India’s full-service airline Vistara has announced a partnership with Aerospace Software Development (ASD) for better and more efficient management of its emergency equipment. The technology will allow the carrier to scan equipment quickly, saving time and resources. Vistara has become the first airline in India to benefit from this technology.

Investing in technology

Vistara announced on Monday that it has joined hands with ASD to become the first scheduled airline in India to deploy RFIDAeroCheck technology in its maintenance program. RFID, which stands for radio frequency identification, relies on tags and readers for quick identification of objects.

RFIDAeroCheck will enable efficient management of certain components on the airline’s entire fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft. The carrier stated that the piece of tech will work by storing information related to tracked components within a server-wide application database, including information on defined equipment types, aircraft locations, and configurations, as well as information on various parts.

SK Dash, Senior Vice President – Engineering, Vistara, commented,

“We are pleased to partner with Aerospace Software Development (ASD) for deployment of RFIDAeroCheck which provides a quick and accurate integration of our maintenance processes, giving us the required commercial and operational flexibility across our fleet. We are also proud to be the first Indian airline to introduce this cutting-edge technology to the Indian aviation sector – another step in our digital transformation journey.”

How will it save time?

There are many life-limited components in an aircraft, and regular checks and inspections usually take several hours. With the RFIDAeroCheck, aircraft scans can be completed within minutes, ensuring accurate data and timely information regarding upcoming requirements.

For example, Vistara explains that an RFID maintenance scan on a Boeing 787 aircraft (with 288 life vests onboard) can be completed in less than a minute by simply walking down the aisle. An O2 Generator presence and expiry check, which takes four man-hours on average (usually two mechanics spending two hours each), can be done in 30 seconds. That’s a significant difference in time to complete the checks.

Dave Browne, Managing Director, Aerospace Software Development, said,

“We are delighted that Vistara selected ASD as their RFID partner and we are very proud to have Vistara as our first airline customer in India. Working in partnership with Vistara, we have implemented the RFIDAeroCheck solution on time and on budget. The successful implementation of RFIDAeroCheck at Vistara will lead to tracking of all emergency equipment on aircraft in a fraction of the time currently required and with significant financial savings.”

About ASD

Aerospace Software Developments is based in Dublin, Ireland, and specializes in developing and implementing mission-critical applications based on the latest RFID technology. These applications are specifically designed for the Aerospace and Aviation market sectors and are standards-based, GS1-Certified, and SPEC2000-Compliant.

The company has been involved in the aviation sector for more than 15 years, developing several applications and, more recently, ventured into providing consultancy services to airlines and MROs.