easyJet’s inspection drone in flight Photo: easyJet
Drones are all the thing these days, and not just the military bomb-carrying ones. Amazon wants to use them to deliver packages, pilots are afraid of encountering them near airports, and thousands of hobbyists have bought them to play.
But so far, only easyJet, Europe’s second-largest budget airline, has thought of using them as aircraft inspectors that could reduce hours out-of-service for aircraft. The idea is to spot damage or maintenance issues early, especially after events such as lightning strikes. The airline announced this week its first successful test, and will begin rolling it out to its maintenance bases over the next year.
And that’s not the only technical arrow in easyJet’s quiver. They’ve begun tests of using 3D fabrication (alright, everyone calls them 3D printers) to replace cabin parts such as arm-rests. That will reduce the need to stockpile parts, or wait for one that’s out of stock. 3D printing is also used for some of the parts in newer engines, and some parts could be replaced that way, too.
A third tech initiative is a joint plan with Airbus to use real-time data from all systems of an aircraft to identify areas of damage, parts about to wear out, etc. easyJet is already using some data this way, and attributes a drop from 10 delays per 1000 flights to 6 to it.
MORE information direct from easyJet.
