Boeing

Six airlines adopted Boeing's [NYSE:BA] in-flight airplane-monitoring system in the first half of the year, bringing to 15 the number of airlines and freight carriers to sign for the program. Airplane Health Management (AHM) now provides real-time monitoring and decision support for 42 percent of the world's 777s and 28 percent of its 747-400s.

Japan Airlines and Singapore Airlines were the first to adopt the innovative condition-monitoring package when it was introduced in late 2005. This year, Air Austral, Austrian Airlines, Emirates, TNT Airways and Virgin Atlantic have signed for AHM. One of the six new customers is unidentified. In addition to the program's first two customers, carriers who signed to use Airplane Health Management prior to 2007 include: Air France, Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific Airways, Egyptair and Thai Airways.

"This customer list speaks to the value that Airplane Health Management offers carriers," said Dan da Silva, vice president of Sales and Marketing for Boeing Commercial Aviation Services. "With this tool, airlines can address problems proactively and begin working on issues before an airplane lands and arrives at the gate. That kind of lead time can help an airline turn what might have been a costly, disruptive delay into routine maintenance."

Airplane Health Management supports long-term fleet-reliability programs by helping airlines identify and respond to faults proactively. The system provides fleet-wide information aggregated from other operators, which can be used to determine, for example, the effectiveness of particular maintenance actions in fixing problems. The goal is to help airlines operate at the highest levels of reliability and efficiency.

AHM is a key element in Boeing's efforts to help airlines gather and use precise, practical and timely information through the use of multiple digital solutions. The e-Enabled products, which include Maintenance performance Toolbox and the Class 3 Electronic Flight Bag, are designed to integrate seamlessly with each other to offer an effective, flexible response to airlines' maintenance needs.

In recent months, a growing number of airlines have begun to appreciate the value of adopting multiple Boeing e-Enabled products. Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines, Air New Zealand, Air France, UPS and Thai Airways all have adopted multiple Boeing digital solutions.