Digital Aviation Survey Report

A tsunami is a periodic series of gradually increasing tidal cycles, a seismic phenomenon, representing internal wave trains that build upon each predecessor, overwhelming everything in their path.

The aviation industry is experiencing a data tsunami that is fundamentally changing flight operations, technical operations and customer engagement.

The airline passenger experience has significantly transformed over the past 30 years. From loyalty programs to paperless ticketing to in flight entertainment and mobile social-media engagement, the customer-facing side of the aviation industry uses hard technologies and data to create customer specific tailored communications, service offerings and loyalty intimacy.

On one side of the runway, data works to deliver efficiency and drive profits.

While the the volume and velocity of operational and information data has been stark, the change in aviation operations has been more gradual due to various events over the “lost decade” from 2001 to 2014. This period saw limited investments in technological innovations due to industry disruptions after the dot.com bust, 9/11, SARS, bankruptcies, mergers, the oil price spike, and the great recession.

With maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) accounting for 11% to 15% of an operator’s annual costs and global industry spending forecasted to exceed $73 billion USD in 2017, aviation and aerospace organizations, aircraft operators especially, there are two options at this critical juncture: get in the collaborative lifeboat or sink. Treading water is not a viable strategy.  

For aircraft operators especially, there are two options: get in the collaborative lifeboat or sink. Treading water is not a viable strategy.  

Similarly, defense sustainment runs even higher on both an aggregate level and a per aircraft operating-hour basis, with global annual expenditures averaging $78.4 billion USD over the next 10 years.

This data has massive potential to deliver operational insights and customer value, if it is not left untapped. But by necessity, airline IT departments have been mainly focused on “keeping the lights on” over the “lost decade”, maintaining legacy operational systems rather than developing strategic plans to adopt sophisticated digital tools. What investment capital that is spent is focused first on the revenue side of the runway.

More data promises new operational and information technologies (OT/IT) and advanced analytics, ranging from enhanced asset utilization and customer engagement to lower operational costs. Despite this potential, commercial and military operators do not own or control the entire digital thread necessary to fully exploit the insights available, nor do they currently have the time, skilled resources, or technology in place.

The full MRO data picture does not lie with any one type of organization. Operators, OEMs, MRO providers, lessors and industry associations each hold a piece of the puzzle, making industry collaboration a mandatory step toward capitalizing on digital data-driven opportunities. But an ingrained culture of risk avoidance, security, and IP concerns have stunted attempts at data sharing.

Read the full executive summary report at Capgemini: