1. Understand every fleet movement with confidence
The data science team at Cirium has analysed monthly utilization patterns for the GEnx powered American Airlines 787 fleet. American has been operating the LAX (Los Angeles) to SYD (Sydney) route with their 787-9 aircraft for over a year. Therefore, the impact of this route has led to a longer mean turnaround time for the entire 787 fleet. If you are looking at pitching aftermarket support to American for their 787 fleet, you can use this information to build a business case on aircraft movements with confidence.
Another tip is to ensure your operational planning is robust enough to include the complete hours and cycles for your fleet. In the example above, the shortest route in the sample data size is between Los Angeles and Victorville, an unscheduled route for maintenance requirements. If you are basing all of your decisions on the schedule or reported hours and cycles then there is a risk that this information will not be shown.
2. Compare the utilization performance of engines by specific type
We hear from customers who have told us it useful to measure the hours and cycles of aircraft that offer an engine selection, such as the Airbus A320neo. In Europe, there are 949 A320neo aircraft on order (data accurate as of 24/01/19), therefore understanding which engine to choose is an important decision for any airline. The data science team at Cirium compared the mean daily hours and cycles for the SAS CFM LEAP powered A320neo fleet with Indigo, which uses Pratt & Whitney PW1000G engines. Clearly, these are two contrasting operators in terms of network profile and therefore usage data shown is to present an example of the type of information available.
3. Control your own destiny
It is a target for all companies operating in the aftermarket to offer efficient predictive maintenance solutions. The data science team at Cirium speak with analysts from some of the world’s leading OEMs & MROs who currently rely on reported utilization data to benchmark utilization figures. This risks relying on data that could be three months old and might not be fully comprehensive.
At Cirium we listened to customer requests for more granular and comprehensive utilization data and developed Tracked Utilization, a powerful new way of analyzing airframe utilization. Through matching fleets, schedule and flight status customers now have a more detailed view of the entire commercial fleet.
