For the April 2022 edition of Aerospace Tech Review, I wrote an article entitled ‘Blockchain: The Future of Tracking Aircraft Parts?’ In that story, we explored the application of the blockchain digital identity system to tracking parts from their dates of manufacture to end of life, and how blockchain could address serious issues such as Suspected Unapproved Parts (SUP); in other words, fakes. Blockchain’s robust security features — with each part being assigned its own unique blockchain identity at start of life using its serial numbers, transactional data, maintenance records, and 8130 tags — can also be used to detect stolen parts as they enter the aviation supply chain. Blockchain can also expose supposedly ‘refurbished’ parts that have actually exceeded their operational lifespans and are not fit for re-use.
Time has passed since that first article: Where does blockchain usage stand today in the aviation industry? Is it catching on, or have events moved on since our first article? That’s what this blockchain update article is meant to find out.
A Quick Blockchain Refresher
To retain consistency with our initial blockchain story, let’s begin with the same definition. “Blockchain owes its name to how it works and the manner in which it stores data, namely that the information is packaged into blocks, which link to form a chain with other blocks of similar information,” said the Lisk Foundation, the nonprofit group associated with the Lisk blockchain application platform. “Once the data is recorded in a block it cannot be altered without having to change every block that came after it, making it impossible to do so without it being seen by the other participants on the network.”
Gary Hochman Quantum Marketing Group
To put this definition into more accessible language, “Blockchain can simply be understood as a transactional ledger, similar to an accounting ledger used for banking,” said Gary Hochman, a partner with Quantum Marketing Group. “It provides a start point and an end point for information. The ledger can be shared to see current transactions and used to identify historical transactions based on the data contained in the transaction.”
David Bettenhausen Aerotrax Technologies
“Here’s my definition: Blockchain is a trusted, permissioned transaction platform maintained across distributed computers in a peer-to-peer network, utilizing incentives to ensure good behavior,” said Jeff N. Smith, Parker Aerospace’s head of digital product programs. Again, blockchain is designed to be secure by its very nature. “Verified participants in the network are only allowed to add records,” noted Aerotrax Technologies CEO David Bettenhausen. “This creates an immutable record of all transactions that is indisputable and auditable.”
Jeff N. Smith Parker Aerospace
Mark Roboff, CEO and co-founder of SkyThread (which is building a blockchain data exchange network for commercial aviation), prefers to define blockchain by explaining what it isn’t. “Blockchain is not cryptocurrency. It is not tokens. It is not Bitcoin. It is not NFTs,” he said. “Instead, blockchain is a data structure ecosystem where data is distributed amongst the many players that are part of a blockchain network. And the way that blockchain implements its security is in the design of its data structures, which is really, really, very clever because it allows us to create these secured, distributed data ecosystems where any time information is tampered with, it’s immediately detected because of how information is chained together using cryptography.”
Mark Roboff SkyThread
A tamper-resistant identity system for aircraft parts that is impossible to hack. That’s what blockchain offers to aviation. But that’s not all: “The information needed for us to get value out of a blockchain has everything to do with having data on our parts and around its movements beyond the four walls of our manufacturing plant,” said Smith. “Blockchain means that we don’t have to integrate with each and every one of our customers’ ERP or maintenance systems, which we’d never be able to do or maintain anyway. Meanwhile, just as our customers want clean data from a part’s origination point, so do we — which ties into the incentives’ aspect of blockchain. A permissioned blockchain provides us with security and trust associated with the use of the technology. This foundation gives us the security necessary to share this to the chain and know that it is only being shared with a permissioned node partner and in the way we have agreed to share data. Without this kind of built-in security, no one would be willing to share this type of data.”
An Example of Blockchain’s Strengths
To get a sense of how blockchain can improve the aircraft parts servicing sector, let’s look at an example.
Quantum Marketing Group has two entries in the aviation blockchain tracking market: QCcapture and PartsFax. “We started looking at teardown parts and found a need to document their condition, and from that activity we filed a patent to create a standardized part trace methodology,” Hochman said. “That patent was issued in 2022. We then filed for a continuation patent to apply blockchain, artificial intelligence and other value-added features to our applications QCcapture and PartsFax.”
According to Hochman, the combined benefits of these enhanced programs include automatically pushing updated blockchain data, voice, and video records to cloud storage, improving part out and line maintenance part documentation with blockchain trace data tracking being accessible through the company’s mobile app, and being able to find out how many times a part has been serviced, leading to more accurate part valuations. Using blockchain for parts tracking and monitoring also makes it easier to ensure compliance with relevant regulations, track parts shipments and any damage that occurs to them enroute, and improve QC (quality control) throughout. Blockchain can also shorten servicing turnaround times by providing repair depots to assess the state of the affected part before it is shipped, and detect any missing elements of the part using attached photos and videos.
Blockchain is a data structure ecosystem where data is distributed amongst the many players that are part of a blockchain network. The way blockchain implements its security is in the design of its data structures, which creates secured, distributed data ecosystems where any time information is tampered with, it’s immediately detected due to how the information is chained together using cryptography, says SkyThread’s Mark Roboff. Photo Credit: Werner Aero image.
Blockchain identities can be integrated into the existing parts databases operated by airlines and MROs, and enable better data sharing among everyone concerned. This speeds up the process of parts acquisition, installation, monitoring, repair, and removal. “This data can be FAA, EASA, CAAC, ARSA, or ASA-integrated,” said Hochman. It can be accessed and updated using apps running on Android, Apple, or Windows devices that each have access to a camera, video, and voice recording capability.”
Obstacles to Deployment
Back in last year’s article, it was made clear that blockchain was a long way from being adopted by the aviation industry. No matter how well-suited blockchain is for aircraft parts tracking, issues such as who would pay for the deployment and maintenance of a blockchain system, who would have access to the data, and risks of self-interested businesses exploiting blockchain insights to enrich themselves need to be resolved before this technology can achieve widespread acceptance and deployment. Also stuck at the starting gate is a proposed solution of creating a unified blockchain system for the entire aviation industry, with a neutral party managing this system for everyone’s mutual benefit.
Today, not much seems to have changed. “There are many challenges to creating an industry-accepted standard for blockchain,” said Hochman. “There is the issue of who is going to monitor and ensure standards to be created by one or more consortiums or other industry groups all wanting to be the proven accepted solution. Then there is the politics of who owns the data and who will share and not share historical records. There is also the issue of security and private information: OEMs, MROs and repair shops do not want to share with competitors, and there is the issue of who is the company person responsible for blockchain within aviation organizations: CTOs, IT management, or quality control and compliance management?”
There are further issues that need to be addressed for blockchain to find its place in parts tracking. For instance, “Blockchain for parts needs to start with the OEM when the part is manufactured,” Hochman said. “Documenting the part’s existence and condition (new) at the factory is what starts the security aspect using the part’s ID number and serial number (authenticity) which will follow the part through its life cycle whether installed on a newly manufactured aircraft/engine or for stock. This is especially true for flight critical, life limited and USM parts (Used Serviceable Material).” Will OEMs be willing to shoulder this cost? Will their clients be willing to share in the expense? Like the ever-thorny issue of splitting a restaurant bill between a table of 12, the question that matters most is: “Who pays what?”
When it comes to the deployment of blockchain in aviation, Aerotrax’s David Bettenhausen has his doubts. “Theoretically, blockchain would be well-suited to the task if it were to be properly implemented across the entire supply chain, then it could provide cradle-to-grave traceability,” he said. “The challenge is traction: When competing on priorities across the entire organization at an airline, MRO, or OEM, using blockchain to track aircraft parts is not very far up the list of their priorities based on the conversations that we’ve had. Instead, decreasing AOG time, improving reliability, empowering people to accomplish their work, and maximizing MRO velocity are higher priorities. Now some may make the case that using blockchain to track aircraft parts could result in solving some of these priorities, but this is dependent on the overall network adoption of the blockchain. And that is dependent on thousands of companies — from mom-and-pops to massive defense prime contractors — all saying ‘yes’ to buying into the blockchain system.”
This is why Aerotrax Technologies has moved away from blockchain for its cloud-based aircraft part tracking system. “We made the decision because blockchain was ultimately slower, more expensive, and riskier,” Bettenhausen said. ‘I say this with the background that we built in this space for years. We signed on big customers, we tested blockchain software, we implemented it in numerous places, but we could never cross the valley of proof of concept/pilot into commercial. This forced us to take a step back and completely redesign the platform from scratch.”
However, SkyThread is finding success with blockchain. “We are deploying SkyThread for Parts — leveraging the SkyThread Blockchain — at some of the largest OEMs, Tier 1s, airlines, and MROs in the world today,” said Roboff. “In the past six months, we’ve publicly announced commercial agreements with Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance, AJ Walters, L3 Harris, and Parker Aerospace.”
The Push for an Industry-wide Standard
The obvious need to improve data sharing across the aviation industry — and not just for parts tracking — has resulted in the creation of the IDCA: the Independent Data Consortium for Aviation. It is a global consortium of aviation companies seeking a way to share data “in a non-competitive manner,” said the IDCA’s http://www.dataforaviation.org website. “Its objective is to create a more efficient marketplace, where both waste and the time required to get to a common solution is minimized.”
The areas where the IDCA hopes to foster a common trusted platform for aviation data sharing start with parts tracking from birth to disposal. But it also hopes to encompass Aircraft on Ground (AOG) servicing, diagnosing technical problems common to all operators, lease ownership transfers, and preserving mandatory aircraft safety data even in areas experiencing conflicts.
Ravi Rajamani IDCA
So where does blockchain fit into the IDCA’s vision? According to the IDCA president, Ravi Rajamani, this is an open question. “What we are trying to do at the IDCA is to develop consensus rules for ensuring that data can be shared in a reliable, secure manner across all the participants in this ecosystem,” he said. “If blockchain proves to be the best way of getting to that, then that’s fantastic. But if tomorrow we come up with a better way of getting there that follows the requirements that we are going to set up, then fine — we will switch. But I don’t think we should get hung up on blockchain. It’s the rules that are above that, that are important.”
Where We Stand Now
Based on the feedback we received for this article, there remains a lot of enthusiasm in the aviation industry for the kinds of benefits that blockchain can provide, but not necessarily for blockchain itself.
Certainly, the implementation of blockchain would entail extra time and expense for the aviation industry, whether limited to parts tracking or for a whole range of functions as the IDCA envisions. But this will likely be true for any industry-wide data tracking/sharing/verification standard and/or system that the industry may ultimately settle on. Moreover, because humans engaged in profit-oriented businesses can’t always be trusted to put the Greater Good above their own selfish desires, some sort of neutral authority with the power to back its decisions will be required to make any such system work.
This is the irony of the current blockchain debate. Many of the issues being cited have little to do with blockchain as a discrete aircraft parts tracking system, and everything to do with the general concept of a trusted industry-wide data-sharing standard and the costs associated with it.
Judging by his comments, the IDCA’s Rajamani is aware of this distinction, which is why his focus is on the rules being developed to enable safe data sharing, rather than focusing on blockchain or any other specific solution towards this end. But it remains to be seen if the aviation industry as a whole understands this distinction, or if their time will remain consumed with debating the pros and cons of blockchain instead.
We hope to see many new and familiar faces at our event, Aerospace Tech Week in Atlanta! If you are joining us here and reading this at the event, welcome! If you are receiving this magazine at home, please look ahead and consider attending our next event in Munich on April 17 and 18.
For those interested in learning about the latest in technology that can help airlines be more efficient, save money and be sustainable, or those working in the avionics, connectivity, MRO IT, flight ops IT, testing, MRO, MOSA/SOSA/FACE areas, this is the conference to attend.
At the show you will have access to multiple experts in these areas that will speak and share experiences from their operations and about their products and offerings. In this issue of Aerospace Tech Review, we also look at some of the same topics that will be covered at the show. One of those topics is cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity is or should be top of mind for all in aviation. Cyberattacks are becoming more frequent and will likely become more devastating. Being prepared, as much as possible, is key.
Back in June, Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport in Louisiana experienced a cyberattack on its administration system as part of a larger attack by a ransomware group. Fortunately, flight operations were not affected. In April, the international cyber hacking group Anonymous Sudan claimed credit for website outages of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and UPS. Both websites were restored within a couple of hours, and both said there was no impact on operations.
In February, seven German airport websites including those for Dusseldorf, Nuremberg and Dortmund, were knocked offline by a cyberattack.
All of these folks got lucky and these are a few examples of the cyberattacks that target the aviation industry. But concerns about aircraft and their interconnected functions, interfaces and systems, including ground, in-flight and maintenance operations and related processes, are real. These incidents could impact safety, business operations and the company reputations.
Experts from around the world are quoted in our story on cybersecurity by Jim Romeo that touts planning and preparation to anticipate possible cybersecurity breaches as key to preventing or minimizing damage due to them. Cybersecurity awareness, standards and best practices are discussed in the article starting on page 20.
Also in this issue we have an update on blockchain use in aviation. Aviation and blockchain seem like a match made in heaven. Accuracy and integrity of data is crucial to aviation. Blockchain can potentially provide extremely efficient, digitized and incorruptible parts tracking, as well as many other applications. It promises to improve data security, reduce costs and increase the efficiency of processes.
How would blockchain be used in our aviation world? Recording the location of assets in real-time, providing information like flight path, baggage onboarding, tracking down a lost asset, passenger details are some of the ways.
More specifically, in the world of caring for and maintaining aircraft, the experts at consulting firm PwC say it can provide “a boost of power and efficiency” to the MRO side of the airline business. “A picture of each plane’s configuration and maintenance history, accurate up to the second, would make it easier to predict when serious maintenance issues could ground a plane, and to analyze its condition and diagnose potential issues during MRO,” PwC says.
Blockchain offers the promise of continuously updating the logs for each aircraft part’s condition. This could help reduce the time needed for the inspection and maintenance of aircraft. Blockchain may also assist in predictive maintenance efforts. MRO service providers can also use blockchain and provide verifiable documentation for the components they have serviced or installed.
Beyond all that, this technology can help automate payment processes, and improve the ease with which airlines can keep track of the entire life cycle of an aircraft, from the manufacturing process to maintenance and repair process, to end of life.
The experts say cybersecurity is built into blockchain technology because it is a decentralized system built on principles of security, privacy and trust. According to a Deloitte white paper, blockchain is a “promising innovation … towards helping enterprises tackle immutable cyber-risk challenges such as digital identities and maintaining data integrity.”
But the Deloitte paper cautions that, “blockchain’s characteristics do not provide an impenetrable panacea to all cyber ills, to think the same would be naïve at best. Instead, as with other technologies blockchain implementations and rollouts must include typical system and network cybersecurity controls, due diligence, practice and procedures.”
You can see our story on blockchain starting on page 40.
So whether you are joining us either in Atlanta, Munich or both, to learn more about areas of technology that could be so important to your business operations like cybersecurity and blockchain — welcome. We hope you also enjoy the many other areas we will be covering including avionics, connectivity, testing, flight operations IT, MRO IT or MOSA/SOSA/FACE. We look forward to hosting this event and creating the environment of learning, information sharing and provoking new avenues of thought about how to improve aviation and aerospace.
A flight data recorder (FDR) is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft to help investigate aviation accidents and incidents. They are used not only for flight evaluation after an unexpected event, but also for a pilot training, pilot skills assessment, diagnostics of onboard systems, and evaluation of aircraft systems as a whole. Often referred to as a black box, an FDR consists of two devices that can be combined into a single unit. The FDR preserves the recent history of the flight through the recording of dozens of parameters collected several times per second, while the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) preserves the recent history of the sounds in the cockpit, including the conversation of the pilots.
Since their inception as a photograph-based flight recorder (the record was made on a scrolling photographic film) developed by François Hussenot and Paul Beaudouin in 1939 at the Marignane flight test center in France, FDRs have advanced and become more sophisticated. They have evolved to meet new regulatory mandates, exploit new technologies, and increase the amount of information available to accident investigators. Even their nickname “black box” has become outdated; FDRs are now required to be painted bright orange to aid in their recovery by making them more visually conspicuous in accident debris.
Generational Progress
The first real generation of FDRs was introduced in the 1950s. Many first-generation FDRs used metal foil as the recording medium, with each single strip of foil capable of recording 200 to 400 hours of data. This metal foil was housed in a crash-survivable box installed in the aft end of an airplane.
Second-generation FDRs were introduced in the 1970s as the requirement to record more data increased, but they were unable to process the larger amounts of incoming sensor data. To remedy this, the flight data acquisition unit (FDAU) was invented. A flight data acquisition unit receives various discrete, analog and digital parameters from a number of sensors and avionic systems and then routes them to a flight data recorder (FDR) and, if installed, to a Quick Access Recorder (QAR). Information from the FDAU to the FDR is sent via specific data frames, which depend on the aircraft manufacturer.
The digital world signaled another generation for FDRs. FAA rule changes in the late 1980s required the first-generation FDRs be replaced with digital recorders. Many of the older FDRs were replaced with second-generation magnetic tape recorders that can process incoming data without an FDAU. Most of these second-generation digital FDRs (DFDRs) can process up to 18 input parameters (signals). This requirement was based upon an airplane with four engines and a requirement to record 11 operational parameters for up to 25 hours.
“Recording media/storage has evolved very significantly, moving from tapes to solid state media providing large capacity,” says Dror Yahav, CEO, Universal Avionics, Tucson, Ariz. “Digital recording support provides much more flexibility to operators, supporting more exhaustive aircraft data collection over an extended period. Data retrieval interval can be extended when aircraft are not easily accessible while ensuring no recorded data loss. In addition, Universal Avionics has introduced much faster download speed with its Kapture recorders.”
FDR Advances
Robert Zehnder, director of sales airborne solutions at HENSOLDT, Immenstaad, Germany, explained some of the advances FDRs have made in the past 30 years. Zehnder says the requirements of the minimum performance specifications (MOPS); the requirements for crash survival increased; the high temperature fire test (1100°C) increased from 30 minutes to 60 minutes; a new low temperature fire test (260°C for 10 hours) was incorporated; the duration of sea water immersion test changed from 30 to 90 days; and new shear and tensile test, which will guarantee that in the event of an accident the ULB will not be separated from the crash protected memory unit within the recorder.
He stated that the recording capacity (e.g., two hours of audio versus 25 hours, or also the amount of flight data) has increased. Data acquisition units (DAU) are now often integrated into the CVR or FDR or CVFDR. The size and the weight have decreased and the read-out process is now easier and faster, Zehnder said.
Zehnder adds that the first generation of solid-state recorders have continued with a legacy ARINC 573, later ARINC 717 format which was originally based on Harvard Biphase encoding to record a signal directly onto magnetic tape. “This has finally been superseded with new interface types such as CAN-Bus and Ethernet, although legacy formats such as ARINC 717, ARINC 429, Discrete Analogue / Frequency Inputs are still supported for earlier generation aircraft.”
Componentry Advances
Improvements in lithium battery technology, specifically power density and thermal runaway protection have enabled CVR/FDRs flight recorders to meet the FAA TSO-C121b mandate for Ultrasonic Locator Beacons (ULBs) to transmit for a minimum of 90 days when activated. “In addition, ULBs feature thermal runaway protection when using lithium batteries in order to meet the DO-227A requirement,” Zehnder says. “Furthermore, design improvements have reduced the quantities of lithium below thresholds for transportation — i.e., ULBs shipped separately from recorders as spares — where additional precautions would be required for transporting hazardous materials.”
HENSOLDT’s Lightweight Crash Recorder (LCR) combines all acquisition and recording functions that were previously spread across different devices into one single box. Its smaller dimensions and reduced weight makes it ideal for small aircraft platforms, helicopters and UAVs. HENSOLDT image.
Universal Avionics’ Kapture Recorders contain an innovative Recorder Independent Power Supply (RIPS) which is internal to the CVR unit. Yahav says this all-inclusive, internal RIPS eliminates weight and cost of an external LRU or bolt-on RIPS unit.
Universal Avionics say their KAPTURE Cockpit Voice and Flight Data Recorder is designed for operators seeking a recording solution that meets all of the latest certifications and requirements around the world and can hold 25 hours of data. Universal image.
Advances in memory technology, such as single-level cell (SLC) flash devices have sufficiently fast read/write times that enable imagery from multiple video sources such as cameras and multi-function displays to be recorded alongside voice, datalink and flight data parameters. Zehnder explains this meets new Airborne Image Recording System (AIRS) requirements for certain categories of Part 23 airplanes and Part 25 helicopters.
Advances in Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology has produced highly accurate 3-axis gyros and accelerometers in devices packages that can be built into flight recorders. This can eliminate, in some cases, the need to install a separate data acquisition unit. It can reduce the installation cost of wiring to the AHRS (Attitude Heading Reference System) and the corresponding certification effort required when connecting to a mandatory aircraft system.
Zehnder says semiconductor and manufacturing technology, such as high-density FPGAs and memory devices, along with multi-layer printed circuit board technology have made it possible to create very lightweight units: ED-155 recorders such as SferiRec LCR 100 weighing less than 1 kg. “This is an advantage especially on smaller helicopter, fixed-wing aircraft, eVTOLs and UAVs where weight, space and electrical power are at a premium.”
Aircraft have migrated from conventional point-to-point data buses, such as ARINC 429, toward CAN and Ethernet networks. These operate at significantly higher data rates, e.g., 100Mbps Ethernet versus 100 kbps ARINC429, allowing significantly larger parameter sets to be recorded at higher sampling rates. The networking approach also reduces aircraft wiring considerably and can eliminate the need to fit a separate Data Acquisition Unit.
Zehnder explains high-capacity SD cards, built into the recorder, are providing an ultra-low cost Quick Access Recorder (QAR) solution for flight data monitoring programs, such as FOQA (Flight Operations Quality Assurance).
Reliability and Maintenance Advances
FDR’s Mean Time between Failure (MTBF) has increased considerably over the last 30 years when tape-based recorder achieved around 5,000 hours before failure. Latest generation recorder routinely achieve >25,000 hours MTBF.
Mean Time between Unscheduled Removal (MTBUR) has been a historical issue with flight recorders. Often, flight recorders would be removed from an aircraft if a parameter was not functioning correctly or flatlining. “Often the recorder was merely recording outputs from failed sensors and the so-called “bad pulls” resulted in high No Fault Found (NFF) rates,” Zehnder says. “Today’s recorders feature power-on, pilot initiated and continuous Built in Test (BIT) features that rapidly identify and report any fault conditions or bad sectors due to memory degradation over long-term use. Fault conditions are reported over an Onboard Maintenance (OMS) system, as part of a Central Maintenance Computer (CMC) used by pilots for tech log write-ups and by line maintenance engineers for ground troubleshooting.”
There have even been advances that give operators secure and reliable maintenance records compliant with aviation’s highest standards, including all FAA, EASA, and ICAO mandates for flight data recorders. Dallas-based Flight Data Systems’ SAFR Readout is a state-of-the-art secure Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) data analysis service addressing the requirement for aircraft operators to perform periodic maintenance readouts on flight recorder systems at least once a year.
Flight Data Systems’ Readout analysts examine all recorded parameters for their validity and serviceability and create recognized CASA or EASA readout reports that state the condition of the aircraft’s flight recorder system serviceability. By generating all necessary reports and documentation required by aviation authorities, Flight Data Systems’ SAFR Readout services take the guesswork out of this process and help eliminate the operators’ costly in-house troubleshooting process.
The above FDR advances have all been evolving the aviation and aircraft industry toward safety. Furthermore, aircraft modernization programs are further anticipated to propel the growth of the flight data recorder market. The rise in the demand for situational alertness, the increase in aircraft deliveries worldwide, the upsurge in air traffic, and the adoption of high-tech commercial aviation technologies have been major driving factors.
In today’s commercial aviation market, the efficient management of airspace is crucial for the smooth operations of airlines. Unfortunately, current airspace management regimes hampered by limited connectivity pose challenges to on-time operations. This is why modernizing these regimes through enhanced connectivity and digitalization is a top priority for regulators and businesses involved in airspace.
Coping With Multiple Challenges
Managing space is a difficult task at the best of times — and these are not the best of times. A case in point: “Over the past three years, European aviation has faced events moving faster than the overall ability to control them, such as the pandemic, war in Ukraine, economic crisis, and climate change,” said Razvan Bucuroiu, head of airspace and capacity at EUROCONTROL, a civil-military body which coordinates air traffic management for 43 states across Europe. Meanwhile, “traffic has been recovering well across the EUROCONTROL network,” he said. “We are expecting [traffic] well over 2022 figures and a recovery rate of up to 95% when compared to 2019.” This rebound is occurring at a time when overflight restrictions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have reduced the amount of available airspace.
Razvan Bucuroiu, EUROCONTROL
The overall state of European airspace management has been in decline for a decade, due to the system’s inability to cope with air traffic increases. Since 2013, “the European network has seen a decrease in operational performance as capacity has lagged behind demand,” he said.
According to Bucuriou, there are several reasons for this decrease. For instance, “European airspace still remains fragmented in terms of airspace organization and supporting service provision and infrastructure,” he said. As well, air traffic control (ATC) sectors remain defined by national boundaries. “This leads to lower overall capacity and several flight-path inefficiencies — as the alignment of operational boundaries does not follow traffic flows, this increases the need for handovers and coordination between sectors in different countries,” said Bosman. “A number of measures are regularly taken at network and local level to address capacity enhancements in various areas of the European air traffic management, but they are not sufficient as cross-border aspects are still difficult to address.”
Paul Bosman, EUROCONTROL
“Fragmentation also arises through smaller than optimal operational units within national Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs),” said Paul Bosman, EUROCONTROL’s head of infrastructure. “These units may have become sub-optimal, for example, as changes in the technology of service provision have increased the optimum size of a center. There is also a duplication of Communications, Navigation and Surveillance Systems for Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) systems and of associated support services.”
It doesn’t help that the majority of communications with pilots are still conducted vocally through VHF radio, he said, rather than by direct data connections such as EUROCONTROL’s Datalink. “Communication via radio does consume a significant part of air traffic controllers’ (ATCs) working time,” Bosman said. “If more messages could be communicated via Datalink, it would help.”
EUROCONTROL’s assessment is endorsed by air traffic management companies such as Collins Aerospace and Thales Airspace Mobility Solutions.
“The challenges that get in the way of on-time operations are lack of data-sharing in real time across multiple platforms, legacy/analog communications systems, outdated traffic flow management systems, and the ability to quickly recover when an irregular operation does happen,” said Gene Hayman, Collins Aerospace’s director of CAS government services. “Because ANSPs have traditionally procured ATM capability as large and complex, build-to-design, on-premises systems, they tend to have limited capability in sharing with other systems. Yes, these systems can be enhanced and upgraded — but only to a certain extent. In the end, just like any computer, there are inherent technical limitations of these ATM systems that eventually render them obsolete.”
Benjamin Binet, Thales
“There has been limited sharing of real-time trajectory information between both airborne and ground systems,” added Benjamin Binet, Thales’ vice president of strategy and public affairs for airspace mobility solutions. “Using a single trajectory model for each flight as the single source of truth would provide the best operational efficiency, safety, and needs.”
The takeaway: When it comes to the various elements restricting airspace availability — not just in Europe but worldwide — “all of these factors result in a limitation of the available capacity, a lacking of overall 4D trajectory optimization, high saturation of radio frequencies, limited automation support/high proportion of manual work (leading to heavy processes and high ATC workload), limited sharing of data and lack of interoperability between ANSPs, airspace users and airports, as well as high buffers across the planning and execution chain due to limited predictability reducing actual usage of existing capacity,” Bucuroiu said.
EUROCONTROL is modernizing European airspace management through Common Project 1 (CP1) effort, the international effort to create an integrated, connected and efficient ATC system across the European continent. Shown here, an Emirates A380 landing at the airport in Nice, France.
Improving Airspace Management Through Technology
Digitally driven aircraft/ground and aircraft/aircraft connectivity is seen as the most practical and promising solution to the limitations affecting airspace capacity. The goal is to get everyone and everything talking to each other digitally in real time, resulting in significantly enhanced situational awareness, closer aircraft spacing without sacrificing safety, and more responsive ATC management.
This is why AIR Lab — a joint venture between Thales and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore — is working on Trajectory Based Operations (TBO), which enables aircraft continuous descents into major airports for greater operational efficiency and reduced carbon emissions/fuel burn. As well, AIR Lab is working on integrating uncrewed aircraft into ATC operations, to ensure the safety of commercial airliners. “They are providing customers with the option to integrate best-in-breed systems and components within their ATM system via OpenSky Platform for the best possible operational outcomes suited to their specific environment and operational needs,” Binet said.
Meanwhile, Collins Aerospace is focused on developing products and services that enable a fully connected aviation ecosystem. To make this happen, “we work closely with ANSPs, airlines and airports to leverage our ecosystem of aviation-related data, network connectivity, and ATM systems,” said Hayman. “By integrating real-time data across all stakeholders and operators, we build more predictability into the ATM ecosystem — improving collaboration and stakeholder situational awareness, which leads to more efficient airspace operations.”
In this new connected world of airspace management, ATM vendors such as Collins and Thales are making life easier for EUROCONTROL and other ATM operators by provisioning cutting-edge ATC solutions directly, rather than selling them as products to be implemented by their clients. “The service-based approach puts the responsibility of deploying and enhancing ATM system platforms on service providers, relieving ANSPs of the headaches in procuring, maintaining, and eventually running life-support on critical system architecture,” Hayman said. “Service providers are inherently experts at managing the entire life cycle of a solution, to include critical backend infrastructure, so that customers can simply utilize capability as a service.”
EUROCONTROL is spearheading the modernization of European airspace management through the implementation of Common Project 1 (CP1), the international effort to create an integrated, connected and efficient ATC system across the continent. “EUROCONTROL, as Network Manager, is one of the key players in the implementation of the CP1 Implementing Rule requirements,” said Bucuroiu. “A new Network Concept of Operations has been developed with all the operational stakeholders and it was adopted in 2022. New concepts of operations are developed at network level for the 4D Trajectory Management, Air Traffic Flow and Capacity Management, Airspace Management and Data Management.”
In addition, EUROCONTROL has launched ‘Network Strategic Projects’ to foster Cooperative Traffic Management (covering air traffic flow and capacity management evolutions), Flight Plan and Flight Data Evolutions (covering the implementation of FF-ICE and future trajectory based operations), and advanced flexibility of airspace to further civil/military cooperation. Further such projects include Free Route Airspace (covering the implementation of new concepts for airspace design and utilization), Integration of New Entrants (covering the network introduction of commercial space operations, high altitude operations and drones) and Flight Efficiency Implementation (on sustainable evolutions of the airspace utilization).
“A major Airspace Restructuring Program aimed at implementing major airspace changes at the European level until 2030 has been also implemented and is progressing well,” said Bosman. “On the infrastructure side, initiatives have been taken on the implementation of Datalink, on CNS infrastructure resilience and sustainable evolutions, on the implementation of SWIM (system–wide information management) and on cyber security.”
The current edition of EUROCONTROL’s Network Operations Plan covering the period 2023-2027 also includes major ATM system upgrades intended to be implemented for 41 out of the continent’s 68 Area Control Centers. “This represents a vast modernization program at local level that will be synchronized as part of the cooperative work put together between EUROCONTROL as Network Manager and the Air Navigation Service providers,” Bucuroiu said. “These new ATM systems will provide for enhanced ATC support tools, enhanced decision-making tools, enhanced trajectory calculation, and better utilization of Datalink.”
Enhanced Communications is Central
When it comes to modernizing air traffic control, the driver behind enhanced connectivity is improved communications between aircraft and the ground, and each other. The more detailed, accurate and responsive that these communications are, the more that can be done to increase airspace capacity safely. This, above everything else, is what airspace management needs to accomplish — fitting more and more aircraft into the same limited space.
At EUROCONTROL, “the big push on the communications side concerns Datalink, which complements traditional voice messaging and improves the chances of instructions and acknowledgements being correctly transmitted and received,” said Bosman. “It can be thought of as a type of SMS between Air Traffic Control Officers (ATCOs) and pilots, specifically tailored to ATC needs with a limited word set. Datalink reduces workload, boosting safety, capacity, and efficiency.”
The inclusion of Datalink equipment on board aircraft operating in Europe’s airspace was mandated under a 2009 European Union law. “However, Datalink services have already evolved beyond that law’s scope, driven by more sensors becoming available on board aircraft,” he said. “Today, there is a concerted drive to automate European ATC — the Digital European Sky — to cope with significant increases in air-ground communications demands. Airlines’ operational communications (AOC) requirements are also growing relentlessly, as more aircraft data are streamed to airline operations centers and into ‘digital twins’. As both ATC and AOC services use the same Datalink technology, it is being pushed to its limits. At some point in the near future it will not cope, which is why the SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research 3 Joint Undertaking) FCI (Future Communications Infrastructure) project is now of vital importance.”
Airspace Mobility Solutions also sees “enhanced communications and connectivity as a key driver of digitalization in ATM,” said Binet. “They support sharing more data in real-time between the aircraft and ground systems in a safe and secure manner.” So does Collins Aerospace: “As we move to an info-centric airspace design, having a hyperconnected ATM ecosystem is critical,” Hayman said. “This requires having ubiquitous communications in place so that real time data sharing can happen with each stakeholder or operator in the airspace.”
A Big Payoff
EUROCONTROL and the European Union’s efforts to modernize ATC on that continent will be poised to deliver a big payoff in improved airspace capacity and safe management, “Timely implementation of all the initiatives described above, by 2030, the European ATM network should benefit from an increase of up to 50% of average sector throughput,” said Bosman. “This will have an immediate positive influence on the on-time performance of airspace users. In addition, from an environmental sustainability point of view compared to the start of this decade, the cumulative benefits of airspace improvements would represent savings of 1,000 million nautical miles flown, i.e., the equivalent of six million tons of fuel saved, or reduced emissions of 20 million tons.”
And there’s more. In a hyperconnected ATM environment, “ANSPs can expect to have greater control and predictability of traffic inbound, outbound and within their airspace, including for terminal areas and airports,” Binet said. “This means improved capacity of major airports, supporting increased air traffic movements with existing airports; greater sharing of real-time data between airlines, aircraft and ground systems for improved management of the flight from beginning to end; and improved safety with the inclusion of new conflict detection capabilities based on the increased sharing of aircraft data with ground systems.”
Right now, “it’s estimated that a lack of ATC Datalink capacity costs €1-1.3 billion ($1.09-1.41 billion) annually” in European airspace flight delays and related issues,” said Bosman. “The new technologies being considered under FCI would provide extra data capacity that would allow ATC to boost airspace capacity by 11%, enabling the introduction of four-dimensional trajectory management, further improving flight efficiency, and reducing fuel burn and greenhouse gas emissions per flight.”
To achieve this capacity increase, over 8,500 aircraft would have to have FCI equipment installed by 2029, if 2019-type traffic levels are reached in 2024. “This subset of the overall fleet represents the aircraft operating 85% of the flights above 28,500 feet — which is the threshold for benefits to kick in,” Bucuroiu said. “Retrofitting existing aircraft for FCI would accelerate the accrual of benefits and expand the overall benefit pool.”
EUROCONTROL is focused on improving communications with Datalink. It complements voice messaging and improve accuracy of instructions and acknowledgements. Datalink reduces workload, boosting safety, capacity and efficiency, EUROCONTROL says.
Where We Stand Now
In a world short of good news, there is good news aplenty when it comes to airspace modernization.
“To date, a significant part of the benefits expected from the Airspace Restructuring Program has been already achieved, mainly through the implementation of the cross-border Free Route Airspace initiatives,” said Bosman. “The implementation of Datalink is also progressing very well with almost all ANSPs having implemented the required improvements and a gradual increased use in operations of Datalink, plus full implementation of SWIM requirements in the EUROCONTROL Network Manager systems. More and more aircraft are also being equipped with Datalink technologies, with over 80% of the aircraft already being Datalink-capable, and over 80% of them logged onto Datalink services.”
In a given four-week period, EUROCONTROL has been seeing almost three million Datalink transactions involving over 300 aircraft operators and 100 aircraft types. Such activity saves over 600,000 minutes of communications time, while also identifying over 100 ‘stuck microphone’ events, which is a very tangible safety benefit. Binet said that European airspace management is also seeing progress in “SESAR projects including Conflict Detection and Resolution, trials with Extended Projected Profile (EPP), and the TBO research in AIR Lab.”
This being said, obstacles remain in the path of European airspace management modernization. These include implementing true cross-border airspace structures and services; addressing current staff shortages; harmonizing operational procedures; ATM systems and ATCO licensing; and accelerating the overall digitalization of ATM overall.”
“ATM is, understandably, a rather conservative industry,” said Bosman. “Change happens rather slowly. It may take over 20 years for a fleet of aircraft to be renewed, with perhaps longer roll-over periods for ATC infrastructure. So, modernization is gradual and requires careful planning.”
Collins Aerospace believes that “culture and funding” are the biggest obstacles. “Sometimes decision makers are concerned about losing control,” Hayman observed. “But using a service-based business model simply means not owning the infrastructure or assets, you still have the capability or data to perform the ATM functions necessary for the mission.”
Nevertheless, airspace modernization coupled with improved communications connectivity offers immense value to commercial airlines and ATC operators in ensuring on-time operations while maintaining safety standards. By leveraging advanced technologies and data exchange capabilities, the limitations imposed by current airspace management regimes can be overcome — leading to a more efficient and connected aviation industry capable of supporting growth.
Tom Samuel, CEO of Comply365, says that the move to a single platform for authoring and distribution of operations manuals is a recent trend.
The overall business need for airlines is the need to streamline their operational content management processes — and they prefer a single platform for authoring and revision management, as well as distribution and compliance tracking for all types of operational manuals and to make them easily accessible to customers across all departments. One obstacle here is the different formats in use for OEM manuals (XML) and company manuals (Word) for flight operations and for technical operations (SGML but also have to integrate with engineering and maintenance ERP systems).
Comply365 is seeing increased adoption of their ProAuthor platform from all types and sizes of airlines. Some of these are established operators coming to the technology for the first time, while others are start-ups that see the technology as a way to establish a solid foundation.
A good example of the latter is MYAirline, a Malaysian low cost carrier, that selected and started using Comply365 before it even started flying Airbus A320s in December 2022. As part of the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) process, the airline’s Document Management team and Subject Matter Experts collaborated, and used ProAuthor to create operational manuals and handbooks from scratch for eight departments across the airline.
During the creation of MYAirline’s operations manuals, tags were applied that allowed reusable content to be standardized across all manuals, and specific electronic forms and workflows were created That allowed for better congruency and optimization across all authoring and reviewing processes.
The airline has also mapped their manual content against Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) regulations and IOSA Standards and Recommended Practices (ISARP) to ensure effective governance, empowering compliance monitoring from the start, and drastically reducing the time it takes to prepare for audits.
However, today there are still obstacles that prevent airlines from getting significant operational value through their operational content management processes. Airlines still focus on delivering a set of operational manuals to front-line staff — pilots cabin crew, mechanics — rather than thinking about delivering specific context-specific operational content to their front-line staff, such as information pertinent to an individual aircraft (perhaps with a slightly different equipment fit from others in the fleet) or information specific to the destination and diversion airports for a particular flight.
A recent new customer is Calm Air, which operates ATR 42s and ATR 72s on passenger and cargo services to small communities in the far north of Canada. Crews will now be able to review and comply with their most up-to-date operational content more accurately and quickly, even in the most remote locations — Gillam Airport has a 5,000 ft gravel runway. The airline also will be able to deliver content and personalized notifications based on roles and locations and drive higher rates of compliance with reporting insights. Electronic forms also will allow crews to capture data from the field to send back to the operation.
There are also obstacles in interactions between operators and regulators as well, Samuel adds. Of course, some content has to be approved by the regulator before it can be distributed to front-line staff. He says there is some progress here, with some operators wanting the regulator to be involved at an earlier stage in the approval process. Instead of all the changes being completed and sent for approval, an airline can include the regulator to look at some proposed changes during the work. That also applies to real-time operational compliance tracking, where the operator can provide a regulator with access to a portal to monitor airline compliance with a new version of a manual.
Adoption of more efficient operational content management technology can often be seen at a country-level. Once one operator adopts new (and more efficient technology) within a country, and the first regulatory approval is gained, it is common to see other airlines in that country make changes to their operational content management technology, and easily gain the required regulatory approvals. An example here is SunExpress, a leisure carrier based in Turkey, which became a Comply365 customer in early 2022. Pegasus Airlines then followed, becoming a Comply365 customer in early 2023. The same trend can be observed in other countries.
As airlines of different sizes, ages and geographies adopt new operational content management technology, they want increased sophistication in system capabilities, and increased simplicity in daily use. A further requirement is good support services to help them with managing change, and to enable them to get the most from the system. This involves a consultancy role for Comply365, using its expertise and experience with other airlines to help new customers realize value from their solutions. This occurs before, during and after implementation, where Comply365 tracks the customer’s progress of realized value against the original efficiency baseline.
Web Manuals, based in Malmö, Sweden, has also seen business booming, with the addition of 70 new customers globally. Krister Genmark, VP of sales, says this growth has been distributed across various regions, with 57% of new clients hailing from the EMEA region, 26% from the Americas, and an exceptional 17% from the Asia Pacific. In addition to a geographical spread, 33% of the new clientele represents the business jet sector, while 14% each belong to the airline and special mission/medical evacuation segments. The remaining percentage embodies a dynamic blend of operator categories, including helicopters, ATOs, MROs, cargo, and drone operators.
Italian leisure carrier NEOS, which operates a fleet of Boeing 737-800, 737 MAX 8 and 787-9 has been a customer since 2021.
One of the main reasons for choosing Web Manuals was the ability to automatically link compliance while editing documents, which was not possible with the airline’s previous manual editing software. Implementing a digital system means that the laborious task of manually monitoring and updating regulatory requirements becomes a thing of the past.
Before switching to digital manuals, the compliance and quality team at Neos had to edit documents in Word or FrameMaker, while manually recording compliance checklists using Excel files, which was time-consuming and prone to errors. With Web Manuals, this process is now automated, saving time and improving operational accuracy.
Web Manuals was also able to support the airline’s recent IOSA renewal audit, successfully completing and certifying conformity with the IOSA regulation, as well as with the continuous compliance with EASA AOC, CAMO, Part-145 and ATO certifications.
A customer since 2022, Widerøe in Norway has been using Web Manuals for flight operations, ground operations, CAMO, Part-147 and ATO. It recently added the IQSMS connector. It had been using IQSMS for audit planning, where detailed compliance lists are provided to facilitate requirements checks and control over the audit preparation. The integration between the systems allowed for real-time alignment of documentation through linking between manuals and regulation items. The process started with the internal EASA Part-SPA audit, which has about 150 requirements. Typically, this audit would take about two days with five participants, but with the assistance of the IQSMS connector it was completed in half a day.
Stefan Bundgaard, director of product, says there have been a few new developments.
The company’s Reader App, which is usable as an EFB Type B and is adapted to iPads, iPad mini, iPhones and Android devices, has now been updated with improved features for flight crew, such as the Offline Mode providing access to critical documents, and the Dark Mode allowing a cockpit-specific dark mode to use during the night to reduce eye fatigue. It can be tailored to fit the user’s preferences in terms of navigation buttons, document filters and search bars, announcements, navigation tabs, and tags.
New compliance libraries have also been implemented. As well as regular updates to the major standards like EASA, FAA, and IATA, those from Bahrain, Canada, Papua New Guinea and the United Kingdom have been introduced, while work is in progress to introduce those from the UAE.
May saw the introduction of the MRO Combi Package, which involves Web Manuals and AeroEx in a strategic partnership aimed at supporting businesses in navigating the recent changes in Part 145 regulations while maintaining operational excellence. These are related to safety management, personnel and compliance monitoring systems. The package combines Web Manuals’ digital documentation solution with AeroEx’s expertise in aviation regulation compliance and includes the user-friendly Web Manuals platform, which facilitates editing, distribution, and monitoring of manuals, along with the exclusive Part 145 compliance library. To further enhance compliance and safety management, the package incorporates AeroEx’s cloud-based AMAS.aero platform.
The MRO package also includes the AMAS.aero Connector, enabling direct links to relevant manuals within the Web Manuals system during compliance audits. Additionally, it features the AeroEx Part 145 Maintenance Organization Exposition (MOE) template, facilitating easy implementation and compliance with the new legal regulations.
The company is also working with Time To Fly, which tracks and analyzes all published and upcoming changes in regulations. The result is the Regulatory Watch to combine systems to provide a real-time compliance verification solution for upcoming changes for OPS, IATA, ICAO, CAMO/Part 145 and ATO.
Not the most exciting or obvious part of an airline’s operations, digitization is increasingly proving to be a game changer for those smart operators with an eye on the future.
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