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Petroleum Air Services (PAS) takes off with AMOS

At a glance

• Another helicopter / FW operator joins the AMOS Community
• PAS relies on Swiss-AS cloud hosting package
• 350 new AMOS users

AMOS – a flexible and future-proof decision

Swiss-AS is pleased to announce that Petroleum Air Services (PAS) and Swiss-AS have signed agreements regarding the purchase and implementation of AMOS.

PAS was searching the market for a fully integrated turnkey solution that provides the option to adapt to new requirements without changes to the source code.

After a swift and efficient evaluation of the MRO software available on the market, PAS reached the conclusion that AMOS provided the best-fit solution for their requirements

AMOS will be implemented without any customer specific changes and PAS can rely on a proven software that reflects industry-best-practices and allows managing both their aircraft and helicopters within one single system. When selecting AMOS customers also obtain a comprehensive maintenance agreement that guarantees two major releases per year. This assurance proved to be one key factor in convincing PAS that AMOS was indeed the future-proof solution they were looking for.

AMOS features for helicopter maintenance

AMOS has been supporting helicopter operators right from the beginning, when the Swiss Air-Rescue (= Rega) signed for AMOS in 1992. Over the years, the percentage of helicopters maintained within the AMOS Community has constantly increased and, as a result, the rotor wing dedicated functionalities have been expanded accordingly. Swiss-AS is pleased to offer its expertise to support the dynamic helicopter industry and cater to their specific needs. AMOS incorporates globally integrated supply chain management of spares and health monitoring of vibration characteristics of the airframe and rotating components. In addition to the many AMOS interfaces available, the utilisation of the flight schedule interfaces, along with mission configuration, enables precise monitoring of operating times and parameter exceedance. The combination of all these features allows AMOS to support the industry-wide requirements for dynamic control to maintain the safety of helicopters.

Furthermore, AMOS offers an extensive counter management program to track equipment and components with standard or individualised counters, dimensions and penalties.

Cloud hosting package

The Egyptian aviation company has also signed for the Swiss-AS hosting package, a combination of the proven AMOS Operation Services (AOS), covering the application and database administration and cloud hosting (Google Cloud Platform). The AMOS environments will be easily accessible for PAS from all their operation bases via secured VPN connections. By signing for the hosting services, PAS is relieved of the requirement to operate a technical infrastructure on premises and can rely on a high level of operation in compliance with the latest IT and security standards.

“With the PAS decision to go for AMOS, the number of rotor wing operators among the AMOS Community is increasing and this demonstrates the capability of AMOS. With only one software, our customers are in the position to manage a mixed fixed wing and rotor wing fleet,” states Ronald Schaeuffele, CEO of Swiss-AS.

Premium Jet becomes Web Manuals and Skylegs launch customer
 
EBACE, Geneva, 23rd May 2019: Premium Jet is the first business aviation operator to benefit from Web Manuals’ integration with Skylegs – the launch software partner in the Web Manuals Store.

Ideal for small flight departments, the partnership between digital documentation solutions provider, Web Manuals, and holistic flight operations management software, Skylegs, strengthens the document library functionality for Skylegs customers, who can now enjoy the full strength of the Web Manuals platform.

When working within the application or system, existing Skylegs customers can access all their documents directly within Web Manuals, without having to shift to the dedicated platform, streamlining the process and saving valuable time. Documents will open within the Web Manuals document reader, allowing for full authoring and compliance functionality, rather than a PDF version. Users can also navigate between document changes and have the same favorite, highlight and comment functions through Skylegs as they do with Web Manuals.

Marcel Wepfer, Managing Director of Premium Jet says: “We have been a long-standing customer of Web Manuals and when we found out that they were partnering with Skylegs we couldn’t wait to explore the integration between these two tools that are critical to our business.” 

An additional benefit of this partnership is that flight and duty time limitations (FTL) are factored in to ensure that the schedules of pilots do not exceed the regulatory and suitable flight/duty times, whether it be union, country of operator determined.

Martin Lidgard, CEO and Founder of Web Manuals says: “We first met Skylegs at EBACE in 2016, and early on we recognized the benefit that a seamless integration would provide for our joint customers. Inputting the Web Manuals functionality improves the usability for customers and makes the authoring and editing process effortless.”

Maxim Schelfhout, Managing Director of Skylegs, adds: “An integrated Web Manuals and Skylegs solution will save our customers significant amounts of time and propel their digitization capabilities to the next level. Web Manuals allows you to write and distribute procedures efficiently and Skylegs automates and implements them in your operations. We are proud to be able to offer these new improvements to our client base and look forward to seeing how they use them to improve safety and efficiency within their teams.” 

Lidgard and Schelfhout will be available on stand N115 at EBACE 2019 for demonstrations of the integration and the added functionality it will bring for small flight departments and operators.

The new generation weather and flight optimizer tool

AVTECH proFLIGHT is an easy-to-use iPad app that visualizes flight related weather information like turbulence, winds, temperature, ice and more, all tailored to a single flight’s trajectory and time. Now all pilots can try out the app free of charge for a limited time on AppStore.

Niklaes Persson, Head of R&D at AVTECH and a commercial airline pilot himself, explains that the proFLIGHT app gives pilots a graphical view of the exact location of the aircraft and the surrounding weather, including invisible turbulence.

“To download the flight plan to proFLIGHT, a pilot that is registered in our system only needs to choose the flight number from a list in the app, which then automatically downloads all the needed data for that flight”, Persson says. “But it is much more than just another weather app.  Having unique access to Met Office’s 10 KM resolution weather data, which our backend servers extract individually for every flight, proFLIGHT significantly improves the accuracy of the weather. This in turn improves the situation awareness in the cockpit dramatically compared with other weather services available.”

However, since pilots are a traditional species, the data can also be shown in the traditional way waypoint by waypoint; it is up to the pilot to choose how to visualize the information. Persson points out that although proFLIGHT has a simple interface, the app combines AVTECH’s premium weather services, Aventus Sigma and Aventus Nowcast.

“The data is always up-to-date when the aircraft takes off and can also be updated during the flight if the aircraft has an Internet connection”, he says. “In addition, SIGMETs are also digitally visualized in the app instead of just as a plain text including a list of coordinates from the aircraft’s printer.”

Still free to use

Persson points out that proFLIGHT is available for all commercial airline pilots, even if the airline company is not a customer to AVTECH. Pilots from 25 airline companies around the globe are testing the service at the moment and AVTECH use their feedback to improve the app constantly.

“For the time being, the app is free to download and use for all registered airline pilots”, Persson says. “I would recommend it for all pilots, since it puts the aircraft on a map and shows all the weather hazards in the vicinity, both vertically and horizontally. If, for example turbulence is coming up ahead, the pilot has access to the best information possible for the climb or descent decision.”

Persson says that it took the company about one and a half years to develop the first version of the app. Now AVTECH is focusing on making the app even smarter and more interactive.

“In the future there will be a free version available based on the normal weather services, but to the paid version we are adding even more weather layers and new services”, he says. “For the moment it is available for iOS, but we are also working on a Windows version.”

One major advantage of proFLIGHT is that all weather material needed for a flight can be digitalized and accessed with only one interface required.

“In fact, all printed weather material needed before take-off, which was formerly delivered to the aircraft, can now be shown in proFLIGHT”, Persson says. “We have recently started the EASA approval process for the app, which should take about six months to obtain.”

AVTECH proFLIGHT is a graphical decision tool that combines tailored flight weather and flight optimization for a specific trajectory. All information needed for fast decisions is instantly available in a clear horizontal and vertical view that can be zoomed in when needed.

All pilots can try out the aviation weather and flight optimization tool AVTECH proFLIGHT free of charge for a limited time on AppStore.

Web Manuals partners with AeroEx to provide seamless Electronic Flight Bag EASA regulation solution

EBACE, Geneva, 22nd May 2019: Web Manuals, developer of digital documentation solutions, is announcing the Web Manuals Premium Partner AeroEx InSight Aviation Safety Regulation Report and the Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) Policy and Procedure Manuals as the first products in the Web Manuals Store, enabling business aviation customers to quickly get compliant with the recently published EASA regulation for approval of EFB applications.

The launch of the AeroEx EFB Manual Template in the Web Manuals Store enables business jet operators to quickly and easily comply with the new EASA regulation coming into effect on 9th July 2019, set to promote a level playing field for European operators that are using EFBs and struggling to keep up with the substantial impact of having to introduce a whole new manual and risk assessments for all their EFB apps in such a short time.

The AeroEx EFB Manual Template is delivered directly to each operator’s Web Manuals site and links directly to the EASA compliance library, and includes a risk assessment template, access to an instructional webinar with Q&A session and optional EFB admin training.

Martin Lidgard, CEO and Founder of Web Manuals, says: “One of our top priorities is to make it as straightforward as possible for our customers to comply with the latest regulations, ensuring they can maintain safe and efficient operations. Our partnership with Europe’s foremost aviation industry regulatory compliance consultancy group AeroEx makes the work of achieving compliance with new regulations a much more manageable process to support safe flight operations and duties. We are looking forward to announcing further products in our online store over the coming months, providing our customers with a one-stop-shop for digital aviation compliance solutions.” 

Joel Hencks, Managing Director of AeroEx GmbH, says: “The key theme for aviation regulations this year is implementation of the EFB EASA regulation, coming into effect on 9th July and must be adhered to by all European air operators before that date. Our partnership with Web Manuals to provide customers with this innovative EFB solution makes the transition a much more manageable process for business aviation operators.” 

The EFB Manual Template  is available to buy through the Web Manuals Store for EUR 3.950, which includes a one-year subscription to Web Manuals, or EUR 3.200 for existing customers.

Web Manuals has more than 210 customers worldwide, with headquarters in Malmö, Sweden and US offices in New York and San Diego. For more information on how Web Manuals and AeroEx can improve your document management and regulatory compliance, visit stand N115 at EBACE, 21-23 May 2019.

BOISE, ID – May 21, 2019. West Air, Inc. has secured a multi-year contract with eTT Aviation for its SkedFlex Flight and Crew Management System — providing West Air the next generation of software solutions to further improve the efficiency and resultant profitability of its complex regional cargo operations.

SkedFlex is a suite of tools providing airlines and air operators the ability to schedule and manage flights, crewmembers, and aircraft in a flexible, efficient, and visual manner. Coupled with its proprietary rules engines, SkedFlex helps ensure control and regulatory compliance with complex flight and duty limitations and rest requirements, all while providing employees a better quality of life — a critical factor in retention, productivity, and satisfaction given the shortage of qualified pilots and competition among air carriers.

“We at West Air are excited about SkedFlex’s advanced visual presentation and its new integration with our existing MISA system [recently purchased by eTT Aviation],” said West Air President Beth Wood.

About West Air, Inc.

West Air provides cargo feeder services to major worldwide courier companies and individual cargo charter services since 1987. The Company is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, with offices and associated companies in Fresno, California.

West Air is successfully managed by a team of dedicated professionals with extensive experience in cargo and passenger airline operations, providing the necessary leadership qualities to secure a steady growth and profitability in ever changing markets.

West Air operates pursuant to the rigid requirements demanded by its courier customers for safety and on-time performance.

The Company’s fleet consists of 38 Cessna Grand Caravan 208B aircraft operating in the Western United States.

About eTripTrader, Inc. dba eTT Aviation.

eTT Aviation is a US veteran-owned company, headquartered in Eagle, Idaho, specializing in scalable aviation flight, crew, maintenance, accounting, inventory, HR, and management information solutions that revolutionize the way airlines achieve scheduling flexibility, compliance and control, all while steadfastly adhering to its core values of integrity, innovation, and exemplary customer support.

eTT Aviation’s flagship products, SkedFlex Air Operations Suite (FCMS & MISA), and Crew Companion (world-class trip trading), support tens of thousands of aviation professionals at global, regional, charter, and cargo airlines worldwide.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN SCANDINAVIAN AVIONICS AND JETSUPPORT

Geneva, Switzerland, 21st May 2019 – Strengthening the approach towards the Business Aviation and Special Mission Aircraft market, JetSupport and Scandinavian Avionics signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement, complementing the existing Cooperation Agreement from 2016.

The main objective of the new Strategic Partnership Agreement is to further expand the avionics business

opportunities for both companies, as well as all associated maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO)

activities.

JetSupport and Scandinavian Avionics have been collaborating already for several years, sharing many business and operational areas, such as aircraft and component maintenance, repair and overhaul, upgrades and technical solutions. The Strategic Partnership Agreement will enhance the offerings from JetSupport to their clients, as they get access to the extensive avionics capabilities of The SA Group, while the partnership will be able to offer one-stop-shop solutions for clients in the Benelux area, to an extent not

seen previously.

Michael R. Truelsen, CEO, Scandinavian Avionics:

“No doubt that we in JetSupport have found a great partner for a wide range of combined offerings, and we look so much forward to exploring this further. One thing is the extensive capabilities of both our companies, however the true core of our combined solutions offered to the market, is that we share the same values and mindset from a support and customer focus perspective.

JetSupport

From the start of operations in October 2001, JetSupport provides aircraft availability. We commenced our operations with this philosophy, but this still is the fundamental idea when we start working on an aircraft. Since 2001, we continuously strive to improve our operation, aligning with the needs of our customers. We expanded our service portfolio with avionic specialists, we added more airframe approvals, we introduced new maintenance programs and we proved our ability to perform the most challenging modifications. The only aspect which has not changed over the years is our goal: making sure the aircraft is available whenever the customer needs it the most.

Our base maintenance operations take place at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. We are EASA, FAA & TCCA approved and with multiple strategic dealerships and partnerships, we are able to offer you the complete package of technical service solutions necessary to keep your aircraft flying. Clear, correct and on-time, that is what we call JetSupport.

Web Manuals saves each of its business aviation customers 2,400 hours each year

Geneva, 21st May 2019: Web Manuals, developer of digital documentation solutions, is announcing that it has saved each of its business aviation customers 70% of the time spent updating manuals in 2018: equivalent to 2,400 hours of work each year. 

On average, business jet operators can have up to 30 operations manuals in their libraries and make up to 75 revisions every year, with each one taking around 40 hours to complete. Using Web Manuals’ web-based application, updating and revising an operations manual typically takes up to a day, saving its customers at least 32 hours per revision. 

Martin Lidgard, CEO and founder of Web Manuals says: “We truly value our customers’ needs and recognize that time means money for air operators. It is essential for business jet operators to keep their documentation and manuals up-to-date, so by providing them with our innovative digital solution we enable them to save at least 70% of the time it takes to update each manual, ensuring they can more easily remain compliant to the latest industry standards. Through this significant time saving, business jet operators are better able to spend their time focusing on other areas such as developing their business and competitiveness” 

Web Manuals has more than 210 customers worldwide, with US offices in New York and San Diego, and headquarters in Malmö, Sweden. For more information on how Web Manuals can improve your document management and regulatory compliance, visit stand N115 at EBACE, 21-23 May 2019.

Women making a difference in aviation for the Baltics

During the last few years, several airlines in the Baltics have flourished, and they have brought in a new generation of young and innovative talent to the region’s aviation industry.

This is frequently being supplied by young women, who are coming through the ranks to take up senior positions and are gaining authority to drive change.

Often this is environmentally friendly change, with an emphasis on reducing waste and adopting efficient airline paperless operations.

From Left to Right: Vera Bankina (now Project Manager at Conduce)

Anna Ivanova (now Cabin standards and fleet transition engineer at SmartLynx)

& Irina Lupane (now eTechLog8 and OASES Administrator at SmartLynx)

This is being demonstrated at SmartLynx Airlines, where several initiatives have been pushed through.

In 2015 Smartlynx directors encouraged Vera Bankina to take on the challenge of eliminating the cockpit paper log books. This was ultimately achieved by implementing eTechLog8 the Conduce Electronic Log Book (ELB).

Vera was aided and abetted by Irina Lupane, who at the time was in Technical Records and operating the Maintenance Information System (MIS), Commsoft OASES. Both Vera and Irina had previously worked together at Air Baltic where they had learned the ropes in Technical Records by using Commsoft OASES.

Four years later and Vera is the Senior Project Manager at Conduce, introducing the now well established ELB system, eTechLog8, with various airlines around the world. Vera currently has 5 successful ELB implementation projects under her belt, all achieving paperless log book airline operations.

In the meantime, Irina has also come through the ranks and is now in charge of Technical Records and is the Administrator for Commsoft OASES at SmartLynx. Irina is also the Smartlynx eTechLog8 system Manager and is affectionately known within SmartLynx as eTechLog8 mama!

During the last 12 months Vera and Irina have been working together again, but this time to integrate eTechLog8 with Commsoft OASES.

They have brought together the three companies to stream the data flow from Conduce eTechLog8 in the cockpit electronically into OASES, without the need for paper or clerical intervention.

SmartLynx are now recognized as the pioneers of paperless technology in the Baltic states, adopting cutting edge solutions and enabling the airline to harvest the benefits of the digital age. 2016 at the introduction of A320 YL-LCO

Did you know an average airliner can use half a tree per year, just for logbook pages?!

Source: The Tree Calculator (by TreeHouse)

On the achievement, CEO of SmartLynx Airlines, Zygimantas Surintas said:

“This is another big development step for SmartLynx to increase fleet control and passenger safety. We see increased access to information, transparency, time saving and reduced risk of human error. We have become the first airline in the Baltic States to introduce these processes, that will ultimately become the generally accepted aviation industry standard. We now observe that other Baltic airlines are also considering abandoning the old, time-consuming, paper-based log books.”

Founded in 1992. SmartLynx is the second largest Latvia-based airline, providing charter flights and ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance) services. Its fleet in 2019 is planned to be 26 Airbus A32X aircraft operated daily by more than 600 employees worldwide. In 2018 SmartLynx Airlines had a turnover of €171.9 million representing a 30.72% increase compared to 2017. In 2018 more than 3 million passengers were serviced on the flights provided by the company.

With offices in the UK and Australia, Conduce provide robust mobile solutions such as eTechLog8 for the worlds airline industry. eTechLog8 is the leading ELB solution to replace paper technical log books and is now certified by 10 NAA’s. Full integration with most MIS/MRO back office airline systems is standard. (www.conduce.net)

Communications Software (Airline Systems) Ltd. has produced cutting edge software for aviation maintenance and engineering for over 35 years. Commsoft produces a market- leading product, which is utilized in around 50 airlines and maintenance organisations throughout the world.

Always growing – G’day to our new office in Australia

20 May – Seabury Solutions – Always Growing

As Seabury continue to expand our market reach, we are delighted to announce our new office in Melbourne, Australia, headed up by Mayco Sanchez Vecchio.

Mayco, who is originally from Argentina, is an Aeronautical Engineer, has been part of the Seabury team for almost five years. During that time he has gained extensive sales experience and has worked on a number of key implementations as a Project Leader with our Aircraft Maintenance Software, Alkym.

Mayco is looking forward to enhancing the Seabury presence in the Oceania region as he continues to enjoy life down under.

To hear more about our aviation software solutions please contact mkt@seaburysolutions.com

Wizz Air Chooses Comply365 to Support Growth

Comply365 to Transform Authoring for Leading European Low-Cost Carrier

Beloit, WI – May 15, 2019 – Wizz Air, one of Europe’s fastest growing airlines, is transforming its content authoring process for both company and operating manuals with Comply365’s end-to-end content management and distribution platform.

As the leading low-cost carrier in Central and Eastern Europe, Wizz Air needed an innovative way to speed up its documentation process to support its rapid growth plans. Wizz Air operates one of the youngest aircraft fleets in the world with its Airbus A320 and A321s.

They fly under two AOCs (Air Operator Certificates): Wizz Air Hungary, based in Budapest, and Wizz Air UK, based in London Luton. Since both airlines share the same aircraft types, significant portions of content of their flight operating manuals could be sourced once and then shared for efficiency.

“We were looking for a modern system for our Operations departments that would allow us to author and maintain one set of common content and leverage it where possible across our network,” Wizz Air Chief Operations Officer and Chief Technical Officer Heiko Holm said. “We not only got an innovative solution that will scale with us as we grow, but an experienced Comply365 team that’s wonderful to work with.”

Wizz Air transported 34 million passengers in 2018, a 20-percent jump from the previous year. It operates a fleet of more than 100 aircraft across 25 bases in Europe.

“We warmly welcome Wizz Air to our global community of diverse Comply365 users,” Comply365 CEO Tom Samuel said. “We are pleased they chose Comply365 as a partner to streamline and modernize their authoring process across multiple subsidiaries. Not only are we able to meet Wizz Air’s immediate needs, our experience serving long-time clients such as American Airlines and Southwest Airlines proves we can continue to effectively support Wizz Air as they grow their operations.”

Wizz Air recently accepted delivery on the first of 256 Airbus A321neo aircraft to support their growth strategy throughout and beyond Europe. But with that ongoing delivery, the carrier needed a faster way to author operating manuals so new aircraft could be brought into service without delay. Comply365’s authoring system can repopulate effectivity statements from manuals in existing, identical aircraft manuals, allowing Wizz Air to create manuals for aircraft before they are delivered.

“This was a very time-consuming process that we had to do manually, so we’re really looking forward to publishing manuals much faster, more efficiently and accurately,” Holm said. “Comply365’s editor also makes it relatively simple for anyone to author OEM or company manuals in XML compared to other systems that require a degree of XML knowledge.” 

“At Comply365, we’re investing in a fashion that provides an innovative way to safely and efficiently provide end users with targeted and personalized content,” Samuel said. “We’re proud to support the pilots, cabin crew and ground and maintenance teams at Wizz Air with the data and insights they need to make critical decisions and continue growing.”