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P&WC’s FAST Solution rapidly gaining traction

Pratt & Whitney Canada's (P&WC's) Flight Acquisition, Storage and Transmission (FAST) solution is now in service on 580 aircraft as a growing number of customers, including 20 regional airlines, are choosing P&WC's turnkey technology for aircraft and engine diagnostics, prognostics and health management.


February 17, 2016  By P&WC

P&WC’s FAST solution captures, analyzes and sends full flight data intelligence to customers within minutes of landing enabling them to maximize aircraft availability, optimize maintenance planning, reduce operating costs, and avoid delays and cancellations.

“By delivering high quality aircraft and engine intelligence directly to the people who need it, we empower operators to make rapid decisions, improve performance and troubleshoot issues before they happen,” said Timothy Swail, Vice President, Customer Programs, P&WC. “Whether it’s preparing a replacement part for distribution or dispatching a mobile repair team to a customer’s remote location within minutes of an aircraft landing – with our FAST solution we are able to take the words ‘rapid response’ to a whole new level.”

“As Europe’s largest regional airline, utilizing advanced technology such as P&WC’s FAST solution is one of the many ways that keeps us at the forefront of the regional aviation industry,” said Luke Farajallah, chief operations officer, Flybe. “Having rapid access to FAST’s comprehensive feedback of flight data analyzing and reporting back on the operation of our aircraft and engines plays a key role in helping us keep our fleet impeccably maintained, and ultimately our flights on-schedule.”

Unlike many avionics systems, which still require manual intervention to off-load data from the aircraft, the FAST solution enables wireless transmission after each flight and the ability to capture complete mission data – from engine start to shut down. Once armed with this crucial full flight data, P&WC is able to analyze more than 80 distinct engine and aircraft parameters related to speed, pressure and temperature and share it with customers and maintenance crews so they have meaningful, actionable information at their fingertips within minutes of landing.

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“It’s about giving customers powerful insight about their aircraft and engines so they can operate their aircraft more reliably and efficiently, simplify and reduce maintenance and operating costs, and protect the value of their investment longer than ever,” said Swail.

On average, P&WC’s Diagnostics, Prognostics and Health Management (DPHM) team processes more than 90,000 full flight data records every month for regional airlines, individual aircraft owners and operators globally. This number represents more than 830,000 engine flight hours each year and is growing rapidly. A key part of the services and support ecosystem, the FAST solution allows P&WC to optimize and streamline service delivery and rapidly respond to customers’ business needs at a much more intimate level while at the same time reducing pilot and mechanic workload.

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