Honeywell, Cathay Pacific connected aircraft test programme delivers substantial savings

Using existing datalinks, successful analysis of data from the equipment showed a 35 per cent reduction in operational disruptions with a false positive rate of less than 1 per cent, saving the airline several hundred thousand dollars in operations and maintenance costs on a single aircraft system.

“Managing unscheduled maintenance events can be both costly and time-consuming for an airline, causing potential delays that put its on-time performance record at risk,” said Brian Davis, vice president, Airlines, Asia Pacific, Honeywell Aerospace. “The success of this trial programme supports the power of Honeywell’s Connected Aircraft Services and demonstrates to airlines that being connected is more than just streaming video to passengers — it’s about making sure the entire aircraft is a comprehensive and agile platform of interconnected products and services that make flying safer, more efficient and more cost-effective.”

As part of Honeywell’s Connected Aircraft Services, the GoDirect Maintenance Services programme captures the data in an intuitive and visual format. That data highlights the most critical faults to repair and shares that data with the airlines operations and maintenance centres. This allows operations and ground crews to prepare for any potential maintenance or part replacement before the failure occurs, thereby reducing operational disruptions and costs and improving first-time fix rates.

“We are committed to providing our customers with a comfortable travel experience and record on-time performance,” said Christopher Gibbs, engineering director at Cathay Pacific. “Honeywell’s GoDirect Maintenance Services offering helps us maintain this commitment by reducing the number of auxiliary power unit downtime events and improving our first-time fix rate. We plan to explore how to expand the offering to additional aircraft systems.”

Compared with other industry service offerings that share trends and troubleshooting after the failure occurs, Honeywell’s GoDirect Maintenance Services delivers actionable recommendations with clear next steps before the failure occurs, along with trend and troubleshooting recommendations.

By reducing equipment downtime, airlines can ensure on-time departure, reduce service disruptions, manage unscheduled maintenance and provide a better experience for passengers. Through the test programme, Cathay Pacific improved its first-time fix rate and reduced man-hours of its technical services team and frontline support.