Big Data in Aviation

We hear a lot about big data's ability to deliver usable insights - but what does this mean exactly for enterprises in aviation industry today? We don't see most of the airlines taking advantage of big data technology yet and for newbies it's often not so clear how they use these technologies beyond proof-of-concept projects.

Big Data is beginning to have a major impact on air travel with more data being generated both by the airplane sensors and of-course the passengers on board; and the opportunities to use these data will only keep increasing in the future. Innovative companies in Aviation industry are using this rapid proliferation of the amount of data been generated and the technology advancements in Internet of Things, Machine Learning, Deep Learning and Analytics to make better, smarter, real time and fact based decisions to gain very clear competitive advantage over their competitors.

Typical Data Collected by Airline Companies:

There are over 35 million departures each year and 5,000 commercial aircraft in the sky at any given point in time over the US alone. As an industry highly driven by technology, every element of an aircraft’s performance is being monitored real time for the potential to make adjustments which could save millions on fuel bills and, more importantly, save lives by improving safety and numerous other possibilities.

Innovative air crafts are likely to have as many as 6000 different elements monitored every second from the engine alone. Sensors will aspire to manage and improve stress-points across the journey too; "Infrastructure such as elevators, baggage carousels, travelators, kiosks, bag-drop stations and boarding gates will all have sensors. Both staff and passengers will be connected and equipment at the airport such as baggage trolleys and wheelchairs too,"

Forecasts about how many things will be connected in the next few years are mind-boggling. They range from calculations by tech researcher Gartner that there will be 25 billion connected things in use by 2020 to internet networking specialist Cisco ISBG's forecast of 50 billion connected devices. The crucial issue is that these devices will, for the most part, be communicating with each other to negotiate and organise themselves, communicating with people only to take instructions or report back.

"The volumetric will grow exponentially as sensors, beacons, wearables all start beaming information, connecting to each other as well as enterprise applications. In addition, IoT environments work in real time. This mesh of big and fast data and real-time cadence will need to be addressed in the architectural framework," says Neetan Chopra, who leads the development of the digital vision 2025 for Emirates, Dubai. - GE

FEW BIG DATA USE CASES IN AVIATION  

Predictive Maintenance and Customer Experience

In 2016, in the US alone, the cost of maintenance related delays for airlines was well over $0.5B. Almost a third of total delay time is due to unplanned maintenance.

For aviation companies, delays and cancellations are a huge and expensive problem. Up to 30% of the total delay time is due to unplanned maintenance. Advanced analytics rationalize, predict and streamline maintenance, helping aviation clients increase maintenance efficiency, improve the health of their fleet, and reduce delays and cancellations. This predictive maintenance approach can also help improve areas like supply chain optimization, inventory allocation and planning, aircraft reliability improvement and operation and schedule planning.

Big Data can

• Reduced maintenance cost and improved aircraft availability through optimization of the maintenance program.
• Reduced maintenance turn around time (TAT) through efficient troubleshooting.
• Reduced parts inventory requirements through integrated supply chain and planning

Fuel Economy and Efficiency

We have already seen breakthrough successes like a major low-cost carrier has cost analytics built into its DNA with its focus on fuel efficiency, delivering value for money for the cost-sensitive segment while also streamlining its fleet and crew.

Today's use of IoT technologies for greater efficiency is scratching the surface compared with what could be achieved in the future. "IoT applications could improve overall fuel cost (not just the consumption) taking into account energy prices, when/where to refuel, optimal flight and taxi paths as well as when/how much to hedge for the fuel," says GE's Bartlett.

Flight Path Optimization

Every airline begins with a flight plan which includes route, passengers, freight, mails and other operational data. Over time, small adjustments to each flight plan parameters can add up to substantial savings across a fleet. Overall performance of a flight plan of an aircraft can be influenced by many factors which includes accurate flight plans, dynamic route optimization, freight spaces, optimal use of available seat etc., While all airlines use computerized flight planning systems, investing in a higher-end heuristic algorithm based decision support systems and in the effort to use it to use the full capability of big data analytics has significant impact on both profitability and the environment.

Job Ad: Hiring Big Data Architects in Dubai - 8 to 12 Years

Highly Personalized Offers

In the era of Big Data, businesses must be smart about how they deploy analytics tools to derive deeply valuable insights about their customers. As the travel domain continues to evolve, emerging trends like personalized itineraries, short-hop flying and custom-tailored experiences are likely to become mainstream and important elements of new offerings from airlines. 

When a customer checks into a flight, there is typically an array of potential add-on offers to navigate through: flight upgrades, access to the airline’s premium clubs, and much more by

• Identify key factors that drive customer loyalty
• Increase flexibility and responsiveness to improve customer service levels
• Create a robust customer targeting model

About Anandh and Gladwin Analytics

Anandh Shanmugaraj is the Principal Partner and Managing Director of Gladwin Analytics and Group.

Global Big Data and Analytics Executive Search is our primary area of service. We help our clients identify the best big data analytic talent, build successful big data and analytics center of excellence and provide competitive intelligence on big data landscape.

We’d love to speak to you about how we helped some of the global aviation companies set up their big data practice and how we can leverage our experience to build your big data practice right from ground zero or add innovative minds to your already established practice.

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