GE Aviation and AT&T enable aircraft health monitoring

GE Aviation and AT&T Internet of Things (IoT) solutions are connecting the onboard and offboard portions of the Aircraft Health and Trend Monitoring System (AHTMS) powered PlaneConnectHTM on the Gulfstream G500, G600, G650 and G650ER business jets. The two companies made the announcement this week during the Paris Air Show.

The AHTMS continuously acquires aircraft performance data to help identify problems before they occur and to assist in troubleshooting difficult to diagnose issues.

When the aircraft lands, AT&T Control Center and AT&T Global SIM connects the AHTMS. The system is part of all new Gulfstream G500, G600, G650 and G650ER business jets. The G650 fleet “called home” and wirelessly sent data from all seven continents so far this year. If the customer chooses, Gulfstream Technical Operations can have access to the data to further improve its already best-in-class Product Support.  If the customer subscribes to the additional support, the system can:

• Enable fleetwide comparison and trending as issues arise
• Support specialists by enabling data queries.
• Send time-stamped data to a MyGulfstream.com Web Portal dedicated to that aircraft.
• Enable transient issue visibility providing resolution for this most difficult category of faults to solve.
• Present data to each operator in a prioritized and organized manner.  This includes aircraft usage data, fuel consumption, pressure readings, temperatures, and aircraft operations data.

Benefits of constantly monitoring plane performance can be seen in the air and on the ground.

• AHTMS’ sophisticated monitoring system helps speed diagnostics and gives more time for notice and scheduling and performing maintenance.
• Early detection helps maintenance and reduces downtime, keeping the aircraft in service.
• Allows maintenance technicians and logisticians to compare operator-authorized/de-identified, highly secure and encrypted data from every flight stored on MyGulfstream.com to establish trends and improve efficiencies for the entire fleet.

“Our focus is to help our customers and the overall industry to be more efficient,” said Darin DiTommaso, vice president of Digital Services and Solutions for GE Aviation. “This system improves an already great track record at Gulfstream. The beautiful part about the system is that it will continue to grow and respond as the needs of each fleet change throughout their lifecycle.”

GE Aviation relies on the AT&T Control Center robust automation features.  AT&T’s world-wide network made seven continent coverage of highly mobile assets possible. They utilize a highly secure connection and a custom AT&T MPLS/VPN (Virtual Private Network). This gives GE a high degree of control and provides highly secure redundant connectivity to their global network.  Data traffic from the aircraft to Gulfstream Technical Operations and Gulfstream Operators is encrypted and highly secure.

“IoT solutions have the potential to significantly transform the operational efficiency of nearly any industry,” said Chris Penrose, President, Internet of Things Solutions, AT&T. “It’s exciting to see that our solution with GE Aviation is giving them actionable insights into the performance and health of their planes.”