As every new generation of civil aircraft creates more on-wing data and fleets gradually become more connected with the ground, an increased number of opportunities can be identified for more effective Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) operations. Data are becoming a valuable asset for aircraft operators. Sensors measure and record thousands of parameters in increased sampling rates. However, data do not serve any purpose per se. It is the analysis that unleashes their value. Data analytics methods can be simple, making use of visualizations, or more complex, with the use of sophisticated statistics and Artificial Intelligence algorithms. Every problem needs to be approached with the most suitable and less complex method. In MRO operations, two major categories of on-wing data analytics problems can be identified. The first one requires the identification of patterns, which enable the classification and optimization of different maintenance and overhaul processes. The second category of problems requires the identification of rare events, such as the unexpected failure of parts. This cluster of problems relies on the detection of meaningful outliers in large data sets. Different Machine Learning methods can be suggested here, such as Isolation Forest and Logistic Regression. In general, the use of data analytics for maintenance or failure prediction is a scientific field with a great potentiality. Due to its complex nature, the opportunities for aviation Data Analytics in MRO operations are numerous. As MRO services focus increasingly in long term contracts, maintenance organizations with the right forecasting methods will have an advantage. Data accessibility and data quality are two key-factors. At the same time, numerous technical developments related to data transfer and data processing can be promising for the future.
In the frame of an on-going 4-years research project, the Aviation Academy Safety Management Systems (AVAC-SMS) metric for the self-assessment of aviation Safety Management Systems (SMS) was designed based on the Safety Management Manual of the International Civil Aviation Organization and in cooperation with knowledge experts and aviation companies. The particularmetric evaluates three areas, namely (1) the degree of institutionalisation of SMS (design and implementation of processes), (2) the extent of managers’ capability to deliver the SMS processes, and (3) the employees’ perceived effectiveness of the SMS-related deliverables. The metric concludes with a score per area and per SMS component/element assessed, and it is scalable to the size and complexity of each organisation. Results of a survey at 18 aviation companies did not show statistically significant differences in their SMS scores across all three assessment areas but revealed a distance between the area of Institutionalization and the areas of Capability and Effectiveness. Also, differences were detected regarding the scores per SMS component and element within and across companies and assessment areas. The various assessment options offered for the AVAC-SMS metric accommodates the resources each SME and large company can invest in the application of the metric. Even the lowest level of resolution of the SMS metric can trigger companies to investigate further their weaker areas and foster their SMS-related activities. Therefore, the AVAC-SMS metric is deemed useful to organisations that want to self-assess their SMS and proceed to comparisons amongst various functions and levels and/or over time.
In this paper we present a review of existing aviation safety metrics and we lay the foundation for our four-years research project entitled “Measuring Safety in Aviation – Developing Metrics for Safety Management Systems”. We reviewed state-of-the-art literature, relevant standards and regulations, and industry practice. We identified that the long-established view on safety as absence of losses has limited the measurement of safety performance to indicators of adverse events (e.g., accident and incident rates). However, taking into account the sparsity of incidents and accidents compared to the amount of aviation operations, and the recent shift from compliance to performance based approach to safety management, the exclusive use of outcomes metrics does not suffice to further improve safety and establish a proactive monitoring of safety performance. Although the academia and aviation industry have recognized the need to use activity indicators for evaluating how safety management processes perform, and various process metrics have been developed, those have not yet become part of safety performance assessment. This is partly attributed to the lack of empirical evidence about the relation between safety proxies and safety outcomes, and the diversity of safety models used to depict safety management processes (i.e. root-cause, epidemiological or systemic models). This, in turn, has resulted to the development of many safety process metrics, which, however, have not been thoroughly tested against the quality criteria referred in literature, such as validity, reliability and practicality.
Ons voorstel ‘Biobased Sustainable Aviation Fuel’, richt zich op het ontwikkelen van een nieuwe productieroute voor sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs). Hiermee wordt invulling gegeven aan de behoefte van de luchtvaartindustrie om alternatieve productieroutes voor SAF te ontwikkelen. Deze behoefte komt voort uit het verplicht bijmengen van SAF in conventionele kerosine. Ook hebben bestaande routes voor SAFs te maken met oplopende tekorten in grondstoffen. De productieroute in dit project maakt gebruik van vetzuren, waarmee een veelheid van afvalstromen kan worden verwerkt naar brandstoffen. De vetzuren uit dit project worden geproduceerd door ChainCraft uit organische reststromen via fermentatie. ChainCraft is begonnen als startup vanuit Wageningen Universiteit en heeft bewezen per jaar ongeveer 2000 ton vetzuren te kunnen produceren. Met een chemische reactie worden deze vetzuren omgezet naar ketonen. Dit wordt ketonisatie genoemd. Deze ketonen kunnen opgewerkt worden naar SAF, maar kunnen ook andere chemische toepassingen hebben, zoals het vervangen van palmolie. Het keton dat ontstaat is dus een tussenproduct waarmee verschillende markten bedient kunnen worden. Dit is van belang voor ChainCraft dat nieuwe markten voor haar vetzuren wil ontsluiten. De belangrijkste te ontwikkelen stap in deze productieroute is de verbetering en optimalisatie van de ketonisatiereactie. Dit wordt gedaan door de Hogeschool Rotterdam bij het CoE HRTech, binnen het cluster Verduurzaming Industrie en de opleiding Chemische Technologie. Bij de ketonisatiereactie ontstaat calciumhydroxide als bijproduct. Door dit terug te voeren naar het fermentatieproces kunnen de integrale proceskosten verlaagd worden en de milieu impact gereduceerd. Deze verbeterde fermentatie wordt door ChainCraft geanalyseerd. De te verwachten milieubesparing is 67% minder broeikasgasemissies ten opzichte van petrochemische kerosine. De te verwachten productiekosten zijn vergelijkbaar met gangbare SAFs. Naast ChainCraft en de Hogeschool Rotterdam wordt het voorstel gesteund door SkyNRG. SkyNRG is sinds 2010 de wereldwijde leider op het gebied van SAFs.
Client: Foundation Innovation Alliance (SIA - Stichting Innovatie Alliantie) with funding from the ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) Funder: RAAK (Regional Attention and Action for Knowledge circulation) The RAAK scheme is managed by the Foundation Innovation Alliance (SIA - Stichting Innovatie Alliantie) with funding from the ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW). Early 2013 the Centre for Sustainable Tourism and Transport started work on the RAAK-MKB project ‘Carbon management for tour operators’ (CARMATOP). Besides NHTV, eleven Dutch SME tour operators, ANVR, HZ University of Applied Sciences, Climate Neutral Group and ECEAT initially joined this 2-year project. The consortium was later extended with IT-partner iBuildings and five more tour operators. The project goal of CARMATOP was to develop and test new knowledge about the measurement of tour package carbon footprints and translate this into a simple application which allows tour operators to integrate carbon management into their daily operations. By doing this Dutch tour operators are international frontrunners.Why address the carbon footprint of tour packages?Global tourism contribution to man-made CO2 emissions is around 5%, and all scenarios point towards rapid growth of tourism emissions, whereas a reverse development is required in order to prevent climate change exceeding ‘acceptable’ boundaries. Tour packages have a high long-haul and aviation content, and the increase of this type of travel is a major factor in tourism emission growth. Dutch tour operators recognise their responsibility, and feel the need to engage in carbon management.What is Carbon management?Carbon management is the strategic management of emissions in one’s business. This is becoming more important for businesses, also in tourism, because of several economical, societal and political developments. For tour operators some of the most important factors asking for action are increasing energy costs, international aviation policy, pressure from society to become greener, increasing demand for green trips, and the wish to obtain a green image and become a frontrunner among consumers and colleagues in doing so.NetworkProject management was in the hands of the Centre for Sustainable Tourism and Transport (CSTT) of NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences. CSTT has 10 years’ experience in measuring tourism emissions and developing strategies to mitigate emissions, and enjoys an international reputation in this field. The ICT Associate Professorship of HZ University of Applied Sciences has longstanding expertise in linking varying databases of different organisations. Its key role in CARMATOP was to create the semantic wiki for the carbon calculator, which links touroperator input with all necessary databases on carbon emissions. Web developer ibuildings created the Graphical User Interface; the front end of the semantic wiki. ANVR, the Dutch Association of Travel Agents and Tour operators, represents 180 tour operators and 1500 retail agencies in the Netherlands, and requires all its members to meet a minimum of sustainable practices through a number of criteria. ANVR’s role was in dissemination, networking and ensuring CARMATOP products will last. Climate Neutral Group’s experience with sustainable entrepreneurship and knowledge about carbon footprint (mitigation), and ECEAT’s broad sustainable tourism network, provided further essential inputs for CARMATOP. Finally, most of the eleven tour operators are sustainable tourism frontrunners in the Netherlands, and are the driving forces behind this project.
PBL is the initiator of the Work Programme Monitoring and Management Circular Economy 2019-2023, a collaboration between CBS, CML, CPB, RIVM, TNO, UU. Holidays and mobility are part of the consumption domains that PBL researches, and this project aims to calculate the environmental gains per person per year of the various circular behavioural options for both holiday behaviour and daily mobility. For both behaviours, a range of typical (default) trips are defined and for each several circular option explored for CO2 emissions, Global warming potential and land use. The holiday part is supplied by the Centre for Sustainability, Tourism and Transport (CSTT) of the BUas Academy of Tourism (AfT). The mobility part is carried out by the Urban Intelligence professorship of the Academy for Built Environment and Logistics (ABEL).The research question is “what is the environmental impact of various circular (behavioural) options around 1) holidays and 2) passenger mobility?” The consumer perspective is demarcated as follows:For holidays, transportation and accommodation are included, but not food, attractions visited and holiday activitiesFor mobility, it concerns only the circular options of passenger transport and private means of transport (i.e. freight transport, business travel and commuting are excluded). Not only some typical trips will be evaluated, but also the possession of a car and its alternatives.For the calculations, we make use of public databases, our own models and the EAP (Environmental Analysis Program) model developed by the University of Groningen. BUAs projectmembers: Centre for Sustainability, Tourism and Transport (AT), Urban Intelligence (ABEL).