Flexjet selects GE Aviation for FOQA programme

Private jet travel firm Flexjet and aircraft engine manufacturer GE Aviation have executed a safety and fleet modernisation project, including flight operations quality assurance (FOQA), quick access recorders (QARs) and cellular data services.

Flexjet will combine GE’s flight safety analytics experience with QAR technology from the latter’s joint-venture (JV) partner Avionica, thereby taking its FOQA programme to the next level.

GE’s equipment will analyse Flexjet’s fleet of 150 aircraft, including Embraer Phenom 300 and Legacy 450, Bombardier Challenger 300, 350, Global Express and the Gulfstream G450 and G650.

Flexjet chief safety officer Todd Anguish said: “We were able to customise the QAR firmware to include Flexjet-specific flight events by using the roughly 4.5 million data points collected per wireless transmission the equipment sends immediately after landing of every flight.

“The comprehensive data we can gather immediately allows us to ensure safer operation of our fleet with real-time flight data monitoring to address any potential flight safety concerns immediately.”

The data analytic tool FOQA is based on flight data recorded during each flight and enables airlines and operators to better identify and eliminate potential risks in flight operations.

GE Aviation chief digital officer John Mansfield said: “By combining GE’s experience in flight safety analysis and flight analytics with wireless mini-QAR technology from our Avionica joint venture, we will help Flexjet to advance their fleet with the latest flight safety analysis techniques in the airline environment.”

GE’s event measurement system (EMS) powers the company’s flight analytics and FOQA systems and is being used on more than 9,000 aircraft.

Last month, GE Aviation and Vueling Airlines signed a digital network operations agreement and implementation to help reduce disruptions across the latter’s fleet of 120 A319, A320 and A321 airplanes.