3 Ways Technology is Speeding Airline Turnaround Times

The ground support team swings into action as soon as an arriving airliner reaches the gate. There’s not a minute to spare as they work with the precision of a dance team to get the aircraft checked, cleaned, refueled, unloaded and reloaded, and ready for its next flight.

Airline passengers place a high value on on-time performance. So do airline executives who know better than anyone that time is money. New connected aerospace technologies are helping airlines shave precious minutes off their turnaround times, resulting in happier passengers and a healthier bottom line for the operator. Here are three ways technology enables better turnaround times.

Connecting Ground Vehicles

Flight line operations are a lot more efficient these days thanks to connectivity and advanced telematics that create a new way for airlines and airports to manage ground activities, improve safety and increase efficiency. Telematics hardware is installed on emergency vehicles, fuel trucks and other ground vehicles so that airlines and ground handlers always know their location and operational status. As part of the Ground Handling portfolio, Honeywell has pioneered these technologies, which can save maintenance costs, prevent on-ramp accidents and reduce turnaround time by five minutes per flight.

Integrating the Ground Handling Process

There are many opportunities to use connectivity to improve the ground handling process. With Ground Handling, Honeywell gives ground handlers a powerful mobile application to manage every aspect of the turnaround process. It also includes a web-based component that provides airline and airport operations teams with the status of each aircraft and its likelihood of pushing back on time. In real world operations, the solution helped a European airline reduce the number of delayed flights by 22 percent.

Reducing Unplanned Maintenance

Avoiding mechanical problems at the gate can have an enormous impact on on-time performance. Some airlines that have implemented Honeywell’s industry-leading Honeywell Forge Connected Maintenance service have experienced a 30 percent reduction in unscheduled maintenance. That’s because we use data from various sources to predict when a part will fail so the maintenance team can address it proactively. In addition our integral health monitoring proximity sensors reduce the chances of time-gobbling false alarms on controls, doors and other aircraft elements.

There are lots of reasons flights run late but better ground-handling efficiency is one of the few ways that airports and airlines can make up time and improve their schedule performance.