BENEFITS OF 787 E-ENABLED CAPABILITIES

Airlines benefit from the e-Enabling features of the 787 in a number of ways:

• E-Enabling eliminates time-consuming and awkward physical software data-loading via wireless data distribution and medialess software loading.
• It provides flight operations and maintenance personnel with data in digital formats to streamline the updating process, reduce errors, and eliminate the costs associated with shipping, handling, revising, and maintaining paper documents.
• It ensures compliance with new U.S. Federal Aviation Administration security requirements within heavily networked airplane environments.
• It enables near real-time data trans­actions both on- and off-board the airplane and provides the ability to access much of this data during flight to enable airlines to make timelier, informed maintenance and other operational decisions.
• It allows airlines to easily customize many aspects of their airplanes to fit their specific operations; for example, fuel can be displayed in pounds or kilograms.

IMPROVED MAINTENANCE EFFICIENCY

The e-Enabling equipment on the 787 will be highly integrated with the onboard maintenance, data-load, and crew information systems, offering airlines opportunities to reduce maintenance costs. Airlines have the option to include a wireless network for maintenance access, enabling airline back-office teams to remotely deploy software, parts, data, charts, and manuals to airplanes with minimal hands-on mechanic involvement.

Airline engineers and maintenance planners will be able to directly receive large data files from every airplane in the fleet without having to send the mechanic out to download or retrieve discs.

Also, maintenance laptops will save airlines time and give them access to quality information faster than in today’s environment. Mechanics will use these portable computers to access onboard mainte­nance data, initiate tests, and review maintenance documents.

TRAINING EFFECTIVENESS

Because the 787 is e-Enabled, Boeing is focused on providing training via the Web portal MyBoeingFleet.com at the point of use. Boeing is targeting a Web-managed, distance-learning capability that brings training to the trainee in a paperless training environment.

Enhanced technical data for flight training will include linkable features in the flight crew operating manual and flight crew training manual. The ground systems also provide mechanics access to near real-time mainte­nance information via MyBoeingFleet.com, or cached locally on a maintenance laptop.

ENTRY INTO SERVICE

Airlines interested in implementing full utilization of the e-Enabled capabilities should start the integration into their ground operations centers about six to nine months before entering service with new 787 airplanes. Boeing will send a deployment team to the airline’s location to install, test, and verify the e-Enabled environment; provide assistance in connecting to a wired or wireless system; demonstrate ground-based systems; test wireless connections; and review network security.

SUMMARY

The e-Enabled tools on board the 787 will provide flight crews, cabin crews, and ground personnel with quicker access to quality information. In order to prepare for the new 787 e-Enabled airborne systems, airlines will set up equivalent e-Enabled systems on the ground with Boeing assistance. The resulting e-Enabled airline will be more capable of more efficient operations and enhanced revenue.

For more information, please contact Kevin Gosling at kevin.l.gosling@boeing.com.

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