A new predictive maintenance forecasting platform has been successfully deployed by easyJet across its entire fleet.
The carrier is using Aerogility’s planning platform, with the AI (Artificial Intelligence)-based multi-agent software to help the airline implement higher aircraft utilisation and achieve increased cost efficiency for maintenance.
easyJet partnered with Aerogility last year, and its maintenance planning team has since developed powerful maintenance forecasting and interactive planning capabilities, says the supplier. The airline is now able to simulate flying its fleet over future years as well as the operation of its maintenance and engineering organisation, predicting when maintenance should take place. These predictive maintenance forecasts include the analysis of systems such as engines, landing gear and airframes.
Aerogility automatically generates optimised schedules which the carrier can analyse and edit to maximise the number of aircraft flying and the number of customer seats available. This allows the planning team to rapidly respond by presenting alternative strategies and potential solutions to the day-to-day challenges faced by the fleet.
Swaran Sidhu, head of fleet technical management at easyJet, commented: “Aerogility has delivered an innovative and cost-effective maintenance planning solution for us. It’s given us the ability to look into the long-term maintenance planning of our fleet with the capability to not only make a late change to the plan but at the same time understand the impact of that decision operationally and economically.”
Sidhu added the platform would help it drive down costs and maximise the number of aircraft available. “We are really excited by the enhanced maintenance forecasting and planning capabilities this gives our team. Our project team worked jointly with Aerogility, ensuring that the implementation process was smooth, on-time, and on-budget. This was a great learning process that allowed us to finesse the system to the varying needs of the airline’s operation – great results all round!”
Gary Vickers, Aerogility’s CEO, said the interactive maintenance planning tool “enables the easyJet team to work through complex ‘what-if?’ maintenance policies and plan ahead efficiently. Operational data about each aircraft in the fleet is extracted from their AMOS operations system and integrated into the Aerogility planner. The planners can forecast when multi-functional heavy maintenance must be applied, factoring in existing plans with their third-party suppliers – and simultaneously incorporating other fleet upgrades and modifications programs.”
[Photo: Gary Vickers, Aerogility’s CEO (left) with Swaran Sidhu, head of fleet technical management at easyJet.]
