HONG KONG, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Shanghai-based China Cargo Airlines today announced an agreement to incorporate two key Boeing solutions into the carrier’s operations over the coming months. 

China Cargo’s new 777 Freighters will use Boeing Class 3 Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) to bring advanced computer information delivery and management to the airplanes’ flight decks. Multiple Airplane Health Management (AHM) modules will be deployed on the airline’s new 777 Freighters and current 747-400 Freighter fleet. The airline operates two 747-400ER (Extended Range) Freighters and will introduce six 777 Freighters, with the first delivery expected in the first quarter of 2010. 

“We believe that Electronic Flight Bag and Airplane Health Management will bring increased efficiency and a greater awareness of each airplane’s situation and condition to both flight deck and ground-based personnel,” said China Cargo President Zhu Yimin. “This will benefit our customers by improving on-time service while reducing costly delays.” 

China Cargo is the first airline in China to operate the Boeing EFB and AHM combination, bringing the carrier to the forefront in maintenance and performance technology. 

“China Cargo is incorporating fleet enhancements that will increase the value of its 777 and 747-400 freighters,” said Dan da Silva, vice president of Sales and Marketing for Commercial Aviation Services, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “But the key is the benefits that EFB and AHM will bring to China Cargo’s operations.” 

Boeing Class 3 EFB, using software developed by Boeing and its Jeppesen subsidiary, incorporates the Onboard Performance Tool (OPT) and Electronic Document Browser (EDB) and provides information from airplane systems, flight crews, and cabin crews to the airline’s base operation. The OPT gives pilots the ideal speeds and engine settings for an aircraft, in any weather, on any runway, with any payload, improving efficiency, range and payload. The EDB module allows instant access to the latest information, replacing multiple bulky paper documents and minimizing the need for manual updating and revision. 

Airplane Health Management is a multi-module decision support capability provided through the MyBoeingFleet.com Web portal. Real-Time Fault Management collects real-time airplane data to provide enhanced fault forwarding, troubleshooting, and historical fix success rates, reducing schedule interruptions and increasing maintenance efficiency. 

The AHM Custom Alerting and Analysis module (formerly known as Service Monitoring) provides a powerful analysis and alerting tool to identify potential system issues and also monitors such items as tire pressure, oxygen pressure, hydraulic fluid and auxiliary power unit and engine oil levels. The Performance Monitoring module monitors fuel consumption and CO2 emissions to optimize airplane operations and support maintenance decision making. 

The monitoring of the two models will bring value to the airline’s engineering management by improving maintenance performance and flight operations through reduced delays, cancellations, air turn backs and diversions.

Source: Boeing