Marco Andreacchio, senior project manager for EAM RFID Solutions, said the system will not only help inspectors increase speed, reduce errors, but also prevent flight delays due to delays in emergency equipment inspections. The solution is attached to the emergency equipment and is checked using hand-held readers for data analysis and management using software provided by EAM. In the long run, the airline intends to use the technology to achieve automatic inspection, while the historical data analysis.
Fiji Airways is an international airline based in Nadi that travels to 10 countries, including the United States. The airline checks the state of the emergency equipment every week and every month. Before installing the RFID system, it would take 90 minutes for a small aircraft to be inspected and 8 hours for large aircraft inspections.
Since the beginning of last year, Fiji Airlines has begun to investigate RFID technology as part of its Air Management Monitoring System (AMOS) program. In mid-year, the airline began working with EAM Worldwide to develop a solution at the EAM Dubai office. Since 2009, EAM Worldwide has provided RFID life jackets for Fiji Airways.
In January, the airline began experimenting with the technology and spent 1 week training for 60 employees. Most devices need to be tagged with labels. Fiji Airlines uses the UHF RFID tags provided by William Frick and Co. to comply with the AS5678A specification. The life jacket label is carried out at the factory.
The project uses a single record and a dual record label, all of which meet the ATA Spec2000 Ch9-5 standard. All tags have a unique ID number and are associated with item information in the EAM Worldwide TagControl software. TagControl uses data called WebApp, DesktopApp, MobileApp to manage and share data on computers and mobile devices. Fiji Airways uses Alien Technology's UHF RFID handheld reader to read the label.
When the inspector works on an airplane, simply check the TagControl application on the reader to check it. The reader reads the tag ID via RFID and then transfers the data over the cellular network to the TagControl. If the system detects that the item is missing, expired or needs to be repaired, the system will alert the inspector.
Fiji Airways uses RFID technology to improve emergency equipment management
So far, the company has more than 4,000 labels applied to liferafts, oxygen cylinders, generators, extended seat belts, earmuffs, flashlights, fire extinguishers and life jackets. These devices are used on the company's A330, 737, ATR and double otter aircraft.
Next, Fiji Airways will use RFID technology to track seat covers. The airline will regularly clean the seat cover, and the RFID technology will provide information on the cleaning and replacement of the seat cover. "Andreacchio said:" The goal of the system is to track the number of cleaning and to confirm that the seat cover is installed in the correct place. "
