1279shp
28th Mar 2005, 08:07
Newspaper Story out today...
Air New Zealand will become the first airline in the Pacific to use electronic flight bag technology on its new fleet of eight Boeing 777 jets.
Electronic flight bags could replace about 35 kilograms of paper documents such as aeronautical maps and charts, manuals and maintenance logs carried in the cockpit.
The system, worth about $US175,000 ($NZ240,000) for each aircraft, and developed by Boeing, is designed to improve aircraft running costs and safety.
All the information the pilots need during a flight – details of airports, check lists and performance calculations – is displayed on screens, creating a paperless flight deck.
At the moment pilots leaf their way through big manuals and use paper-based systems to make takeoff calculations.
Air New Zealand chief pilot and general manager of operations David Morgan said the new technology would increase revenue and reduce engine maintenance costs by more accurately calculating the amount of payload the aircraft could carry and the optimum engine power settings needed for takeoff.
Aircraft used only as much power as was needed to get airborne and as much of the runway length as possible, Mr Morgan said.
AdvertisementAdvertisement"At the moment we, like most airlines, are still using a paper-based performance optimisation tool. They are very gross.
"They don't get down to the level of minutiae regularity which enables us to put on more passengers or payload, or take off using even less thrust."
It was estimated that a 777 could carry up to an additional nine tonnes of payload from a wet runway.
Updating documentation would also be easier using a centralised data distribution system and airlines could add their own applications, Mr Morgan said.
The system is expected to improve safety significantly when the aircraft is taxiing by displaying the plane's position in the airport on a moving map, similar to a car's GPS system.
Navigating the taxiways of big international airports in bad weather, often with inadequate signage, was one of the most difficult parts of operating an aircraft, Mr Morgan said.
The ground display was also expected to halve the incidents of aircraft accidentally entering runways.
The system would also give the pilots the 10 nearest airports in an emergency, and instructions on how to get there.
Other tools that could be added included a cabin surveillance camera, which was expected to become a mandatory security requirement.
Air New Zealand is due to take delivery of its first 777 in September.
Air New Zealand will become the first airline in the Pacific to use electronic flight bag technology on its new fleet of eight Boeing 777 jets.
Electronic flight bags could replace about 35 kilograms of paper documents such as aeronautical maps and charts, manuals and maintenance logs carried in the cockpit.
The system, worth about $US175,000 ($NZ240,000) for each aircraft, and developed by Boeing, is designed to improve aircraft running costs and safety.
All the information the pilots need during a flight – details of airports, check lists and performance calculations – is displayed on screens, creating a paperless flight deck.
At the moment pilots leaf their way through big manuals and use paper-based systems to make takeoff calculations.
Air New Zealand chief pilot and general manager of operations David Morgan said the new technology would increase revenue and reduce engine maintenance costs by more accurately calculating the amount of payload the aircraft could carry and the optimum engine power settings needed for takeoff.
Aircraft used only as much power as was needed to get airborne and as much of the runway length as possible, Mr Morgan said.
AdvertisementAdvertisement"At the moment we, like most airlines, are still using a paper-based performance optimisation tool. They are very gross.
"They don't get down to the level of minutiae regularity which enables us to put on more passengers or payload, or take off using even less thrust."
It was estimated that a 777 could carry up to an additional nine tonnes of payload from a wet runway.
Updating documentation would also be easier using a centralised data distribution system and airlines could add their own applications, Mr Morgan said.
The system is expected to improve safety significantly when the aircraft is taxiing by displaying the plane's position in the airport on a moving map, similar to a car's GPS system.
Navigating the taxiways of big international airports in bad weather, often with inadequate signage, was one of the most difficult parts of operating an aircraft, Mr Morgan said.
The ground display was also expected to halve the incidents of aircraft accidentally entering runways.
The system would also give the pilots the 10 nearest airports in an emergency, and instructions on how to get there.
Other tools that could be added included a cabin surveillance camera, which was expected to become a mandatory security requirement.
Air New Zealand is due to take delivery of its first 777 in September.