Kenya Airways said it has entered into a partnership agreement with GE Aviation to adopt its Flight Operations suite of digital products across the airline’s fleet of Boeing 737, 787 and Embraer E190 airplanes.
According to Kenya Airways, the flight operations suite integrates various data sources like flight information, weather, navigation, flight plans, and other operational data to provide valuable insights for airlines around fuel use and operations.
Kenya Airways said it has been undertaking various actions towards financial and operational sustainability and the technology will enable it monitor operations and close the gaps that drive up fuel and aircraft maintenance costs.
Paul Njoroge, Kenya Airways’ Director of Operations, stated that the agreement with GE was an integral part of the airlines’ turnaround strategy to reduce costs.
“This is the realization of many months of working with GE Aviation to sign a partnership agreement that will enable Kenya Airways to optimise its fuel costs and excel in flight operations using the latest cutting-edge digital technology. GE brings a wealth of knowledge to help the airline fast track efficiencies, enabling improvements in operations and customer experience,” Mr. Njoroge stated.
Implementation of the digital Flight Operations solutions is currently underway with completion set for later this year. The partnership adds KQ’s fleet to the over 15,000 unique aircraft assets that are connected to GE Aviation’s digital solutions.
John Mansfield, Chief Digital Officer for GE Aviation, states: “Kenya Airways was looking for a way to monitor the performance of its fleet, implement and track fuel saving initiatives to improve efficiency. The Flight Operations suite provides these insights and can be scaled up to provide additional functionality.”
“Our aim is to help Kenya Airways reduce their multi-million-dollar fuel bill and increase their overall efficiency. The fidelity in our flight analytics, together with the team’s experience from analyzing more than 175 million flights, will enable Kenya Airways to better manage operations with data-driven solutions. We are bringing together analytics with physical assets to help significantly reduce cost,” Mr Mansfield noted.
Clare Ward, Chief Information Officer, Kenya Airways, notes that the airline chose GE Aviation because of its innovative flight analytics and overall leadership in aviation technology. “By partnering with GE, Kenya Airways is accelerating the move to leading edge technologies in analytics and machine learning,” Ward reveals.