DECEMBER 2006 FLIGHT AIRWORTHINESS SUPPORT …...instructor and trainee. The event brought together...

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Just happened

HUMAN FACTORS SYMPOSIUM MOSCOW, RUSSIA 14-16 JUNEThe 22nd Human Factors Symposiumtook place with the theme of: ‘HumanFactors as a core value at Airbus’. Thesymposium encompassed HF strate-gy, HF training, operations and threat,error management in flight operations,ATC and maintenance. Particularimportance was given to the HumanFactors Toolkit Project, which isintended to reconcile Human Factorstheory with operational guidance.The event was sponsored by ICAOand IAC (Interstate AviationCommittee) of the CIS (Common-wealth of Independent States).

TRAINING SYMPOSIUM SAN FRANCISCO, USA2-5 OCTOBER 2006The 8th Training Symposium was anarena not only to present continuingimprovements in the trainingprocesses, but also to listen to thecustomers views on existing systemsand thoughts on future solutions. Fourseparate conference streams coveredpilot training, cabin crew training,maintenance training and simulation& training technologies. These com-plemented an exhibition featuring thelatest developments in these fields.Inspired by the background of theGolden Gate, speakers introduced thetheme of bridges to link the elementsof the conference and stronglyemphasized the necessity of buildinglinks between the three essential ele-ments of the training model – goodinstructors, good programmes andgood training media as well as theother critical bridge between theinstructor and trainee.The event brought together 81 air-lines, 9 MROs, 5 authorities and sup-pliers from around the world.

Coming soon

SPARES, SUPPLIERS &WARRANTY SYMPOSIUMBANGKOK, THAILAND12-14 MARCH 2007This will be the 3rd regional Spares,Suppliers and Warranty Symposium.Following the success of the previoussymposia in Hainan and Athens, thisregional symposium for the MiddleEast, Asian and Pacific regions willpresent progress made from the previous symposia and provide thelatest news concerning current initia-tives in all three areas.The symposium will be an opportuni-ty for customers in these regions toexchange and express views con-cerning their daily practice and expe-riences, with the continual aim fromAirbus and suppliers to assist inreducing operating costs. Speakersfrom Airbus and suppliers will both bepresent and available to discussspares, supplier and warranty relatedtopics.On-line sessions and workshops areplanned for an interactive anddynamic exchange of information atthe end of the symposium.

A320 FAMILY SYMPOSIUMBANGKOK, THAILAND07-11 APRIL 2007Airbus will propose a basic agendathat will be merged with customersuggestions, concentrating on majorconcerns that will likely be based onFAIR (Forum for Airline IssuesResolution) inputs. It is planned tocover all presentations in the mainsession. As usual, adequate facilitieswill be available for side meetings.The formal invitation letters as wellas the preliminary agenda will besent no later than February 2007.

15TH PERFORMANCE &OPERATIONS CONFERENCEPUERTO-VALLARTA, MEXICO23-27 APRIL 2007As for every two years since 1980,the 15th Performance and OperationsConference will take place in Puerto-Vallarta. Flight crews, operationsspecialists, flight operations engin-eers, and performance specialistsfrom all Airbus operators are invitedto attend and actively participate inthis event, which will offer numerousopportunities to constructively ex-change views and information, andincrease mutual cooperation andcommunication. The conference willaddress many operational topics covering all Airbus aircraft models invarious sessions such as LookingAhead, CNS/ATM (Communication,Navigation, Surveillance/Air TrafficManagement), Flight Economics,e-Documentation, Operations, Perf-ormance, Electronic Flight Bag…Invitations for the conference will besent soon.

Customer Servicesevents

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Customer Support CentresTraining centresSpares centres / Regional warehousesResident Customer Support Managers (RCSM)

RCSM location Country

London United KingdomLouisville United States of AmericaLuanda AngolaLuton United KingdomMacau S.A.R. ChinaMadrid SpainManchester United KingdomManila PhilippinesMauritius MauritiusMemphis United States of AmericaMexico City MexicoMiami United States of AmericaMilan ItalyMinneapolis United States of AmericaMontreal CanadaMoscow RussiaMumbai IndiaNanchang ChinaNanjing ChinaNew York United States of AmericaNewcastle AustraliaNingbo ChinaNoumea New CaledoniaPalma de Mallorca SpainParis FranceParo BhutanPhoenix United States of AmericaPittsburgh United States of AmericaPrague Czech RepublicQuito EcuadorRome ItalySana’a YemenSan Francisco United States of AmericaSan Salvador El SalvadorSantiago ChileSao Paulo BrazilSeoul South KoreaShanghai ChinaSharjah United Arab EmiratesShenyang ChinaShenzhen ChinaSingapore SingaporeSydney AustraliaTaipei TaiwanTashkent UzbekistanTehran IranTokyo JapanToulouse FranceTulsa United States of AmericaTunis TunisiaVarna BulgariaVienna AustriaWashington United States of AmericaWuhan ChinaXi'an ChinaZurich Switzerland

CUSTOMER SUPPORT AROUND THE CLOCK... AROUND THE WORLD


Abu Dhabi United Arab EmiratesAjaccio FranceAlgiers AlgeriaAlmaty KazakhstanAl-Manamah BahrainAmman JordanAmsterdam NetherlandsAthens GreeceAuckland New ZealandBaku AzerbaijanBandar Seri Begawan BruneiBangalore IndiaBangkok ThailandBarcelona SpainBeijing ChinaBeirut LebanonBerlin GermanyBrussels BelgiumBucuresti RomaniaBuenos Aires ArgentinaCairo EgyptCasablanca MoroccoCharlotte United States of AmericaChengdu ChinaCologne GermanyColombo Sri LankaCopenhagen DenmarkDalian ChinaDamascus SyriaDelhi IndiaDenver United States of AmericaDetroit United States of AmericaDhaka BangladeshDoha QatarDubai United Arab EmiratesDublin IrelandDusseldorf GermanyFort Lauderdale United States of AmericaFrankfurt GermanyGuangzhou ChinaHaikou ChinaHangzhou ChinaHanoi VietnamHelsinki FinlandHong Kong S.A.R. ChinaIndianapolis United States of AmericaIstanbul TurkeyIzmir TurkeyJakarta IndonesiaJohannesburg South AfricaKarachi PakistanKita-Kyushu JapanKuala Lumpur MalaysiaKuwait city KuwaitLanzhou ChinaLarnaca CyprusLisbon Portugal

WORLDWIDEJean-Daniel LeroyVP Customer SupportTel: +33 (0)5 61 93 35 04Fax: +33 (0)5 61 93 41 01

USA/CANADAThorsten Eckhoff Senior Director Customer SupportTel: +1 (703) 834 3506Fax: +1 (703) 834 3463@

CHINAPeter TiarksSenior Director Customer SupportTel: +86 10 804 86161 Ext 5040Fax: +86 10 804 86162 / 63

RESIDENT CUSTOMER SUPPORT ADMINISTRATIONJean-Philippe GuillonDirector Resident Customer Support AdministrationTel: +33 (0)5 61 93 31 02 Fax: +33 (0)5 61 93 49 64

TECHNICAL, SPARES, TRAININGAirbus has its main spares centre in Hamburg, and regional warehouses in Frankfurt, Washington D.C., Beijing and Singapore.

Airbus operates 24 hours a day every day.

Airbus Technical AOG Centre (AIRTAC)Tel: +33 (0)5 61 93 34 00Fax: +33 (0)5 61 93 35 [email protected]

Spares AOGs in North America should beaddressed to: Tel: +1 (703) 729 9000Fax: +1 (703) 729 4373

Spares AOGs outside North America should be addressed to:Tel: +49 (40) 50 76 4001Fax: +49 (40) 50 76 [email protected]

Spares related HMV issues outside North America should be addressed to:Tel: +49 (40) 50 76 4003Fax: +49 (40) 50 76 [email protected]

Airbus Training Centre Toulouse, FranceTel: +33 (0)5 61 93 33 33Fax: +33 (0)5 61 93 20 94

Airbus Training subsidiariesMiami, USA - FloridaTel: +1 (305) 871 36 55Fax:+1 (305) 871 46 49Beijing, ChinaTel: +86 10 80 48 63 40 Fax:+86 10 80 48 65 76

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This issue of FAST Magazine has been printed on paper produced without using chlorine, to reducewaste and help conserve natural resources.Every little helps!

Publisher: Bruno Piquet

Editor: Kenneth Johnson

Graphic Designer: Agnès Massol-Lacombe

Authorization for reprint of FAST Magazine articles should be requested from the editor at the FAST Magazine e-mail address given below

Customer Services Communications Tel: +33 (0)5 61 93 43 88Fax: +33 (0)5 61 93 47 73

E-mail: [email protected]: Escourbiac

FAST Magazine may be read on Internet http://www.content.airbusworld.com/SITES/Customer_services/index.html

under ‘Quick references’

ISSN 1293-5476

© AIRBUS S.A.S. 2006. AN EADS COMPANYAll rights reserved. Proprietary document

By taking delivery of this Magazine (hereafter “Magazine”), you accept on behalf ofyour company to comply with the following. No other property rights are granted by thedelivery of this Magazine than the right to read it, for the sole purpose of information.This Magazine, its content, illustrations and photos shall not be modified nor repro-duced without prior written consent of Airbus S.A.S. This Magazine and the materialsit contains shall not, in whole or in part, be sold, rented, or licensed to any third partysubject to payment or not. This Magazine may contain market-sensitive or other infor-mation that is correct at the time of going to press. This information involves a numberof factors which could change over time, affecting the true public representation.Airbus assumes no obligation to update any information contained in this document orwith respect to the information described herein. The statements made herein do notconstitute an offer or form part of any contract. They are based on Airbus informationand are expressed in good faith but no warranty or representation is given as to theiraccuracy. When additional information is required, Airbus S.A.S can be contacted toprovide further details. Airbus S.A.S shall assume no liability for any damage in con-nection with the use of this Magazine and the materials it contains, even if Airbus S.A.Shas been advised of the likelihood of such damages. This licence is governed by Frenchlaw and exclusive jurisdiction is given to the courts and tribunals of Toulouse (France)without prejudice to the right of Airbus to bring proceedings for infringement of copy-right or any other intellectual property right in any other court of competent jurisdiction.

Airbus, its logo, A300, A310, A318, A319, A320, A321, A330,A340, A350, A380 and A400M are registered trademarks.

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Photo copyright Airbus Photo credits:

Airbus Photographic Library, exm company, F. Espinasse, H. Goussé, P. Jalby,M. Lindner, P. Masclet, S. Ognier, S. Ramadier,

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Performance monitoring of In-Flight Entertainment systemsAirbus visionMarc Virilli & Joerg Reitmann

Electrical Load AnalysisMaintaining the electrical load integrity of your aircraftRégis Barneron

Cargo configurationsFlexible upgrades for A320 Family aircraft Sonia Bouchardie

Maintenance cost and reliability controlServices to better serve airlines worldwide Johan De Buck & Thierry Brugidou

Phoning in flightVoice and data communications withthe GSM on-board systemEmeline Baur

In-Flight EntertainmentPart II

Customer ServicesAround the clock... Around the world

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PERFORMANCE MONITORING OF IFE SYSTEMS - AIRBUS VISION

The rational behind Emirates pro-posal is the current difficulty toobtain easily and rapidly a clearand actual picture of how IFE per-forms during daily operation. Thesituation as perceived from an air-framer standpoint, is quite similar.Although IFE systems are BFE(Buyer Furnished Equipment),they are installed and integrated inthe aircraft by the airframer. Oncean aircraft is in service and unlessspecific follow-up is put in placewith an airline and their IFE sup-plier, airframers are not aware of

how IFE behaves until a customercomplains, or until the level ofOperational Interruption (OI)reaches a level where it impactsaircraft operational reliability (see illustration above). This alsoapplies to other cabin BFE itemssuch as seats and galleys.

In most cases IFE system perfor-mance perception is based on a fewhigh visibility events which are notrepresentative of the overall levelof performance of the system (butstill need to be taken into accountand addressed), or on seat avail-ability figures produced by IFEsuppliers which depend on eachindividual contract signed witheach airline.

Because IFE systems are utilizedby final users who have paid for aservice and not only by people

who’s job is to operate a complexsystem, the impact of a given failureat seat level has a more criticaleffect. Although IFE systems arenot dispatch critical from an air-line’s MEL (Minimum EquipmentList) standpoint, they are dispatchcritical from a commercial point ofview. For this reason it is essential tohave a collective ability to antici-pate and obtain in advance the rightinformation to enable provision of ahigh availability level of IFE to pas-sengers, as well as a clear view of itsoverall performance over time.

Monitoring IFEhealth todayAs rightly mentioned by Emirates,monitoring the health of an IFE system today consists of providingaccurate information in real time on what is going wrong between2,000 interconnected LRUs (LineReplaceable Units) and several lay-ers of software including data trans-portation, operating systems,Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs),third party applications, etc.

Several of these, both hardware andsoftware, come from the consumermarket and are off-the-shelf ele-ments. In other words - not specifi-cally adapted to the typical require-ments of the aeronautical world, asyou may see on the illustration onthe right.

Aug 05 Sep 05 Oct 05 Nov 05 Dec 05 Jan 06 Feb 06 Mar 06 Apr 06 May 06 Jun 06 Jul 06

Example of OperationalReliability for OperationalInteruptions of more than 15 minutes

PERFORMANCE MONITORING OF IFE SYSTEMS - AIRBUS VISIONFA

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Marc VirilliSenior Director Cabin and Cargo Systems

Airbus Customer Services

In the last issue of FAST Magazine 38, July 2006,Emirates made two valuable proposals aimed atimproving In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) perfor-mance monitoring for the future.

One proposal is based on the use of the AircraftCondition Monitoring System (ACMS) and theother is more based on an IFE built-in solution.

Both solutions would involve transmission of datato the ground.

As promised in our last issue of FAST Magazine,we propose you to share with you in more detailAirbus vision for the future for IFE systems trendmonitoring and enhanced maintenance processes.

Joerg Reitmann Vice President and ExecutiveExpert Cabin Complete SystemsHead of GAHMM ArchitecturesAirbus Engineering

Performancemonitoring of In-Flight

EntertainmentsystemsAirbus vision

time, type of material used, numberof resets done by cabin crew duringa flight and so on, all of which arenot captured by seat availability. Asa matter of fact, seat availabilityfigures are regularly quite high, butcustomer satisfaction at the enddoes not necessarily correspondwith these figures.

Seat availability figures (see illus-tration above) must be balancedwith the actual service to the pas-senger; typically a noisy audiochannel will not necessarily becounted as a non-available seat, butwill be reported as a nuisance bythe customer. Similarly, slowresponse times can be noticed bypassengers (reported or not to thecrew), but the causes may not auto-matically be detected by the IFEsystem.

Finally, a third tool at our disposalto monitor the health of an IFEsystem is reliability and DMC(Direct Maintenance Cost) data.

The reliability of IFE LRUs ismeasured as for any other avionicsystem (Mean Time BetweenUnscheduled Removals, MeanTime Between Failures, No FaultFound percentage... figures), butthis measurement is not availableon a regular basis for all part num-bers, making it difficult to consoli-date an IFE reliability indicator forthe system or sub-systems of it.

Furthermore, the specificity of IFEis the number of equipments of dif-ferent nature, which are highlysoftware driven and some of whichinteract directly with passengers.Reliability analysis as done foravionics is consequently less rele-vant, as it is more related to LRUhardware failure, rather than soft-ware anomaly or passenger misuseor misunderstanding.

As far as DMC is concerned, itscomputation considers only main-tenance off-aircraft (shop activi-ties: Repairs, test costs, sparesprices, etc.). All work performedduring line maintenance and allconsumable usage is not measured.This also contributes to the poorpertinence of such an indicator forIFE systems.

WHAT IS AVAILABLE FOR IFEMONITORING TODAY?

One of the tools existing today tomonitor the health of the IFE system is Built-In Test Equipment(BITE) plus the use of a CentralMaintenance System (CMS) or aCabin Management Terminal (CMT).

In recent years Airbus has started toadapt the monitoring techniquesand algorithms used for the rest ofthe aircraft’s electronics systems tothe IFE. The concept is certainlyright, indicating to an airlinemechanic which LRU to remove, orwhich portion of wiring to troubleshoot is a praiseworthy objective,but very difficult to achieve for anIFE system.

BITE in general is a very good toolto monitor hardware failure - thereis no doubt about this. However, asmentioned earlier, an IFE system isbuilt partly from off-the-shelf parts(which are not designed to be nec-essarily deeply monitored as

expected in the avionics world) anda very high amount of softwaredeveloped by various differentsources, before being integrated inan open platform.

The result observed today is eitherincomplete and/or inaccurate BITEdata given to mechanics, or obscureinformation that requires specificskills to be interpreted before itleads to the right action on the air-craft. Although not perfect, this iswhat is available today and a hugeamount of work is done by the IFEsuppliers and the airframer toimprove as much as possible thereliability and accuracy of this data.

Once this information is available,the Aircraft Communication,Addressing and Reporting System(ACARS) network allows easytransmission to the ground wheretools such as AIRMANTM (*) canuse it to enable preparation ofmaintenance actions to returnfaulty systems to normal operationin anticipation of the aircraft actu-ally landing. AIRMANTM fullyapplies to IFE, which from this per-spective is an aircraft electronicsystem amongst others. The limitsexplained previously and the factthat BITE information will not berepresentative of the actual systembehaviour as perceived by the pas-senger, makes it difficult to use asthe right or sole source of data todetermine the IFE system perfor-mance level.

A second tool to monitor the health of an IFE system is the seatavailability data produced by IFEsuppliers.

The limits here are the consistencyof the raw data used from one cus-tomer to another, and that an IFEsupplier is more interested in mea-suring system behaviour against aspecification rather than against thesatisfaction of the final user. Finaluser dissatisfaction could also comefrom issues like brightness, userfriendliness, response time, tempo-rary interruption of service, distur-bance, noise, video quality, rest


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Example of seat availability graph

(*) AIRMANTM (AIRcraftMaintenance ANalysis) developed

by Airbus is a tool for dataanalysis. Its objective is to help

airline maintenance departmentsto anticipate unscheduled

maintenance events and to takedecisions in the frame of

troubleshooting.Refer to FAST Magazine 29,

December 2001, for a descriptionof an early version of AIRMANTM.


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IFE will be captured. This pointcould be addressed in the future byproviding passengers a light log-book-like interface to directlyinput their perception of the systembehaviour for a given flight ontheir personal screen (See illustra-tions on the previous page).

Thanks to the user friendliness ofpersonal computer based applica-tions, capturing a cabin eventefficiently and consistently acrossall cabin crews becomes mucheasier than today. Consequently,analysis of a ‘standard defect’ isalso much easier to model to pro-duce indicators of how a givenfunction/system behaves overtime. This was prototyped as an

IFE Maturity Tool (IMT) duringA380 development.

As explained previously, IMT isbased on use of the electroniccabin logbook using standard cabindefects to ease cabin crew entriesand consequently encourage cap-ture of every IFE related event inthe cabin (this is already in placewith the dedicated IFE paper log-book used by some Airbus cus-tomers). These cabin events canthen be transmitted to the groundand compared with the exact air-craft cabin configuration and levelof service proposed to all passen-gers to deduce the IFE performanceperceived by passengers and cabincrew for a given flight.

IFE healthmonitoring -One step forward

If an achievement needed is a realtime view of the IFE system per-formance as perceived by its finalusers (cabin crew and passengers),as well as trend monitoring of thisperformance over time to be able toquantify the impact of systemimprovements and/or evolution,one solution is to use the cabin log-book as a prime source.

This type of exercise (paper cabinlogbook analysis) is usually donein the scenario described byEmirates (case by case survey uponrequest). It has been done at Airbus

for a few entries into service, but isa very time consuming exercise,requiring a lot of interpretation ofwrite-ups (inaccurate write-ups ordifferent wording for the same fail-ure) and needing full cabin crewcooperation for entry of each eventand proactive monitoring of pas-senger usage of the system.

Thanks to the latest developmentsof on-board open platforms andpossible hosted applications, thecabin e-logbook products give thepossibility to receive standardizedlogbook write-ups recorded in anelectronic format. This providesopportunities to receive more accu-rate feedback from passengers andcabin crew (closer to their in-flightexperience), even if it is probablethat not all events experienced with

Logical schematic of IFE toolAirbus e-logbook snapshots

OMT: On-board Maintenance TerminalOMS: On-board Maintenance SystemFAP: Flight Attendant PanelOIT: On-board Information TerminalMEL: Minimum Equipment List

Different types of weighting fac-tors can also be applied dependingon seat class, type of service,impact on service, etc. to balancethe IFE availability calculation.

IMT also allows comparison ofperformance between two differentIFE systems, two given aircraft ser-ial numbers (MSNs), two given air-lines, or two given aircraft types.This gives a powerful tool for IFEtrend monitoring and quantifica-tion of benefits brought by systemevolution. As a further step, futureextension of the tool to seats, gal-leys, etc, would provide cabin trendmonitoring.

In addition to trend monitoring,which would be the only one validfor performance at a given airlineand for a given system, IMT allowsmicroanalysis of each event con-tributing to a given degradationthanks to the history of all logbookdata or information in the databasewith associated detailed informa-tion (test results, removal/installa-tion data, etc.).

The future of IFEhealth monitoringand management

As described in the previous sec-tion of this article, IFE usage andperformance data recording is nec-essary for the monitoring and man-agement of complex network sys-tems like IFE. Focusing only onLRU failures and correspondingindicators does not provide ade-quate performance results. To suc-ceed, all the actors involved need towork together and share data avail-able at airlines, Airbus and suppli-ers. One consolidated/harmonizeddatabase with different user accessrights to different data subsets is anattractive solution.

This approach is part of a broaderprogramme at Airbus that aims atenhancing aircraft availability withworld-class solutions and reducingmaintenance costs. This programmecalled GAHMM (Global AircraftHealth Monitoring & Management)is addressing the whole aircraft andincludes the vision of four particu-lar steps for the IFE.

IFE trend monitoring graph


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STEP 1CONSOLIDATION OF AIRCRAFT DATA

Building upon the work which hasalready started, the tools which arecurrently available or about to beavailable (see IMT page 7) anddepending on the reliability of rawsource data and actual usage of e-logbook, the next step is probablyconsolidating/complementing thee-logbook information with datagathered by the OMS (On-boardMaintenance System), IFE BITEand/or IFE data collected throughACMS (Aircraft Condition Monit-oring System) as suggested byEmirates.

STEP 2CONSOLIDATION OF GROUNDDATABASES

The IFE suppliers have developeddatabases in past years to gatherperformance indications for theirsystems to define areas forimprovement and also to give acertain visibility to their cus-tomers about the in-servicebehaviour of their IFE (the limita-tions of this were highlighted pre-viously).

The airlines have in-house a lot ofinformation about parts removed,time spent on aircraft, recurrentactions conducted, logbook com-plaints and corresponding actions,commercial critical item list, etc.The airlines are also the first nodeof the network when data isretrieved from the aircraft (auto-matically or manually).

Finally, the airframer also gathersdata for aircraft performance monitoring, for maintenance antic-ipation through AIRMANTM, e-logbook information will soonbecome available, etc.

This current fragmented processleads to a situation where all thisinformation is sometimes redun-dant and stored twice or more,sometimes not shared, sometimesnot used, sometimes not useful,…There is a real need to converge

towards a rationalized data distri-bution amongst the actors (com-plementary databases) with aninterface tool that would alloweach to extract the most benefitfrom the data available, whether it is stored within the airline, supplier or Airbus.

IFE audio failure 0 0 ... 1... ... ... ... ...IFE RJ45 audio failure 1 1 ... 0... ... ... ... ...IFE seat reset 0.5 0.5 ... 0... ... ... ... ...IFE failure Z 0 0 ... 0

Music Video ... Connectivity

IFE audio failure 0 0 ... 1

IFE failure vs impact on services matrix

Seat 1A 15 30 ... 3... ... ... ... ...Seat 10B 0 0 ... 2... ... ... ... ...Seat 80F 5 10 ... 0

Seat availability matrix: Seat/Services


0 0

Seat 1A 1 1 ... 1... ... ... ... ...Seat 10B 1 1 ... 1... ... ... ... ...Seat 80F 1 1 ... 0

Seat configuration matrix: Seat/Services


�Low level of consistency between the different IS systems

�IFE is not using ACMS�Lack of performance and usage data�Fault detection is dominating

�Full consistency between the different IS systems

STEP 1Consolidation of OMS BITE reports withlogbook

STEP 2Consolidation of various existing data bases

Example of IFE audio failureat seat 10B (B/C class)

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Conclusion


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Airbus shares the diagnostic made byEmirates - room for improvement exists inIFE performance monitoring. A first set ofbricks exists today, such as BITE,AIRMANTM and e-Logbook that can beused to automatically produce data toallow more precise monitoring of IFEperformance, but in all cases the key pointis completeness and reliability of the rawinformation.

Emirates have provided their view for apath to improvement that could be takeninto account in current work.

Activities are underway at Airbus to assesswhich data is required for IFE maintenance,which is required for engineering productimprovement and which is required for

trend monitoring. How can it be ensuredthis data is accurate and available, howcan it be shared between IFE suppliers,airframers and airlines, who is responsiblefor this data and similar issues are beingaddressed.

A communication path to transmit thisinformation to the ground and a ground toolto process it will easily be defined, but againpertinence of the raw data will be the key.

Airbus cannot unilaterally definerequirements for the other actors on thissubject, and therefore the GAHMMprogramme will be used as a vector for acollaborative approach with airlines andsuppliers to specify joint requirements forfuture IFE system monitoring.

CONTACT DETAILS

Marc VirilliSenior Director Cabin and Cargo SystemsAirbus Customer ServicesTel: +33 (0)5 61 93 46 41Fax: +33 (0)5 61 93 44 [email protected]

Conclusion

Joerg ReitmannVice President and Executive Expert Cabin Complete SystemsHead of GAHMM ArchitecturesAirbus EngineeringTel: +49 40 743 73586 Fax: +49 40 743 [email protected]

STEP 4REMOTE IFE MAINTENANCE

The previous steps set the condi-tions necessary for good IFE heathmonitoring in the future, but goingfurther in this domain certainlymeans better usage of remoteaccess techniques.

Preparing work in advance for anLRU change will save time. Bettervisibility can be offered to an air-line, the IFE suppliers and the air-framer by providing the right datathrough appropriate ground moni-toring tools.

The same tools can gather informa-tion to steer new developments, butimprovements can also be obtainedby performing a number of tasks ina remote way, as done for the main-tenance of desktop personal com-puters, for example adjustmentmonitoring parameters, remoteseat reset, remote memory dumpand remote software update.

STEP 3DETERMINING PERTINENT DATA

The corner stone of ‘diagnosticperformance and usage data moni-toring’ improvement is the defini-tion of an appropriate set of datarequired by different users.

As described previously in thisarticle and highlighted byEmirates, an IFE system is a net-work system which is highly soft-ware driven. Optimizing IFE per-formance demands that pertinentdata, giving performance indica-tions of hardware, network andsoftware is available. The monitor-ing implemented must be adaptedto the technology used, and theresulting information available tothe appropriate population with theright level of detail.

The OMS and ACMS can be usedcomplementarily to achieve thisobjective, as used for the engines,and as also suggested by Emirates.

These are the key requirements:• To prepare the right

maintenance action inanticipation of aircraft landing

• To minimize the time spent onaircraft to rectify a default

• To monitor IFE systemperformance over time

• To get a fast time-to-get-a-fix • To define system improvements

for the longer term

IFE System (network & information)

OMS/ACMSPerformanceand usagemonitoring

Fault dataIFE

heal

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ata

�Data acquisition parameters can now be changed

�Sharpening of diagnostic models�System recovery action possible from the ground (such as seat reset)

STEP 3Improved diagnostic performanceand usage data monitoring

�All users have access to performanceand fault data

�Full benefit taken from OMS functionand ACM function

�All users get the same data base withdifferent levels of details

STEP 4Remote access of IFE

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ELECTRICAL LOAD ANALYSIS - MAINTAINING THE ELECTRICAL LOAD INTEGRITY OF YOUR AIRCRAFTELECTRICAL LOAD ANALYSIS - MAINTAINING THE ELECTRICAL LOAD INTEGRITY OF YOUR AIRCRAFTFA

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Electrical loaddata in threedifferent formats

Microsoft ExcelTM file

This file contains only the electri-cal load data (without the table ofcontents, introduction, or totalloads). Using ExcelTM standardfunctions, operators can use thisfile to compute the electrical loaddata within the worksheet table.Additionally, using the ExcelTM fil-ter tool eases the data selectionand retrieval process.

PDFTM file format

This file represents the masterrecord of the aircraft electricalloads status at aircraft delivery.This file is non-modifiable.

The complete ELA in a Rich Text Format (RTF)

This file can be modified by oper-ators. This gives operators theopportunity to update and main-tain a current version of the ELA.This version of the ELA can bemade available to local authoritiesif required.

The Electrical Load Analysis (ELA) reflects theelectrical load data status at the time of aircraftdelivery. It gives details of the electrical loads oneach of the individual electrical busbars. For theaircraft delivered previously, it was only suppliedas a paper manual with no post delivery revisions.This data formed the basis for operators to calcu-late and maintain a record of all changes to the aircraft electrical loads subsequent to any modi-fication of the aircraft systems, throughout theoperational life of the aircraft.

Airbus has now developed a new enhanced ELAthat ensures operators can make full use of theelectrical load data, while at the same time, main-tain and record any changes to the electrical loads

for each aircraft due to any post delivery modifi-cations. An accurate ELA can then be producedand maintained for monitoring by the local air-worthiness authorities.

An important additional evolution is that previ-ously operators received an ELA that representedthe first of each aircraft version delivered, butsince March 2005, Airbus now supplies an ELAfor each aircraft delivered. The ELA covers allAirbus aircraft types except the A300 B2/B4.

Régis BarneronELA Product Manager

Technical Data Support & ServicesAirbus Customer Services

Electrical Load Analysis

Maintaining the electrical loadintegrity of your aircraft

XXX

XXX

Electrical loadchanges followingan aircraftmodification

Using the design assumptionsshown in paragraph 7 of the ELAintroduction to compute the elec-trical load changes due to air-craft modification, an operator can modify an aircraft by means of an

Engineering Order. To do this thenominal power, the maximumvalue and the operational value foreach flight phase must be deter-mined (if the actual operational val-ues cannot be determined then themaximum load values should beused). These changes to the electri-cal loads must be analysed to ensureand maintain the electrical loadintegrity of the aircraft electrical dis-tribution system in accordance withthe following four guidance rules:

The decision tree can be used asan aid to assess the compatibilityof the aircraft electrical system toensure the proposed aircraft mod-ification complies with the aboverules in the various electrical con-figurations.

Similarly, when an Airbus ServiceBulletin (SB) affects the aircraftelectrical loads, the changes,including any changes to theaffected C/Bs, are indicated in adedicated paragraph of the SB.The values given will indicate any increase or decrease in theelectrical loads following theaccomplishment of the SB.

The figure on the right shows theAirbus SB A340-24-4031 cover-ing the installation of a newElectrical Contactor ManagementUnit (ECMU) standard on anA340 aircraft. It indicates that theaffected C/Bs 37XN and 25XNexist on the aircraft and C/Bs46XN and 47XN will be addedduring accomplishment of the SB.Operators should use this infor-mation to update their ELA for thepost SB aircraft.

How to updateand maintain thesupplied Excel TM file

To revise the data for an existingC/B using the ELA ExcelTM file,select the C/B concerned and addthe maximum and the operationalelectrical loads listed in the SB orairline Engineering Order to theexisting electrical loads (as illustrat-ed in the figure on the right).

For all new additional C/Bs, rows tocover relevant new maximum andoperational loads are inserted in thefile and completed with the electri-cal load data as given in the SB orairline Engineering Order. Using theExcelTM autosum function insert therevised totals of both the maximumand operational loads for all flightphases (as illustrated in the figure onthe right).

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ELECTRICAL LOAD ANALYSIS - MAINTAINING THE ELECTRICAL LOAD INTEGRITY OF YOUR AIRCRAFTELECTRICAL LOAD ANALYSIS - MAINTAINING THE ELECTRICAL LOAD INTEGRITY OF YOUR AIRCRAFTFA

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�Guidance rule 1The new busbar load does not exceed the maximum authorized load

�Guidance rule 2The new total busbar load (permanent + intermittent) must not exceed the busbar Circuit Breaker (C/B)trip time. (The C/B trip times are compatible with the modified electrical circuit)

�Guidance rule 3The new total loads do not exceed the Transformer Rectifier (T/R) nominal value (e.g. for the A340 this is5,600 watts)

�Guidance rule 4The generator loads do not exceed the generator nominal power (for the A340 this is 75KVA)

Airbus SB A340-24-4031

(2)

(1)Decision treeChecks to be made before installing a load

Add new additional C/B data

Original (1) and revised (2) ELA existing C/B data

HOW TO CHECK THAT THE MAXIMUMBUSBAR LOADS ARE NOT EXCEEDED

Referring to the wiring manuals,Identify the C/Bs and the generatorassociated with the busbar and alsoidentify their current rating asshown in the example on the right.In this example, the new and exist-ing C/Bs, 37XN and 47XN areconnected to the 28VDC busbar101PP. This busbar is protected bythe existing C/B 2PN1. The nomi-nal current rating (IN) for this C/Bis 50 amps.

To ensure the busbar 101PP is notoverloaded, calculate the maxi-mum permitted busbar load:

Maximum permitted load = 50 amps x 28 volts = 1,400 watts

Ensure that maximum load in eachflight phase does not exceed 1,400watts. In this case (refer to figureon the preceding page), 890.2 wattsis the maximum load, and thisoccurs during the descent phase.

Because this is less than the maximum permitted load of 1,400 watts, it is confirmed thatbusbar 101PP will not be over-loaded following the modification.

It is recommended that the busbarpermanent load is lower than 85%of maximum busbar load (refer to Advisory Circular N°25-16available at the FAA Website)(http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAdvisoryCircular.nsf/MainFrame?OpenFrameSet). The revised maxi-mum load in the descent phase of890.2 watts will be the new maxi-mum load for C/B 2PN1.

Maximum 101PP bus-bar load (permanent) = 890.2 watts

890.2 watts < (0,85% x 1,400 watts)= 1,190 watts

Therefore the new 101PP busbarload does comply with the recom-mendations of Advisory CircularN°25-16.

HOW TO CHECK THAT THE MAXIMUMAUTHORIZED CURRENT VALUES FORC/B 2PN1 DO NOT EXCEED THE C/B RATING

Check the current rating of the cir-cuit breakers connected to the bus-bar and make sure that new loadsdo not exceed their nominal rating.The circuit breaker ratings aregiven in ASM/AWM (AircraftSchematic Manual/Aircraft WiringManual) 24-5X. Make sure thatgenerators and Transformer Recti-fier Units (TRUs) will not be over-loaded in all electrical configura-tions and flight phases.

The max permanent current forC/B 2PN1 will be:

890.2 watts /28 volts = 31.8 ampswhich is less than the C/B

nominal current of 50 amps

The max permanent + intermittentcurrent for C/B 2PN1 will be:

890.2 + 97 = 987.2 watts/28 volts =35.2 amps which is less than

the 2PN1 C/B trip time

AMEND THE ELA RECORD OFREVISIONS IN THE ‘RTF’ DOCUMENT

To maintain the current status ofthe ELA, complete the ELA‘Record of Revisions’ with the ref-erences and dates of the incorpora-tion of the airline engineeringmodification or Airbus SB.

ELECTRICAL LOAD ANALYSIS - MAINTAINING THE ELECTRICAL LOAD INTEGRITY OF YOUR AIRCRAFTFA

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How to update the RTF fileUsing the revised electrical loaddata for each of the affected bus-bars as specified in the Airbus SB,or airline Engineering Order,update the RTF file.

In the example illustrated below, thebusbar affected is 101PP. The exist-ing C/B 37XN has an existing loadof 5,6 watts during each flightphase; therefore insert the revisedload, which is 22.6 watts for allflight phases. Then insert the elec-trical loads for all new C/Bs, in thiscase C/B 47XN, which has a load of3.0 watts for each flight phase givenby the SB or Engineering Order.

Note in this example that a maxi-mum load of 890.2 watts occursduring the descent flight phase.

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ELECTRICAL LOAD ANALYSIS - MAINTAINING THE ELECTRICAL LOAD INTEGRITY OF YOUR AIRCRAFT

Updating the ‘RTF’ file

Insert new C/Bdata

Affected busbar

Calculate newbusbar totals

Revise existing C/Bdata

Maximum load in descentphase

Modified wiring schematic

Intermittent

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CARGO CONFIGURATIONS - FLEXIBLE UPGRADES FOR A320 FAMILY AIRCRAFT

Sonia BouchardieDesign Manager

Upgrade Operations - SystemsAirbus Customer Services

CargoconfigurationsFlexible upgrades for A320 Family aircraft

A320 Family aircraft offer a number of differentconfigurations in the lower deck cargo compart-ments, answering the operational needs and con-straints of their operators.

With a wider base and higher compartment heightthan equivalent aircraft, the A320 Family cargocompartments provide an easier and more practi-cal working environment. Vertical main sidewallsallow cargo items to be stacked more easily andIATA (International Air Transport Association)

contour Unit Load Devices (ULDs) can be loadedif the optional cargo loading system is installed.Large outward opening doors allow easy access tothe cargo compartments and protection from badweather conditions during loading.

All these features allow faster turnarounds,increased revenue potential and a reduction inmanpower cost. This article explains the optionsavailable for upgrading the cargo configuration byretrofit and their advantages.

ELECTRICAL LOAD ANALYSIS - MAINTAINING THE ELECTRICAL LOAD INTEGRITY OF YOUR AIRCRAFT

With the introduction of the enhancedELA, operators can use the ExcelTM file andits standard functions to compute theelectrical load data within the modifiableworksheet table. The availability of theExcelTM filter tool eases the data selectionand retrieval process and also givesoperators the possibility to simulateelectrical load values.

Then using the RTF version of the ELA,the actual and current electrical load datastatus can be reflected and maintained bythe operator, and can be shown to theAirworthiness Authorities when required.

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Conclusion

CONTACT DETAILS

Régis BarneronELA Product ManagerTechnical Data Support & Services Airbus Customer ServicesTel: +33 (0)5 62 11 81 27Fax: +33 (0)5 62 11 02 [email protected]

‘How to use’instructionsIn March 2005, Airbus inserted inthe ELA Introduction a compre-hensive ‘How to Use’ the ELA,which provides guidance on how to maintain and keep the ELA up-dated. It provides several examples

that cover the embodiment of airline modifications and AirbusSBs. For additional information,please refer to SIL (ServiceInformation Letter) 00-080.

This information is also availablefor download from the TechnicalData Support and Services site onAirbuslWorld.


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A319 A320 A321A318

Basic full bulk configuration in forward and aft cargo compartments for all A320 Family aircraft

Example of A320 standard/optional nets locations

It is possible to install reinforcedfloor panels, limited to the flatfloor to minimize the weightincrease, for heavy bulk usage inthe forward and aft cargo compart-ments.

This increases the durability and impact resistance of thecargo compartment floor panelsif required by operational expe-rience of a customer.

When the panels are reinforced, thelocal loads are increased. The rein-forcement can be applied to anyexisting floor panels from the previous technology E-type to thecurrent technology S-Glass andfeatures a modified build-up withtwo additional layers of prepegwith increased impact resistance.

Standard divider nets

Optional divider nets

Standard door nets

The aircraft can be converted tothree main configurations:• Basic bulk, which allows freight

to be loaded• Semi-automatic cargo loading

system, which allows pallets andcontainers loading

• Semi-automatic cargo loadingsystem with full bulk capability,which allows freight, pallets andcontainers loading

These configurations can be fur-ther upgraded with various options.

Adaptation of the configuration isrequired when one or two ACTs(Additional Centre Tanks) are provisioned in the aircraft due toACT restraint/support components(see article on ACTs in FASTMagazine 35, December 2004).

The original cargo conversion phi-losophy offered: • A semi-automatic Cargo

Loading System (CLS), to handle pallets and/or containers,with some provisions for occa-sional bulk as a further optionor,

• Convertibility provisions whichallowed opting for either a fullbulk (previously known as kit 1)or a semi-automatic CLS withfull bulk capability (previouslyknown as kit 2).

The current cargo conversion phi-losophy superseded this in 1999(for A320 MSN - ManufacturerSerial Number - 1050 onwards,A321 MSN 1080 onwards andA319 MSN 1096 onwards) and fortoday’s upgrades. It now offers asimplified principle: • Semi-automatic CLS, to handlepallets and/or containers, withsome provisions for occasionalbulk as a further optionOr• Semi-automatic CLS with full

bulk capability

Cargo configurationupgradesadvantagesCONVERSION TO FULL BULKCONFIGURATION SYSTEM

A full bulk configuration isinstalled, and structural provisionis made for attaching optionaldivider nets.

Depending on aircraft type, furtheroptional divider nets can beinstalled in the cargo compart-ments if a more precise balancecalculation is requested by cus-tomers to separate special cargo.

Bulk

A320 Family lower deck

ConvertibilityULD loading

Semi-automatic CLS

ULD loadingand/or bulk

ULD loadingonly

CARGO CONFIGURATIONS - FLEXIBLE UPGRADES FOR A320 FAMILY AIRCRAFTFA

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Requirements for conversion to full bulk configuration system

�Basic cargo compartment lining on ceiling, side and partition walls and basic cargo compartment floor panels, capable of bulk loading up to a maximum average load density of 15 lb/ft3

�Centerline T-beam reinforcement

�Standard door and divider nets as required for full bulk transport

�Protection devices for rapid decompression panels at frame 24A

�Net attachment points on the cargo hold floor and ceiling area

�Tie-down points on the cargo compartment floor

�Load and net arrangement placards

Example of arrangement in A321forward cargo compartment

Standard divider nets

Optional divider nets

Standard door nets

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• 2 containers or pallets in forwardcargo compartment

• 2 containers or pallets in aftcargo compartment.





A319

A320

A321

Nr. 1 Nr. 4 Nr. 5

Nr. 3/4 Nr. 5

Nr. 3/4

A321lower deck

A320lower deck

A319lower deck

10 ULDs

7 ULDs

4 (+2/3) ULDs

Nr. 5

MGW: Maximum Gross Weight - NAS: National Aerospace Standard - IATA: International Air Transport Association

Requirements for conversion to semi-automatic cargo loading system

�Replacement of the standard bulk floor panels, sidewall and ceiling panels by lightweight panels

�Removal of protection devices for rapid decompression panels at frame 24A

�Installation of a drainage system with the CLS

�Structural modifications allowing CLS installation and system operation

�Installation of modified placards for the new cargo compartment configuration

�Installation of the CLS and the following associated system components:1/ Restraint, guidance: Guides, latches and end stops2/ Transport: Roller tracks, ball mats3/ Conveyance: Power drive units, control panels, proximity switches

Optional specific container: LD3/40 - IATA Contour H

*

*

Different types of ULDs certified to NAS 3610

Containers or pallets distribution

Compartments

Nr. 1Compartments

Nr. 1/2Compartments

CLS* + Full bulk configuration CLS* + Occasional bulk configuration Usable volume Max load Usable volume Max loadm3 ft3 lb kg m3 ft3 lb kg

1 13.11 463 7500 3402 13.11 463 4630 21003 9.71 343 5349 2426 9.71 343 3430 15564 8.36 295 4651 2110 8.36 295 2950 13385 Bulk only 5.88 208 3300 1497 5.88 208 3300 1497

Compartment N°

The floor structure can support, viathe floor panels in the flat and slop-ing floor areas, a maximum distrib-uted load of 732kg/m2 (150lb/ft2),while it is capable of supporting,via ball mats or roller tracks, amaximum distributed load of488kg/m2 (100lb/ft2).

CONVERSION TO SEMI-AUTOMATICCARGO LOADING SYSTEM

An electrically powered, semi-automatic CLS is installed in the forward and aft cargo compart-ments allowing the transport ofULDs (pallets/containers).

The semi-automatic cargo loadingsystem improves turnaround efficiency by reducing cargo load-ing and unloading time (with asingle loader), minimizes risk of injuries to bulk loading staffand improves customer service(protection of cargo from wetweather and theft, improved bag-gage tracking, operational flexi-bility, improved cargo security,heavy cargo capability).

This option is only available for theA319, A320 and A321.

The Max Gross Weight (MGW) ofeach ULD is limited for the A320Family CLS to 2500lbs (1134kg).

System provisions are made for aCLS in the forward and aft cargocompartments plus minimum elec-trical provision for a mechanizedbulk loading system in the forwardand aft cargo compartments (aftcargo compartments only for A318and A319).


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Bulk configuration CLS configurationUsable volume Max load Usable volume Max loadm3 ft3 lb kg m3 ft3 lb kg

1 13.28 469 7500 3402 7500 34023 9.76 345 5349 2426 5000 22684 8.5 300 4651 2110 5000 22685 Bulk only 5.88 208 3300 1497 5.88 208 3300 1497

Compartment N°

Depends on ULDtype and contour

Volume and Maximum Gross Weight (MGW) valid for each cargo configuration for A320

Center roller track

Transport rollers

Entrance guides

Retractable YZ-latches

Semi-automatic cargo loading system

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

45

5 Lateral PDU

Longitudinal PDU

Continuous side guides(optional)

Ball mat area

XZ-latches

Fixed YZ-guides(with integrated rollers)

6

6

7

7

8

89

9

10

10

* refer to CLS configuration for ULD loading

The semi-automatic CLS has anoption allowing occasional loadingof bulk cargo in addition to theCLS. This option is only availablefor the A319, A320 and A321.

Fixed provisions for occasional bulkloading are provided in addition tothe CLS (with some limitations).

Occasional bulk loading applieson routes/destinations where noground service equipment is available and/or no ULDs areavailable and/or baggage re-quirements call for maximum volume utilization of the cargocompartments.

The following limitations apply:• Segregation of the cargo

compartments into sections bydivider nets and installation ofdoor nets

• Each net section must be filledto at least 80% of its volume

• The cargo compartments arecapable of transporting bulk upto a maximum average densityof 10lbs/ft3 (160kg/m3)

• Occasional transport of bulkload shall not exceed 60 flightsper year. More frequent use ofthe cargo compartments foroccasional transport of bulkloads increases the possibilityof damage to the lining andfloor panels. When occasionaltransport of bulk load is donemore regularly than once percalendar week, the operator is recommended to visuallyinspect the floor panels, linings and decompressionpanels at weekly intervals

The fixed provision conversionconsists mainly of:• Protection devices for the rapid

decompression panels and afender at frame 24

• Load placarding and markingsfor the new cargo compartmentconfiguration

The required divider nets/door netsare not part of this provision, butshould be ordered directly from thenet manufacturer.

Another option is the continu-ous side guide to ease the guidance of netted pallets orslightly dished pallets.

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Divider nets

Ceiling

and

sidewallpanelsfor bulkusage(15lb/ft3)

CONVERSION TO SEMI-AUTOMATICCARGO LOADING SYSTEM WITH FULLBULK CAPABILITY

This option provides operationalcapability to transport eitherULDs and/or bulk freight up to amaximum average density of15lbs/ft3. This is the most flexiblesolution for customers who oftenchange modes of ground handlingoperations.

It is possible to install protectionpanels on the CLS and a full bulkcargo configuration. This allowsoperation with bulk cargo whilemaintaining and protecting theCLS components.

Requirements for conversion to semi-automatic cargo loading system with full bulk capability

�Electrically powered semi-automatic CLS

�Additional tie-down fittings

�Door nets with stanchions and divider nets for the forward and aft cargo compartments

�Reinforced cargo floor panels for heavy bulk usage for the forward and aft cargo compartments,flat floor part only

�Drainage system

�Side wall/ceiling panels for bulk loading in the forward and aft cargo compartments

�Fender for protection devices for the rapid decompression panels at frame 24A

Door nets

Reinforced floorpanels

Semi-automatic cargo loadingsystem with full bulk capability

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

5

5


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Fender(also included for full bulk capability)

Additional protection for CLS withoccasional bulk at frame 24 (A321)

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MAINTENANCE COST AND RELIABILITY CONTROL - SERVICES TO BETTER SERVE AIRLINES WORLDWIDE

Johan De BuckSpecial Project Director

Maintenance Economics & Reliability PerformanceAirbus Customer Services

Thierry BrugidouDirector Maintenance Economics & ReliabilityIn-Service Data & Information SystemAirbus Customer Services

Maintenance cost and reliability controlServices to better serve airlines worldwide

The commercial aviation industry has becomemore and more challenging and maintenancecosts and reliability control are key factors forairline success. Recognizing this, Airbus hasidentified various activities, products and ser-vices, which will support airlines in their effortsto reduce costs and increase their efficiency in themaintenance economics area. These Airbus activ-ities have resulted in a number of products and

services such as IDOLS, DMC benchmarkingand other projects targeting specific issues toaddress the challenges.

This article describes the services offered byAirbus to airlines to support their maintenanceeconomics activities and explains their goals, ben-efits and prerequisites. It also explains projects thatwill further support airlines in the future.


Airline operations can often demanddifferent cargo handling on sectors of theroute network. This can result in bulk cargoonly on one sector and pallets orcontainers on another sector, sometimeswith a small amount of bulk cargoincluded.

The variation in these requirementsdemands flexible solutions for airlines toenable them to maximize their efficiencyand revenue from cargo handling. The A320 Family cargo configurationsdescribed in this article provide the flexiblesolutions to enable airlines to meet these

demands and can be retrofitted whateverthe current configuration of an aircraft is.

Cargo compartment configuration change offers can be obtained via aRetrofit Modification Offer by request to Airbus Upgrade Services [email protected]

These cargo compartment configurationchange options are also planned to beadded to the Airbus Customer ServicesUpgrade Services e-Catalogue socustomers can review and request theirpreferred options on-line.

CONTACT DETAILS

Sonia BouchardieDesign ManagerUpgrade Operations - SystemsAirbus Customer ServicesTel: + 33 (0)5 62 11 01 49Fax: + 33 (0)5 62 11 08 [email protected]

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S-glass liningsand floor panelsFor all three configurations, thenew enhanced cargo compartmentlining and floor panels are of S-glass type since September 2004(from A318 MSN 2276, A319MSN 2287, A320 MSN 2301 andA321 MSN 2305) and are sand-wich panels with the followingbuild up: • Honeycomb core • S-glass layers

This S-glass enhanced floorpanel design has greater impactresistance, is lighter in weightthan former E-glass panels and ismore robust for cargo handling.Also no aluminium top sheet isincorporated in the design.

It meets all Federal AviationRequirements and EuropeanAviation Safety Agency Requir-ements for:• Flammability• Low smoke/toxicity• Leak proof with respect to

Class C (compartmentclassification for fireextinguishing system)

• Rapid decompression• Lining panels are secured

with quick release attachments,giving good accessibility to systems located behind the lining

When a cargo compartment is converted on an in-service aircraft,S-glass new technology panelsreplace the existing panels.

Lining cross-section Standard floor panel

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Airbus annualmaintenance costbenchmarkingreport

Nowadays, airlines are becomingmore and more concerned withtheir Direct Maintenance Costs(DMC), since this can be an areafor significant cost saving opportu-nities. Therefore, it is importantthat airlines have visibility of theirmaintenance cost performance ver-sus other operators of the same air-craft type. To help monitor theirDMCs, Airbus launched the annualmaintenance cost benchmarkingreport in 2003. The IATA MCTF(International Air Transport Asso-ciation Maintenance Cost TaskForce) has adopted this toolset astheir basic tool for DMC collec-tion, allowing a single reportingformat for both IATA and Airbusannual maintenance cost bench-marking reports.

THE REPORT

Airbus issues an annual mainte-nance cost benchmarking reportevery year, which provides a fullrange of benchmarking materialfrom a global to a detailed level.The benchmark graphically pre-sents collected data, including ananalysis to better understand thefigures presented.

There are different benchmarks,with a maturing fleet age approach,on:• Airframe DMC (base, medium

and heavy maintenance)• Component DMC• Engine DMC• Powerplant accessories DMC• Total DMC cost• Maintenance check man hours

The benchmark presents the report-ed data as well as the adjusted data(adjustment rules being applied fora common sector length and labourrate) to compare fairly airlineresults in total confidentiality.Airlines are provided individually

with their own identification codeto help read the Airbus benchmarkreport.

WHY PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROGRAMME?

The annual maintenance costbenchmarking report is designed tobe an airline’s preferred means formaintenance cost optimization andgives a unique opportunity to:• Benchmark maintenance

performance against otherairlines

• Forecast DMC expenditures• Identify the main areas of cost

improvements

Airbus provides a downloadableon-line intuitive tool known as the‘maintenance cost benchmarkingtoolset’ designed for data reporting,which has a comprehensive anduser-friendly interface and enablesreporting levels to be chosen toallow reporting of:• Aircraft level (airframe,

components and engines)• Check events level (from transit

to heavy checks)• Component level (review of top

cost drivers)• Engine level (engine shop visit

costs)

The quality of the annual reportprovided to airlines depends on theamount and the quality of data pro-vided by participants via the main-tenance cost benchmarking toolset.Airline data confidentiality is pre-served via a confidentiality agree-ment signed between each airlineand Airbus.

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IDOLSTo support airline needs for measur-ing performance and comparingwith other Airbus operators, Airbushas built a set of on-line servicescalled IDOLS, which stands for ‘In-service Data On Line Services’.

The first step of IDOLS is to pro-vide tools to benchmark reliabilityperformance against competitors,

or give a clear status of the situationof the global Airbus fleet. Then, asystem of navigation (cockpit view)allows analysis via a drill downfunction.

IDOLS is an evolutionary tooldeveloped to support airline business needs and workshops areorganized regularly to propose new solutions and obtain airlinefeedback.

IDOLS is also one of the modulesof ‘Air+ by Airbus’ (see note on theleft), the comprehensive portfolioof support and services created byAirbus to support customers inmeeting their business objectives.

IDOLS offers airlines a choice ofmembership of three circles:• All airlines are by default

Blue Circle members withaccess to all general IDOLSreports as well as to detailedreports on their own fleet compared to the global fleet

• Gold Circle members have inaddition to their Blue Circleaccess rights all the detailed data of the other Gold Circlemembers. Membership of theGold Circle is obtained bysigning a Data SharingAgreement with Airbus

• The Silver Circle, also called the Alliance Circle, is designed for specific airlines willing to share theirreliability data only betweenthemselves The global Airbus fleet value is also included. Access to thiscircle is obtained by a specificData Sharing Agreement signedby all members of the alliancetogether with Airbus.


In-service Data On-Line Serv

ices

I D

OL S 0 1 0 1 0

0

1 01

01

01

00

10

1

01

01

00

10


ices

I D

OL S 0 1 0 1 0

0

1 01

01

01

00

10

1

01

01

00

10


ices

I D

OL S 0 1 0 1 0

0

1 01

01

01

00

10

1

01

01

00

10

�IDOLS cockpit

��Top OR-Rate by ATA Chapter

�

��

IDOLS screens

Each customer has specific needs that require specific solutions and

‘Air+ by Airbus’ providescustomized support packages tomeet these needs. Tailor-madesolutions can cover all technical

operations because ‘Air+ by Airbus’ is a flexible

portfolio ranging from traditionalproduct support to very innovative

services, thus offering the

These services are provided byAirbus on airline request.

Training seminarsand programmesMAINTENANCE ECONOMICSSEMINAR

This five-day seminar was createdto satisfy requests from airlines toenhance their knowledge of globalmanagement and control of main-tenance costs, including otheraspects of operational costs, anddiscuss the latest industry stan-dards definitions.

Only a well-structured DMCprocess with performance targets,data collection and analysis,benchmarking and decision find-ings enables cost reduction andbudget control. Performance mea-surement must address internal air-line requirements, but should alsobe according to international stan-dards to ease contractual negotia-tions and data sharing with otherindustry members.

The seminar agenda is compiled torespond to these specific needs andcovers:• Industry definitions used to

measure and exchange DMC• Supplier support standards to

better negotiate initialprovisioning, repair time, No Fault Found (NFF) policy, etc

• Build-up of maintenancereserves and budget

• Methods to control costs ofcomponent maintenance

• Methods to analyse DMC• Use of Airbus maintenance and

engineering tools such as:AIRMANTM, SB cost benefitmodel

• Spares management:Definitions and Airbus servicesto optimize processes

• Make or buy decisions of airlinemaintenance activities

• Maintenance contractnegotiations with airline serviceproviders

• Maintenance programmevariations and adaptation toairline needs

• Engine fleet management

The seminar speakers have a background in airline, supplier,MRO (Maintenance, Repair andOverhaul) and maintenance activi-ties and are in similar positions inAirbus. They are active membersin various IATA, ATA (AirTransport Association) Specifi-cation 2000 groups and are pleasedto share with airlines the latestdevelopments in these domains.

The scope of the seminar is partic-ularly tailored for airline middlemanagement of the following ser-vices: Technical support, systemengineering, logistics, mainte-nance programme planning, pro-duction planning and control, linemaintenance, hangar mainte-nance, component and enginemaintenance, reliability, cost con-trol and maintenance informationanalysis.

This seminar is organized threetimes per year at the AirbusTraining Centre Toulouse.

RELIABILITY CONTROL PROGRAMMETRAINING

The objective of this three-daytraining is to explain how to implement streamlined RCPprocesses within a maintenance


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THE MAINTENANCE COSTBENCHMARKING TOOLSET

This has been developed to be asclose as possible to an airline’sdaily business. The main menu isvery comprehensive enabling easynavigation through the differenttopics, such as:• General information (finance,

accounting, fleet information…)• Global DMC (airframe,

components, powerplant)• Cost Per Event (from transit to

heavy checks, rotables,consumables and engine shop)

Once an airline starts to fill in top-ics in the toolset, they can selectand print preliminary graphs oftheir costs. Graphs can be displayedfor global DMC (total costs and

costs per flight hour) and cost perevent (line, base and heavy mainte-nance total costs). When the toolsettopics are completed, it gives accessto the summary of costs for air-frame, components and engines formaterial, labour and subcontractedwork. Access is also given to a ques-tionnaire, which enables airlines to provide suggestions and feedbackon the toolset to Airbus. When thetoolset and questionnaire are filledin, they should be sent back to Airbus via mail or e-mail to:[email protected].

Airline ServicesactivitiesThe Airline Services section deal-ing with Maintenance &Engineering performance, accom-plishes Best Industry Practices(BIP) audits covering the followingelements:• Regulatory approval support• Maintenance programme:

Development, implementation,and optimization

• Maintenance means definitionand optimization

• Maintenance check performance• Support package definition and

contract review• Outsourcing preparation and

support• Maintenance information

system: Evaluation andspecification support

This group also deals with eco-nomic aspects of airline operationsvia Entry Into Service (EIS) assis-tance on-site.

Another aspect of Airline Servicescovers aircraft performance opti-mization through reliability andmaintenance cost reviews, covering:• Aircraft configuration

optimization, including ServiceBulletin (SB) cost/benefitanalysis

• Top-down maintenance costoptimization

• Long-term budget build up• Cost management process

improvement

MAINTENANCE COST AND RELIABILITY CONTROL - SERVICES TO BETTER SERVE AIRLINES WORLDWIDEFA

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A330 Example of global maintenance costs

A330/A340 C CheckExample of global check costs

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the CFM CFG (Customer FocusGroup) in Denver (May 2006) andthe IAE PMAG (PowerplantMaintenance Advi-sory Group) inSan Diego (January 2006).Goodrich also published an articlein their ‘Field service technical sta-tus – April 2006’ for CFM nacelles.

As mentioned previously, nacellemaintenance costs and their specif-ic cost drivers vary from one airline to another depending onoperation, maintenance policy,commercial policy etc. Therefore,a customized study per airline isessential. To maximize effective-ness, each study is performedusing methods similar to those ofthe general improvement plan,allowing identification and priori-tization of cost drivers specific tothe airline. Thus, each generalcountermeasure is re-evaluated forits real benefit to the airline.Furthermore, this may identifyadditional countermeasures to bedeveloped.

A customized study is currentlyunderway at one airline andGoodrich and IAE encourage otherairlines to contact them directly ifthey are interested in this service,or if they would like to know moreabout nacelle maintenance costreduction.

COMP@RE

Airbus is developing a componentperformance control projectcalled Comp@re (COMponentPerformance Assessment onReliability and Economics). Thescope of Comp@re is to measurereliability and maintenance costperformance of components(LRUs – Line Replaceable Units)defined as rotables or repairablesthat are repaired off-wing(removed from the aircraft andrepaired in shop).

Comp@re will allow airlines to:• Have a clearer view on LRU

cost drivers• Benefit from Airbus and other

airlines experience

• Proactively address arisingissues before they becomemajor problems: Visibility overa wider fleet allows detectingpotential issues earlier

• Prioritize modificationembodiment

• Build-up LRU references• Negotiate and control flight

hour agreements• Propose corrective actions in

collaboration with the OEM(Original EquipmentManufacturer)

• Exchange information withairframers and the OEM

• Evaluate the effectiveness ofchosen solutions

Comp@re is in a pilot phase withseveral Airbus business partnersand availability to airlines will beannounced in the future.

Airbusparticipation inaviation industryworking groupsIATA MAINTENANCE COST TASK FORCE (IATA MCTF)

The IATA MCTF aims at Engin-eering and Maintenance (E&M)cost reduction with a focus onmaintenance cost reporting, bench-marking and cost reductions. Itsobjectives are:• Benchmark with an airline’s

own historical data, or comparewith leading industry practices

• Define and standardizereporting of commercial airlinemaintenance costs

• Identify high cost drivers andtarget areas for maintenancecost reduction individually or as a group

• Provide a forum for aircraftmaintenance trends

The MCTF has developed uniquedata collection, analysis andreporting toolsets. The definitionsand toolsets have been approvedby representatives of the airlineindustry.

and engineering organization andcovers: Data collection, analysisand corrective actions, perfor-mance measurement and display,component reliability, etc. It aimsat explaining the role of the RCPin the context of overall aircraftoperations such as:• Increasing aircraft availability

and improving dispatchreliability

• Minimising maintenance costs• Optimizing spares inventory

costs

It also deals with Best IndustryPractices processes and specificexamples of RCP outputs.

This training is run three times peryear in Toulouse and can be pro-vided on-site at airline request.

Additional projectsand initiatives

A320 FAMILY NACELLES -CUSTOMIZING DMC IMPROVEMENTSFOR AIRLINES

During the last A320 FamilyTechnical symposium in Rhodes(23-27 May 2005) airlines raisedspecific concerns about nacellemaintenance costs, so Airbus

launched an investigation withGoodrich Aerostructures and IAE(International Aero Engines) tobetter understand nacelle mainte-nance costs and develop ways tooptimize them for both A320Family engine types. A detailedcost analysis study was performedusing data from Goodrich’s MROfacilities for component overhauland annual parts sales over sever-al years. This enabled the mostcommon cost drivers to be identi-fied for the worldwide fleet andgave an initial prioritization forinvestigation. The study alsoshowed that cost drivers couldvary significantly between air-lines. Therefore, to have a fairassessment of real maintenancecost for an individual airline andensure improvement actions arecost effective for them a cus-tomized analysis is needed.

The first step was a generalimprovement plan to address thecommon cost drivers identified atworldwide fleet level, which wasdone by reviewing ‘counter-measures’ to these cost drivers,such as new and existing:• SBs• Repairs and repair limits• Inspection and serviceable limits

Each countermeasure was evaluat-ed for its cost effectiveness in mit-igating the top cost drivers - thecost saving after implementation ofeach countermeasure was com-pared to the cost of continuing tooperate ‘as is’ today over a periodof several years. In the case of SBsand repairs the cost of incorpora-tion was also considered.

In addition, Goodrich developedMaintenance Management Guide-lines for both engine programmes.These assist airlines to developand optimize their own nacellemaintenance plan by providing allmaintenance requirements andrecommendations in a single doc-ument.

Detailed results were presentedduring operator meetings such as


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PHONING IN FLIGHT - VOICE AND DATA COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE GSM ON-BOARD SYSTEM

Emeline BaurManager Marketing Services

Upgrade ServicesAirbus Customer Services

Phoning in flightVoice and data communicationswith the GSM on-board system

To fulfil the personal and business communica-tion expectations of aircraft travellers, the GSM(Global System for Mobile communications)on-board system developed by Airbus will allowpassengers with just an ordinary GSM cellphone or Smartphone to use GSM voice anddata services in-flight on-board Airbus A320Family aircraft (A318, A319, A320 and A321)and non-Airbus aircraft.

Thanks to satellite broadband links andadvanced lightweight technology and in totalcompliance with aviation and telecommunica-tion regulatory requirements, passengers will beable to exchange calls and Short MessageService (SMS) messages. On-board communi-cations will be charged directly by each mobileoperator to the passenger’s account at rates mir-roring international roaming charges.

To support airline needs for measuringreliability, maintenance cost performanceand comparisons with competition, Airbusoffers a set of products and services:

IDOLS, a module of Air+ by Airbus, is an on-line reliability performancebenchmarking tool, enabling airlines tocompare their reliability performance.

The annual maintenance costbenchmarking report provides airlines atoolset to monitor DMCs, which is used byIATA MCTF to allow a single reportingformat for both IATA and Airbus annualmaintenance cost benchmark reports.

Maintenance Economics Seminars cover awide range of maintenance economicsrelated topics and case studies.

Reliability Control Programme Seminarsdeal with data collection, analysis &corrective actions, performancemeasurement & display, componentreliability, etc.

Airline Services deals with maintenance & engineering performance and

accomplishes BIP audits at airline sites. It also provides EIS assistance on-site andfleet performance optimization throughreliability and maintenance cost reviews.

Additional projects and initiatives covervarious aspects of maintenanceeconomics. Nacelle maintenance costsand optimization for both A320 Familyengine types were recently addressed.

Comp@re is currently being developed tomeasure the reliability and maintenancecost performance of LRUs defined asrotables or repairables.

Airbus also participates in various aviationindustry working groups such as IATAMCTF and SPEC 2000, which aim toenhance and rationalize current and futureways of dealing with maintenanceeconomics.

These services enable airlines to compare,measure and minimize their maintenancecosts. Airbus is continually working onmaintenance cost initiatives and as furtherinitiatives and services are developed,Airbus will provide information on these.

Conclusion


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CONTACT DETAILS

Johan De BuckSpecial Project DirectorMaintenance Economics & Reliability PerformanceAirbus Customer ServicesTel: +33 (0)5 62 11 08 20Fax: +33 (0)5 61 93 48 [email protected]

Thierry BrugidouDirector Maintenance Economics & Reliability In-Service Data & Information SystemAirbus Customer ServicesTel: +33 (0)5 61 93 12 49Fax: +33 (0)5 61 93 48 [email protected]

SPEC2000e-business standards

IATA/MCTF - 2006 data flow process SPEC 2000

Aircraft manufacturers receivedata from airlines mostly throughExcelTM files or by fax, but rarelyvia a standardized format filetransfer. Data received by Airbus invarious formats requires a lot ofmanual work to transpose, which

can generate unavoidable typingerrors. Aircraft manufacturerswould like to collect more datamore efficiently, plus enlarge thescope of data and from thisimprove feedback to airlines andsuppliers. From this point of view,Airbus has become part of the stan-dardization initiatives with airlines,MROs and suppliers, with theobjective to help initiate standard-ized reporting of data for the bene-fit of the whole industry.

SystemarchitectureThe system architecture consistsof an airborne segment and aground segment, plus a satellitetransport domain overlappingboth segments as shown in thepicture below.

The system, designed to operateduring the cruise phase of flights atleast 3,000m (10,000ft) above theground, offers passengers the fol-lowing services:• Voice• Short Message Service (SMS)

• General Packet Radio Service(GPRS) data servicessupporting Multimedia MessageService (MMS) and WirelessApplication Protocol (WAP)

• Call forwarding, barring andcalling line identification

The InmarsatTM Swift Broadbandsatellite communication system(satellite modem + antennamounted on the fuselage exterior)connects the GSM on-board sys-tem with the ground telephonynetwork via the Inmarsat4 satel-lites. Communication serviceswill be provided over Europeancountries that have adopted theregional framework for on-boardmobile networks and providedoperating rights are obtained fromthe country where the aircraft isregistered.

GSM on-board system features:• System monitoring and

selection of data or voice and data service mode from the cabin

• System switch-off from cockpit• 14 simultaneous

incoming/outgoing calls• 28 channels can be supported

with a second optional BaseTransceiver Station (BTS)

Leaky lineantenna

Aircraftdata

Cabin wireless

Satellite transport

Service provider Public networkHead end

Ground segmentAirborne segment

Satellite

Aircraftdata

MSC/VLR

GGSN/SGSNCabin

receptionantenna

Satellitesystem(BGAN*)

Control panel

LMF/software loading

AGS

LMF

NOC GGS

• Modem• DLNA• Antenna

BTS

OBCE

Announcementsto passengers

O & M O & M

Software

Home MSC

Internet protocolenetwork

(GPRS home)

Air-to-ground link:Communicationsbetween aircraftand groundinfrastructure

Airborne system: Miniature cell network

Wireless LANControl units

Ground infrastructure:Interconnection with

Ground public networks

Ground home operators

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The airbornesegmentThe airborne segment consists ofthe following:

BASE TRANSCEIVER STATION (BTS)

The BTS has 14 channels foraccessing passengers’ mobilephones. The BTS (also known as apicocell) establishes the commu-nication pipe to the mobile phonesand supports all necessary systemfeatures like radio access, powerlevel control, handovers and fre-quency configuration and man-ages the radio frequency resourcesto allow the mobile stations toaccess to the GSM on-board sys-tem. A second optional BTS canbe installed to increase the avail-able channels to 28.

ON-BOARD CONTROL EQUIPMENT(OBCE)

OBCE controls all cell phones inthe cabin. The purpose of theOBCE, in conjunction with theBTS, is to control the radiofrequency emissions of all mobilephones and to prevent them fromtrying to connect to radio networksoutside the aircraft. The OBCEensures that mobile phones in theaircraft cabin cannot accessterrestrial networks and do nottransmit any signal without controlof the GSM on-board system. The OBCE is able to controlmobile stations in all frequencybands in areas overflown, e.g.: GSM 900, GSM 1800 andUniversal Mobile Telecom-munication System (UMTS), bytransmitting a suitable noise floor.The power level of this noise floorwill depend upon the aircraftaltitude and is calculated by theOBCE. An independent RF (RadioFrequency) detector, integrated inthe OBCE permanently provesavailability of the noise floorcontrol emission at the output ofthe OBCE. A connection betweenthe RF detector and AGS (AirborneGSM Server) reports availability

of the power levels to the AGS. The same detector also activatessigns (‘Switch off Mobiles’) topassengers for any system failure.The OBCE also integrates afilter/combiner for the RF signals ofthe BTS and the OBCE noisegenerators to the leaky line antenna.

AIRBORNE GSM SERVER (AGS)

The AGS integrates the GSM soft-ware on-board and interconnects the mobile phone system with a satellite modem. The AGS con-trols the data streams between theBTS and the satellite modem andhas a communication managementfunction for management of band-width capacity, resources and pri-oritization to the satellite modemfor the satellite link. It also controlsthe BTS and the OBCE (for main-tenance only) and manages parts ofthe operations and maintenancefunctions.

The AGS also hosts the system’slocal maintenance function (LMF).Part of the AGS is also a software(SW) loading function. LMF andSW loading functions are manage-able from a standard laptop com-puter connected to the controlpanel. The satellite modem usedutilizes the InmarsatTM Swift-Broadband service and modulatesthe data into signals for the exter-nal satellite link, which are sentand received by the external aircraft antenna. The Swift-Broadband system provides onesatellite channel at a minimum.


System arrangement

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System architecture

BGAN: Satellite system (next generation InmarsatTM BGAN in service in 2006)

On-board control equipment (OBCE)

Non-leaky Non-leaky

Leaky section cable

Sector radiating

Leaky Leaky

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elements used in any GSM mobileoperators’ infrastructure such as:• The Mobile Switching Centre

(MSC) managing the switchingof the incoming and outgoingcalls

• The Visitor Location Register(VLR) completing theauthorization process with thehome mobile operators of thesubscribers roaming on thenetwork

• The Serving GPRS ServiceNode (SGSN), Gateway GPRSService Node (GGSN) andborder gateway supporting theGPRS core network.

• The Ground GSM Server(GGS), which is the equivalentof the AGS on-board theaircraft, reformats the trafficcoming from the aircraft to thestandard A-Bis interface andvice-versa.

• The home location register,which in the OnAirTM network,will only be used for the testingof the roaming relations.

The ground segment also includesthe elements interfacing with the

air-to-ground link provider’s gate-way. These elements regroupedunder the diverse routing functionensure the conversion and opti-mization of the GSM A-Bis inter-face into a protocol enabling theefficient transmission over the air-to-ground link.

All UMTS (Universal MobileTelecommunication System) dev-ices are backwards compatiblewith GSM and GPRS, so passen-gers with UMTS phones can usethem to access these services.

Overlaying the ground segment, theOperational & Management (O&M)elements ensure the management,monitoring and operation of the net-work (including the external com-ponents such as the air-to-groundlink and the airborne system).

Similar to the O&M elements, thebilling element ensures the genera-tion of the information necessaryfor billing purpose (e.g. CallDetailed Records or CDR). Thisinformation is mainly provided bythe MSC and SGSN elements.

The system’s availability is a long awaitedsolution for existing and future aircraft andthe communication services will becomeavailable in early 2007, firstly for theWestern-European market. The system isapplicable for the whole A320 Family andguarantees that passengers' cell phoneswill operate in a mode compliant withaviation and telecommunication regulatoryrequirements during the cruise phase offlights.

The architecture of the GSM on-boardsystem consists firstly of the airbornesegment, the satellite transport domain,and finally the ground segment. TheInmarsatTM Swift Broadband satellitecommunication system connects the GSMon-board system with the groundtelephony network via the Inmarsat4satellites.

OnAirTM, Airbus’ preferred service providerfor voice and data communicationservices on-board, is a joint venturebetween Airbus and SITATM and providesGSM and GPRS services for mobilephones, portable digital assistants (e.g.BlackberryTM) and data (Internet).

To enable smooth and flexibleembodiment of the GSM on-board systemon in-service aircraft with a minimumaircraft grounding time, Airbus hasdeveloped a stepwise installation of fourService Bulletins and associated kits(three for provisions installation and onefor system installation and activation).

GSM on-board equipment will bedelivered as Buyer Furnished Equipmentto customers by Airbus KID-Systeme.

Conclusion

CONTACT DETAILS

Emeline BaurManager Marketing ServicesUpgrade ServicesAirbus Customer ServicesTel: +33 (0)5 61 93 20 22Fax: +33 (0)5 61 93 41 [email protected]


CONTROL PANEL

The control panel is the systeminterface for the crew and isinstalled in the aircraft cabin. Itmonitors and controls the systemwith push buttons (with integratedindications) and system indicationlights.

Three system indication lightsshow:• The ‘system ready’ LED (Light

Emitting Diode), greenilluminated when the systemhas started or is in idle mode

• The ‘system failure’ LED, yellowilluminated in case of failure

• The ‘service available’ LED,green illuminated when it ispossible to use GSM on-boardservices

LEAKY LINE ANTENNA

A leaky line antenna for signalcoverage of the aircraft cabin isinstalled in the ceiling along thewhole cabin length and distributesRF signals from the OBCE andBTS. The frequency range of theantenna is 400MHz to 3GHz anddue to the close proximity ofmobile phones and BTS electro-magnetic radiation to crew,passengers and aircraft equipmentis low and far below the levelsrecommended by the World HealthOrganization (WHO).

RECEPTION ANTENNA

A reception antenna connected tothe OBCE via coaxial cable abovethe cabin ceiling, is a standarddipole to receive signals from pas-sengers phones.

ADDITIONAL CONTROLS

Additional controls provide systemcontrol, functions and indication:• System ON/OFF switch • ‘Voice (Calls) Off’ switch

(voice calls disabled, data calls(SMS/GPRS) enabled)

• Passengers sign ON/OFF (nomobile phone signs). The signsare switched automatically bythe system. Cabin crew can

also switch them on for servicereasons (asking passengers topower off their telephones)

• Maintenance button• Maintenance interface via an

external equipment• Cockpit button giving pilots

final control over the system inthe cabin

• Modification of the passengerservice unit channel to replacethe NO SMOKING sign by aNO GSM pictogram. A NOSMOKING placard will beadded on each PSU unit forpassenger visibility

The satellitetransport domainConnects the airborne and theground segments with a satellitelink providing transportation andinterconnection to terrestrial ser-vice providers and backbone net-works. It comprises the followingcomponents:• The satellite antenna that

transmits and receives signals toand from the InmarsatTM satellite

• Diplexer/Low Noise Amplifier(DLNA) located near thesatellite antenna for diplexing,filtering and amplifying signals

• A satellite modem that opens acommunication pipe to theInmarsatTM satellite andmodulates the data stream intoRF signals (and vice versa).

The Network Operations Centre(NOC) is in charge of the dynam-ic channel assignment to achievethe quality of service requiredtaking into account the trafficload.

The groundsegmentThe ground segment is based on a2.5-generation ground infrastruc-ture, which provides the elementsfor circuit (GSM) and packet(GPRS/General Packet RadioService) switching. This infra-structure includes all the standard

Working principle of the leaky line antenna

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IN FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT - PART II

How in flight entertainment has changed! Today we have the multiple videoand audio outputs available mentioned in the IFE articles inthis FAST Magazine 39 and theprevious FAST Magazine 38.Compare this against a big eventthat took place almost exactlyeighty years ago.

On a sunny 7 November 1926 at10:30 am, a three engined JunkersG24 (a large aircraft in those days)named ‘Wotan’, manufacturersserial number 841, registrationD915 and built in 1925, took offfrom Berlin Tempelhof airport inGermany. The flight took the air-craft from Berlin to Hannover,Münster and Frankfurt and itsobjective was to present for thefirst time to a wide public thetechnical equipment of theTelefunken and Ultraphon AGcompanies during a long haulflight in co-operation with Lufthansa and the free press.

From the aircraft in flight musicand spoken presentations weretransmitted and also sent toground stations at Hannover,Münster (also connected toDortmund and Elberfeld) andFrankfurt am Main.

The transmissions were made upto a distance of 400km and were arecorded concert presented byDirector Gaertner of UltraphonAG, a speech to listeners byProfessor Weitz (wearing a cap inthe photo above) and a recitationby the actor and lecturer AlfredBeierle who read a chapter from ahigh altitude flight novel.

During the flight the wireless operator had the brilliant idea toorder lunch, which he did at 12:18 am and was promptly ans-wered by the ground station at12:19 am... Lunch ordered!

The unique value of the flight wasnot only the aeronautical andradio technological performance,but also that every broadcast wasto a precise time as it had to fitinto the continuing programmesof the different ground stations.

The flight successfully finished atFrankfurt airport with a speech bythe airport director, includingan appreciation of the flight

and the consequences for airtraffic safety for which this

Lufthansa flight set a milestone in development.

Text by courtesy of Lufthansa

AG.

Photo Winzerling

Pho

to S

enne

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In flight entertainment

J0841, JU G24JUNKERS, D-, June 1925, built at Dessau as G23AB FLYGINDUSTRI, S-AAAR, June 1925 to August 1925, named ‘Wotan’POLN. AERO-LLOYD, P-AWA, August 1925JLAG, S-AAAR, August 1925, modified to G24 at AB Flygindustri, LimhamnLUFTHANSA, D-915, June 1926DVL, D-915, April 1928DVS, D-915, December 1928 to November 1936, modified to G24 in April 1939, scrapped

Just happened

HUMAN FACTORS SYMPOSIUM MOSCOW, RUSSIA 14-16 JUNEThe 22nd Human Factors Symposiumtook place with the theme of: ‘HumanFactors as a core value at Airbus’. Thesymposium encompassed HF strate-gy, HF training, operations and threat,error management in flight operations,ATC and maintenance. Particularimportance was given to the HumanFactors Toolkit Project, which isintended to reconcile Human Factorstheory with operational guidance.The event was sponsored by ICAOand IAC (Interstate AviationCommittee) of the CIS (Common-wealth of Independent States).

TRAINING SYMPOSIUM SAN FRANCISCO, USA2-5 OCTOBER 2006The 8th Training Symposium was anarena not only to present continuingimprovements in the trainingprocesses, but also to listen to thecustomers views on existing systemsand thoughts on future solutions. Fourseparate conference streams coveredpilot training, cabin crew training,maintenance training and simulation& training technologies. These com-plemented an exhibition featuring thelatest developments in these fields.Inspired by the background of theGolden Gate, speakers introduced thetheme of bridges to link the elementsof the conference and stronglyemphasized the necessity of buildinglinks between the three essential ele-ments of the training model – goodinstructors, good programmes andgood training media as well as theother critical bridge between theinstructor and trainee.The event brought together 81 air-lines, 9 MROs, 5 authorities and sup-pliers from around the world.

Coming soon

SPARES, SUPPLIERS &WARRANTY SYMPOSIUMBANGKOK, THAILAND12-14 MARCH 2007This will be the 3rd regional Spares,Suppliers and Warranty Symposium.Following the success of the previoussymposia in Hainan and Athens, thisregional symposium for the MiddleEast, Asian and Pacific regions willpresent progress made from the previous symposia and provide thelatest news concerning current initia-tives in all three areas.The symposium will be an opportuni-ty for customers in these regions toexchange and express views con-cerning their daily practice and expe-riences, with the continual aim fromAirbus and suppliers to assist inreducing operating costs. Speakersfrom Airbus and suppliers will both bepresent and available to discussspares, supplier and warranty relatedtopics.On-line sessions and workshops areplanned for an interactive anddynamic exchange of information atthe end of the symposium.

A320 FAMILY SYMPOSIUMBANGKOK, THAILAND07-11 APRIL 2007Airbus will propose a basic agendathat will be merged with customersuggestions, concentrating on majorconcerns that will likely be based onFAIR (Forum for Airline IssuesResolution) inputs. It is planned tocover all presentations in the mainsession. As usual, adequate facilitieswill be available for side meetings.The formal invitation letters as wellas the preliminary agenda will besent no later than February 2007.

15TH PERFORMANCE &OPERATIONS CONFERENCEPUERTO-VALLARTA, MEXICO23-27 APRIL 2007As for every two years since 1980,the 15th Performance and OperationsConference will take place in Puerto-Vallarta. Flight crews, operationsspecialists, flight operations engin-eers, and performance specialistsfrom all Airbus operators are invitedto attend and actively participate inthis event, which will offer numerousopportunities to constructively ex-change views and information, andincrease mutual cooperation andcommunication. The conference willaddress many operational topics covering all Airbus aircraft models invarious sessions such as LookingAhead, CNS/ATM (Communication,Navigation, Surveillance/Air TrafficManagement), Flight Economics,e-Documentation, Operations, Perf-ormance, Electronic Flight Bag…Invitations for the conference will besent soon.

Customer Servicesevents

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Customer Support CentresTraining centresSpares centres / Regional warehousesResident Customer Support Managers (RCSM)


London United KingdomLouisville United States of AmericaLuanda AngolaLuton United KingdomMacau S.A.R. ChinaMadrid SpainManchester United KingdomManila PhilippinesMauritius MauritiusMemphis United States of AmericaMexico City MexicoMiami United States of AmericaMilan ItalyMinneapolis United States of AmericaMontreal CanadaMoscow RussiaMumbai IndiaNanchang ChinaNanjing ChinaNew York United States of AmericaNewcastle AustraliaNingbo ChinaNoumea New CaledoniaPalma de Mallorca SpainParis FranceParo BhutanPhoenix United States of AmericaPittsburgh United States of AmericaPrague Czech RepublicQuito EcuadorRome ItalySana’a YemenSan Francisco United States of AmericaSan Salvador El SalvadorSantiago ChileSao Paulo BrazilSeoul South KoreaShanghai ChinaSharjah United Arab EmiratesShenyang ChinaShenzhen ChinaSingapore SingaporeSydney AustraliaTaipei TaiwanTashkent UzbekistanTehran IranTokyo JapanToulouse FranceTulsa United States of AmericaTunis TunisiaVarna BulgariaVienna AustriaWashington United States of AmericaWuhan ChinaXi'an ChinaZurich Switzerland

CUSTOMER SUPPORT AROUND THE CLOCK... AROUND THE WORLD


Abu Dhabi United Arab EmiratesAjaccio FranceAlgiers AlgeriaAlmaty KazakhstanAl-Manamah BahrainAmman JordanAmsterdam NetherlandsAthens GreeceAuckland New ZealandBaku AzerbaijanBandar Seri Begawan BruneiBangalore IndiaBangkok ThailandBarcelona SpainBeijing ChinaBeirut LebanonBerlin GermanyBrussels BelgiumBucuresti RomaniaBuenos Aires ArgentinaCairo EgyptCasablanca MoroccoCharlotte United States of AmericaChengdu ChinaCologne GermanyColombo Sri LankaCopenhagen DenmarkDalian ChinaDamascus SyriaDelhi IndiaDenver United States of AmericaDetroit United States of AmericaDhaka BangladeshDoha QatarDubai United Arab EmiratesDublin IrelandDusseldorf GermanyFort Lauderdale United States of AmericaFrankfurt GermanyGuangzhou ChinaHaikou ChinaHangzhou ChinaHanoi VietnamHelsinki FinlandHong Kong S.A.R. ChinaIndianapolis United States of AmericaIstanbul TurkeyIzmir TurkeyJakarta IndonesiaJohannesburg South AfricaKarachi PakistanKita-Kyushu JapanKuala Lumpur MalaysiaKuwait city KuwaitLanzhou ChinaLarnaca CyprusLisbon Portugal

WORLDWIDEJean-Daniel LeroyVP Customer SupportTel: +33 (0)5 61 93 35 04Fax: +33 (0)5 61 93 41 01

USA/CANADAThorsten Eckhoff Senior Director Customer SupportTel: +1 (703) 834 3506Fax: +1 (703) 834 3463@

CHINAPeter TiarksSenior Director Customer SupportTel: +86 10 804 86161 Ext 5040Fax: +86 10 804 86162 / 63

RESIDENT CUSTOMER SUPPORT ADMINISTRATIONJean-Philippe GuillonDirector Resident Customer Support AdministrationTel: +33 (0)5 61 93 31 02 Fax: +33 (0)5 61 93 49 64

TECHNICAL, SPARES, TRAININGAirbus has its main spares centre in Hamburg, and regional warehouses in Frankfurt, Washington D.C., Beijing and Singapore.

Airbus operates 24 hours a day every day.

Airbus Technical AOG Centre (AIRTAC)Tel: +33 (0)5 61 93 34 00Fax: +33 (0)5 61 93 35 [email protected]

Spares AOGs in North America should beaddressed to: Tel: +1 (703) 729 9000Fax: +1 (703) 729 4373

Spares AOGs outside North America should be addressed to:Tel: +49 (40) 50 76 4001Fax: +49 (40) 50 76 [email protected]

Spares related HMV issues outside North America should be addressed to:Tel: +49 (40) 50 76 4003Fax: +49 (40) 50 76 [email protected]

Airbus Training Centre Toulouse, FranceTel: +33 (0)5 61 93 33 33Fax: +33 (0)5 61 93 20 94

Airbus Training subsidiariesMiami, USA - FloridaTel: +1 (305) 871 36 55Fax:+1 (305) 871 46 49Beijing, ChinaTel: +86 10 80 48 63 40 Fax:+86 10 80 48 65 76

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