Engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney and IT provider SITA have signed an agreement for full flight data retrieval and processing in support of predictive maintenance of aircraft engines. Many airlines will benefit from the new data-driven alignment between the two companies.
Rapidly available and actionable data about aircraft performance plays a crucial role in continuously improving airline operations. SITA’s cloud-based data-brokering platform e-Aircraft DataHub collects, transforms, and distributes full flight data collected from hundreds of sensors on the aircraft measuring, for example, engine section temperatures and pressures. This data shared with Pratt & Whitney facilitates Pratt & Whitney in providing its EngineWise Insights Plus engine health monitoring services to airlines.
Pratt & Whitney is the first Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) in the U.S. to join SITA’s e-Aircraft DataHub for big data analytics.
“Engine maintenance exists for the full life of an engine. Once an engine is produced, it then relies on Pratt & Whitney and our technicians to maintain, repair, and overhaul it whenever needed,” Joe Sylvestro, senior vice president of Aftermarket & Sustainment Operations at Pratt & Whitney, said. “Working with data delivery solution providers like SITA, our capability of collecting full-flight data is expanded to a larger aircraft population. More customers are able to benefit from our engineers’ and technicians’ expertise and data-driven insights leading to proactive, preventative maintenance.”
As the air transport industry’s neutral and open data-sharing platform, SITA’s e-Aircraft DataHub enables secure and easy data exchange between airlines and their operating partners such as Pratt & Whitney. Through advanced data processing, the platform provides structured, cleaned, filtered, coherent, and consistent output data across airlines and aircraft types without the need to add or modify aircraft equipment.
Yann Cabaret, CEO, SITA FOR AIRCRAFT, added: “e-Aircraft DataHub is a multi-fleet and hardware-free solution, allowing Pratt & Whitney to retrieve data from virtually any aircraft and any airline around the world, while these airlines remain in full control of their data. Through SITA’s unique data-brokering platform, Pratt & Whitney and airlines can collaborate effectively to gain invaluable, data-driven insights to improve their services across the board.”