSaver™, Aviation Footprinter™, ETS Support Service Number of Modules..................2 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Fuel-efficiency Software Solutions • EU ETS Data Management and Reporting Verificiation Software • Fuel Saving Consultancy • ETS Data management consultancy ETS Aviation Ltd. are specialists in fuel-efficiency programmes and emissions data management.

Since early 2009 our team of aviation specialists and software designers has helped hundreds of aviation operators all over the world. We work with airlines, business aviation operators and trip support companies. And we make their life easier.

We created the ground breaking Aviation FuelSaver™, software and consultancy programme - the easiest to use and lowest cost fuel efficiency system on the market - having already launched a software and consultancy solution called Aviation Footprinter™, for managing EU ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme) requirements..

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Evoke Systems

Flygprestanda AB

W: www.evoke-systems.com T: +44 (3)456 521240 E: info@evoke-systems.com

W: www.flygp.se T: +46 40 642 00 10 E: sales@flygp.se

Company formed: 2001; Office Location: Norwich, England Number of Modules.............. n/a Five Key Business/Software Areas • Training Records and Expiry Management • Cabin Crew Flight Reports • Journey Log and Fuel Analysis • EU-ETS Management • Document Library and Notices

Company formed: 1969; Office Location: Malmö/Sweden, Connecticut/USA Name of Product Marketed • Airport Analysis, Performance GURU, FOCS Number of Modules.............. n/a Five Key Business/Software Areas • Aircraft Performance Services • Flight Planning Software • Performance Engineering • Special Performance Calculations • Engine Failure Procedures

Evoke Systems is a British software company founded in 2001 to provide innovative, cost effective solutions to the airline industry. EFOS (Electronic Flight Operations System) is a web-based crew portal and flight operations management system with supporting mobile device software for use as part of an EFB solution.

Evoke Systems has clients in both the commercial and business aviation sectors operating from the UK, Europe and the Middle East. They include start-ups and established airlines looking to streamline their processes. Our customers tell us that we provide exceptional levels of support and provide creative solutions to their problems.

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Flight Focus

W: www.flightfocus.net T: +65 6419 5299 E: sales@flightfocus.net Company formed: 2007; Office Location: Singapore (HQ), Jakarta and Bandung, Kuala Lumpur Name of Product Marketed • The Flight Focus PLATFORM™ Number of Modules.............. n/a Five Key Business/Software Areas • Electronic Flight Bag • Avionics Systems Integration • Flight Operations Support Services • Applications Services Provider (ASP) • Flight Operations Consultancy Flight Focus has been a supplier of innovative, leading edge Avionics and Electronic Flight Bag solutions and associated Flight Operations Support Services to the global aviation industry since 2007. Flight Focus employs over 130 staff who are engaged in a wide range of activities directly related to the design, development and delivery of its avionics solutions; this includes hardware and software design & development, manufacturing and maintenance, Flight Dispatch services & support, and global Sales & Marketing teams.

Headquartered in Singapore, Flight Focus has further office locations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Indonesia (Jakarta and Bandung) dedicated to research and development, software and hardware design, and technical support.

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Flygprestanda AB, a pioneer in aircraft performance calculations, was founded 1969.

For over 40 years Flygprestanda has been in the forefront of providing aircraft operators of all kind with high quality services. Today Flygprestanda is serving around 200 customers worldwide from the head office in Malmö, Sweden and continues to lead innovation in this part of the aviation industry with its well known Airport Analyses, Performance GURU and Flight Operations Control System (FOCS).

High quality performance calculations for take off and landing are essential for safe flight operations and a modern flight planning solution is the key to achieve the most cost efficient operations possible.

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FLYHT - AeroMechanical Services

W: www.flyht.com T: + 1-403-250-9956 E: sales@flyht.com

Company formed: 1998; Office Location: Calgary, Alberta Canada Name of Product Marketed • AFIRS 220, AFFIRS 228, FLYHTStream, FIRST Number of Modules.............. n/a Five Key Business/Software Areas • ACARS over Iridium • Global Communications and Flight Following • Accurate and automated OOOIs • Real-time FDM for FOQA • Real-time Fuel Management System FLYHT’s AFIRS™ 228 is the only system to bridge gaps in ACARS coverage using the Iridium® global satellite system while also being Future Ready™. AFIRS goes beyond ACARS data with Configurable Intelligence on Demand™. No longer is your investment in ACARS connectivity restricted to accessing only ACARS data. Your aircraft is rich in non-ACARS data that if accessed can significantly improve operational efficiency and profitability. Through our on-demand capability we ensure that additional connectivity and functionality is available at your fingertips - enabling your ACARS over Iridium investment to do more than just offer global coverage.

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32 | SOFTWARE DIRECTORY | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | WINTER 2012

FuelPlus Software GmbH

W: www.fuelplus.com T: +49 (511) 496050 E: info@fuelplus.com

Company formed: 2000; Office Location: Hannover (Germany), Brasov (Romania), Johannesburg (South Africa), Boston (USA) Name of Product Marketed • FuelPlus Number of Modules................15 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Fuel and Operational Analysis • Emission Monitoring & Reporting • Fuel Supply Management • Fuel Operations Support • Fuel Accounting FuelPlus, a leading provider of fuel management IT solutions for the global aviation industry, enables airlines to implement and operate sophisticated fuel management processes which improve internal efficiencies, and achieve substantial savings.

FuelPlus consists of a set of modules to handle fuel planning, tendering, contract management, inventory and supply chain management, operations, tankering, EU ETS emissions monitoring and reporting, prepayment, and accounting.

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G-AERO division of GrandTrust InfoTech Pvt Ltd

W: www.g-aero.com T: +91 9995801266 E: raju.v@grandtrustinfo.com

Company formed: 2008; Office Location: Cochin, India Name of Product Marketed • G-COMS Airline Cost & Contract Management System • G-RPS Airline Route Profitability System • G-ARMS Airport Revenue & Contract Management System • G-GRMS Ground Handling Services Revenue & Contracts Management System Number of Modules.............. n/a Five Key Business/Software Areas • Airline Contract Management • Airline Cost Management, Budgeting and MIS/Dashboard Reporting • Airline Route Profitability • Airports / GHA Contracts Management • Airports / GHA Revenue Management G-AERO offers a suite of innovative software products for Airline, Airports and Ground Handling Agents for their Contracts, Cost and Revenue Management. G-AERO product suite not only helps to implement proven industry best practices but also assures direct financial benefits. G-AERO uses latest, secure Microsoft .Net technology in developing its solutions. G-AERO believes in providing best value for money for their customers and there by ensures quick ROI.

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IDMR Solutions

W: www.IDMR-Solutions.com T: 347-565-4367(IDMR)

E: irevivo@IDMR-Solutions.com Company formed: 2008; Office Location: Cochin, India Name of Product Marketed • InForm Number of Modules.............20+ Five Key Business/Software Areas • Technical Manuals • Ground Ops • Audits • Distribution IDMR is a global provider of easy to use and all encompassing Technical Documentation Management Solutions which have been designed exclusively for Fleet operators, MRO providers and OEM organizations. IDMR’s Technical Documentation Management Solutions have proven success in increasing operational performance and decreasing operational cost while insuring airworthiness, safety and regulatory compliance.

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IFR FrancE

W: www.ifrfrance.com T: +33 562 74 75 00 E: commercial@ifrfrance.com Company formed: 1987; Office Location: Colomiers, Toulouse, France Name of Product Marketed • AMASIS & KEOPS Number of Modules 7 and 10 add ons Five Key Business/Software Areas • Flight scheduling • Crew rostering & Crew management • Flight Operations • Direct Operating Costs & Budget • Operations & Financial reporting KEOPS is a reliable solution for airlines and operators to manage airlines operations, crew management and costing, Our experts propose high level services to assit users during the implementation phase and the day to day operations (customizations,training and consulting).

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InfoTrust Group, Inc.

W: www.infotrustgroup.com T: 949-732-7532 E: loster@infotrustgroup.com

Company formed: 1994; Office Location: Irvine, CA, Boulder, CO, Phoenix, AZ, Austin, TX, Shanghai, China, Paris France Name of Product Marketed • TechSight/X S1000D, TechSight/X ATA Number of Modules.............10+ Five Key Business/Software Areas • Content Management System (CMS) • Interactive Electronic Technical Publisher (IETP) • Technical Operations Edition • Technical Publications Edition • Flight Operations Edition InfoTrust Group is a recognized leader in the aerospace industry for more than 25 years. InfoTrust delivers solution to hundreds of companies for their information processing, conversion, authoring, content and change management, publishing and distribution objectives. InfoTrust’s wide range of end-to-end solutions that increase productivity by taking advantage of XML capabilities and content reuse, and that produce more accurate and reliabile information for compliancy. Its solution support all flight ops, engineering, maintenance, engine, component and training manuals. InfoTrust currently services major airlines, OEMs, suppliers and MRO s worldwide. To learn more about TechSight/X and InfoTrust Group’s full range of products, services and solutions, please visit www.infotrustgroup.com.

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navAero

W: www.navAero.com T: +46-60-66-41-00; 305-358-0065 (USA) E: info@navAero.com

Company formed: 2002; Office Location: Sundsvall, Sweden; Miami, Florida USA Name of Product Marketed • t Bag™ EFB System; t Bag™C22 EFB; t Pad™ Display; t Pad™ 1100; t Pad™ 1500; t Pad™ 2000; t Cam™ Cabin Surveillance System; t Manager™ EFB Communications Management Software Number of Modules.............. n/a Five Key Business/Software Areas • Low cost-of-ownership retrofit EFB computer and display platform suitable for most any aircraft type with high operational reliability • Software-neutral Windows™-based operating system allows the operator to decide on software applicable to their needs • Experienced Airport Moving Map integrator • Advanced EFB features: optically enhanced LCD displays, solid state components, multiple wireless connectivity options, certified ARINC 429 bus connectivity systems • Experienced Integrator with more Supplemental Type Certifications (FAA and EAS) for the navAero EFB systems than any other EFB manufacturer navAero is the industry leader in providing Electronic Flight Bag Systems to commercial airlines around the world and is the platform-of-choice for the deployment of Airport Surface Area Moving Map applications on a Class 2 EFB system. The navAero tBag™C22 is a robust yet affordable EFB that features the latest in technology and communications interfaces. navAero’s EFB systems are designed and manufactured to the highest levels and meet aerospace industry standards and are certified to all applicable sections of RTCA/DO-160E insuring high reliability. For more information, please visit: http://www.navAero.com.

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WINTER 2012 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS | SOFTWARE DIRECTORY | 33

Optimized Systems and Solutions (OSyS)

W: www.o-sys.com T: +1 703 889 1300 E: osysaviation@o-sys.com

Company formed: 1999; Office Location: HQ Reston, VA; Houston, TX; San Diego, CA; Indianapolis, IN; Derby, UK; Bristol, UK; Gateshead, UK; Singapore; Qatar Name of Product Marketed • Fuel Management and Optimization; Emissions Trading Scheme MRV; Electronic Flight Bag (EFB); Asset and Equipment Health Monitoring; MRO Business and Parts Management; JetSCAN® Engine Health Monitoring Number of Modules.............. n/a Five Key Business/Software Areas • Fuel Management/Optimization • Emissions MRV • Electronic Flight Bag/EFB • Equipment Health Monitoring • MRO Business and Parts Management With a heritage of providing IT value-added services for the Rolls-Royce aftermarket, and delivering services commercially since 1999, Optimized Systems and Solutions (OSyS) has proven solutions for commercial aviation and defense. OSyS provides a complete range of best-in-class aviation services to enhance fleet performance and business operations. OSyS monitors more than 9,000 engines belonging to hundreds of civil aviation customers, helps meet compliance requirements with our products and services. Customers are able to increase availability of their critical assets, minimize risk and operational disruption, simplify data management to gain more value from IT investments, and improve operational efficiency.

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PACE GmbH

W: www.pace.de T: +4930293620 E: info@pace.de

Company formed: 1995; Office Location: Berlin (Germany), Seattle (USA) Name of Product Marketed • Pacelab CI OPS, Live View, Trajectory Designer, EFB Data Recorder, Post Flight Server Number of Modules..................3 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Cost Index Operations • Fuel Efficiency Monitoring • Electronic Flight Bag • Takeoff and Landing Performance • Cabin Configuration Working with leading OEMs, engine manufacturers and airlines for more than 15 years has enabled PACE to develop a range of innovative products that directly respond to the trends and challenges of the international aviation community. PACE closely collaborates with performance engineers, senior training captains, fuel conservation and operational efficiency managers and consultants to deliver real solutions for real people. PACE’s portfolio of flight operations solutions is designed to support airlines’ universal efforts to improve their daily operations, strategic planning and operational efficiency and to offset high fuel prices and environmental demands with a more effective fuel management.

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Sheorey Digital Systems Ltd.

W: www.sds.co.in

T: (+91-22) 2281 9198/ 2281 1086 E: rohit.jha@sds.co.in; vicky.sheorey@sds.co.in

Company formed: 1993; Office Location: Mumbai, Bangalore, Singapore Name of Product Marketed • ARMS®: Airline Resource Management System; ARMS® Lite: Aviation Resource Management System-Lite; InfoPrompt®: Integrated Document Management System Number of Modules..................8 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Commercial Planning Sub-System (ARMS® - CPSS) / Flight Operations Sub-System (ARMS® - FOSS) • Flight Planning & Dispatch Sub-System (ARMS® - FPDS) / Crew Management SubSystem (ARMS® - CMSS) • Digital Flight Data Recorder Analysis Suite (ARMS® - DFDR-AS) / Charter Sales Manageent Sub-System (ARMS® Lite - CSMS)* • Computerized Reservation & Requisitioning Sub-System (ARMS® Lite - CRRS) • Departure/ Boarding Control Sub-System (ARMS® Lite DCSS) Sheorey Digital Systems Ltd., (SDS), is an established, fast growing, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Software Company, focused on providing Software Solutions to the Aviation Industry. ARMS® is an internet rich, current-generation, state-of-the-art Information Technology System that effectively addresses the extremely critical and cost sensitive nature of Commercial Airlines/ Air Transport operations. It is a unique combination of (a) an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) (b) Decision Support System (DSS) (c) Workflow Automation Solution (WFA) (d) Executive Management Information System (EMIS) (e) Integrated Document Management System (IDMS) viz., InfoPrompt®. These cutting-edge information technologies are seamlessly interwoven to provide the civil aviation industry with a cost-effective integrated solution, which is modular, scalable & highly user-customizable. ARMS® is a robust and well-proven system.

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SITA

W: www.SITA.aero E: info@SITA.aero

Company formed: 1949; Office Location: Head Office: Geneva, Switzerland. Main Regional Offices in: Rio De Janiero, Brazil; Beirut, Lebanon; Atlanta, USA; Singapore; Rome, Italy .

Name of Product Marketed • e-Aircraft Application Services, e-Aircraft AirportLink WiFi Service, Messaging Services Number of Modules................21 Five Key Business/Software Areas • e-Aircraft Application Services (for EFB) • e-Aircraft Connectivity Services • AIRCOM ACARS Services • AIRCOM Datalink Applications • AIRCOM Cockpit Voice

SITA is the world’s leading specialist in air transport communications and IT solutions. We deliver and manage business solutions for airline, airport, GDS, government and other customers over the world’s most extensive network, which forms the communications backbone of the global air transport industry. We innovate collaboratively with the air transport industry, and the industry itself drives the company’s portfolio and strategic direction. We are the only IT and communications company to run annual, industry-renowned IT surveys for airlines, airports and passenger self-service. Our portfolio includes managed global communications, infrastructure and outsourcing services, as well as services for airline commercial management, passenger operations, flight operations, aircraft operations, air-to-ground communications, airport management and operations, baggage operations, transportation security and border management, cargo operations and more. In addition, we sponsor .aero, the top-level internet domain reserved exclusively for aviation. We are one of world’s most international companies. Our global reach is based on local presence, with services for over 550 air transport industry members and 3,200 customers in over 200 countries and territories. Set up in 1949 with 11 member airlines, today we employ people of more than 140 nationalities, speaking over 70 different languages. SITA had consolidated revenues of US $1.49 billion in 2010.

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Smart4Aviation

W: www.smart4aviation.aero T: +31 20 654 1824 E: info@smart4aviation.aero

Company formed: 2009; Office Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Kraków and Gdansk, Poland; New Delhi, India

Name of Product Marketed • Smart BRIEF, Smart BRIEF CABIN, Smart NOTAM MANAGER, Smart FUELING, Smart VIEW, Smart MET, Smart OPS, Smart DOC, Smart EFF, Smart EFB, Smart eFORMS, Smart PERFORMANCE, Smart ALERT, Smart COMM, Smart VIEW+, Smart ULD MANAGER, Smart LOAD, Smart HUB, Smart ONTIME, Smart FUEL MANAGER, Smart MISSION MANAGER Number of Modules................21 Five Key Business/Software Areas • Smart BRIEF • Smart COMM • Smart FUEL MANAGER • Smart EFB • Smart PERFORMANCE Smart4Aviation was founded to provide web based products and services to optimize, simplify and improve airline operations. The Smart4Aviation’s goal is high quality, cost-effective solutions backed up with 24/365 support service.

It offers 21 modules which are interoperable, compatible and can be freely composed into the one system as well as software developed on demand, which are used with success by pilots, crew, dispatchers, ground ops and many different departments. The modules work as basic building blocks that can be used to build the system that will meet exactly customer’s requirements, that are tailored to the customer’s needs.

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T&A Systeme GmbH

W: www.logipad.aero T: +49 23 24 92580 E: info@logipad.aero

Company formed: 1994; Office Location: Hattingen, Germany

Name of Product Marketed • Logipad Number of Modules..................6 Five Key Business/Software Areas • iPad EFB Management • Class-I EFB • Class-II EFB • Logipad for Cabin • Logipad for Maintenance T&A SYSTEME GmbH is an IT-Service & solution provider, founded in 1994 and headquartered in Hattingen, Germany. The company has around 60 employees and focuses on national and international customers that reach up to 10000 devices. We have solid international experiences with customers of global reputation. In addition to consulting services, we are a strategic partner for development of scalable future proven IT-solutions. With Logipad T&A provides a global EFB Management solution, to handle and support any data on Class-I, Class-II and iPad Devices with one standardized ground process.

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