AFI KLM E&M and Virgin Atlantic Airways are writing a new chapter in their long history of cooperation: the two partners have signed an agreement overseeing the deployment of Prognos^® for Aircraft solutions for the British airline's 17-strong fleet of 787 aircraft. The move will see the airline benefit from AFI KLM E&M's experience in the field of predictive maintenance, via its in-house innovative Prognos^® solution, whose purpose is to optimize the value generated by maintenance programs in both operational and economic terms.

Using data to expect the unexpected

Prognos^® for Aircraft is designed to add an extra element of foresight into the planning of component and equipment maintenance, using AI/Big Data technology to monitor aircraft parts and systems. In practical terms, the application can predict components and systems failures up to 50 flights before they occur, which allows repair or replacement operations to be planned ahead of time and helps avoid AOG situations (and their negative consequences for airline operations).

The application of this solution supplements the Component Support services AFI KLM E&M has been providing to Virgin Atlantic since 2014, which are already designed to guarantee optimum aircraft availability and maximum coverage for the airline's 787 fleet.

Neil Ambidge, VP Engineering & Maintenance at Virgin Atlantic Airways, stated: "Predictive maintenance is a paradigm shift for the industry and holds major potential for an operator like Virgin Atlantic. AFI KLM E&M has developed advance expertise in this field and an acclaimed tool in Prognos^®, which already harnesses valuable amounts of data from the 787 fleets operated by Air France-KLM and its other customers. Virgin Atlantic will now be able to rely on this program to further enhance the reliability of our operation for our customers, whilst also generating efficiencies we can benefit from.

Pierre Teboul, SVP Commercial at AFI KLM E&M, added: "We're honored and delighted that Virgin Atlantic is pursuing its long-standing shared history with AFI KLM E&M. Our innovative Prognos^® program is being taken up by more and more of our airline customers, with each one enhancing the tool's effectiveness by enriching the data sets available. The tool is becoming a natural addition to standard support solutions, in order to maximize the value generated by maintenance operations."