CASE STUDY: Cathay’s Electronic Flight Folder built by pilots for pilots

Author: Captain James Toye, Head of Line Operations, Cathay Pacific Airlines

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Captain James Toye, Head of Line Operations at Cathay shares the motivation to build an in-house EFF and the journey to bring the solution to active service

This white paper is about Cathay’s Electronic Flight Folder (EFF), developed in-house to enhance operational efficiency and pilot experience. Before diving into its development, let’s briefly explore the background of Cathay.

CATHAY

Cathay is the home airline of Hong Kong with over 79 years of history, and is a founding member of the oneworld Alliance. It is a full-service airline operating around the globe and, together with Cathay Cargo and HK Express, it operates

a fleet of nearly 230 aircraft, including both passenger and freighter types. The fleet features Boeing and Airbus models, such as the Airbus A350 and Boeing 777 for long-haul flights, and Boeing 747-8 freighters for cargo services. For regional operations, the airline uses Airbus A330s and Airbus A321s.

BUSINESS CHALLENGES BEFORE THE ELECTRONIC FLIGHT FOLDER

Like many airlines, we used to prepare flight bags on paper but distributing these hefty 200-page documents to crew, especially for long-haul flights, was no small feat. And, after flight completion, the process involved coordinating the return of post-flight info for regulatory purposes, storing it in a warehouse for 12 months, and manually entering data, which often led to inconsistencies. It was a labor-intensive process we were eager to streamline. Critical info like flight times, delay reports, or fuel bills took weeks to integrate into our system. Frequent updates were a challenge due to the distribution process, leaving valuable information offline and not readily available for analysis.

Critical information such as flight times, delay reports, or fuel bills took weeks to integrate into our system. Frequent updates were a challenge due to the distribution process, leaving valuable information offline and not readily available for analysis. We needed a centralized platform for real-time communication between ground and air crew, and a reliable data source to enhance the way we operated.

As any airline would, we explored different solutions in the market for one that would fit our unique needs, only to find that many existing products had fragmented components for aircraft readiness. Simply converting a paper process to a digital format such as PDFs was not enough for us. So, we sat down with our IT team and decided to develop the solution in-house, leveraging our industry expertise and deep knowledge to optimize pilot workflows.

A SOLUTION THAT PUTS CREW WORKFLOWS FRONT AND CENTER

With pilot briefing practices stuck in a post-World War 2 time-warp, to which many of our pilots had grown accustomed, we knew we had to keep our crews’ workflows, habits, and routines front and center when we set out to design the EFF. For it to be successful, the solution had to be a game-changer for our teammates. With this in mind, we went straight to the heart of the matter – immersing ourselves in the crew community’s workflows, from pilot briefing to aircraft setup. Our goal was to streamline the time between receiving a brief and the actual briefing, cutting out unnecessary early signing-on. By observing the diverse behaviors of our team – from tech-savvy rookies to seasoned professionals – we tailored our solution to meet their different needs, ensuring its success.

From the Flight Operations side, we ensured that the EFF aligns with current procedures, designing the application to be adaptable to various workflows, accommodating individual preferences among pilots. Given the regulatory nature of our industry, we meticulously established practices in alignment with both local and global regulators to ensure that our EFF complied with their requirements. Change management played a big part in our journey, affecting both our crews and back-office operations. Our well-crafted product and implementation roadmap facilitated a smooth transition. During a three-month parallel run with both paper and digital solutions, it quickly became clear that our EFF was the crew’s favorite. Eventually, they fully transitioned to the new system, revolutionizing how they managed their tasks, and coordinated with peers and the airline. Altogether, it led to a successful implementation.

Also, during the parallel run period, we prioritized transparency with regulators, recognizing that fuel and weight data is particularly sensitive. By being open to feedback, we fostered trust and boosted confidence between both parties. Meticulous planning with a mindful approach and good support from jurisdictions around the world allowed us to navigate the approval process smoothly, even in a landscape where similar product faced challenges in obtaining approvals.

CHALLENGES AND OBSTACLES DURING IMPLEMENTATION AND DEVELOPMENT

When Cathay launched the EFF six years ago, it was a new idea in a traditional industry and that generated a few challenges for us to address. Aside from regulatory aspects externally, internally, we’ve also had to get acceptance by the crew operating in the cockpit and support back-office staff to evolve their way of accessing and processing information. By unlocking real-time data, this helps us completely reimagine the way we think about operations. It has facilitated the creation of a two-way facility for ground staff and other connected aircraft to communicate with crew in real time through the flight folder’s chat messages. We have seen this feature being used in cases of advanced warnings for turbulence, which has helped improve safety for our airline.

The airline industry is unique in the criticality required in its applications. To ensure our solution was airline and enterprise ready, we focused on reliability, enabling access to critical information even if certain systems experienced issues. This commitment was pivotal in our decision to build the EFF in-house, as the consequence of a failure in a mission critical application could cost an airline dearly.

THE ELECTRONIC FLIGHT FOLDER (EFF)

The EFF serves as a comprehensive pilot briefing tool, delivering essential information in real time. Rather than overwhelming pilots with up to 200 pages of data, they receive a high-level summary, with the option to access more granular information without losing sight of the big picture. Operating in real-time, the EFF automatically updates any changes regarding the flight. Also, when one crew member uses the EFF, it synchronizes with the others, even if they are still on the way into work. This allows crew members to access their colleagues’ input instantly, as if they were sharing ideas around a table at flight dispatch, reducing the time needed for briefings.

If they are flying to new destinations that they haven’t flown to before, then the EFF provides them with past information, based on which, they can prepare with confidence. That past information includes data on previous flights and the flight immediately prior, helping the crew plan and manage routes more effectively. It updates in real-time, handling all the calculations for the crew (figure 1).

Figure 1

A prime example in demonstrating the value of EFF in disseminating historical information to crew would be Shanghai Airport, where there are six runways that flights might land on and, given that procedures on how the airport schedules aircraft arrivals frequently change, using the EFF, crews will see that, 82% of the time, all flights that are the same as the one they are operating land on a particular runway. From the records of previous crews that landed on that runway, they can see exactly what they did, what fuel they arrived with and the taxi route that they took. The intricate details of exactly what happened on previous flights ensure that they know exactly what to expect. It takes a lot of stress and time out of setting up an aircraft. Getting that organized in advance through this rich, high-quality information makes the crew prepared.

PROCESS CHANGES

The EFF lays the groundwork for simplifying various workflows. For instance, digital refueling has replaced a lengthy paper process.  (figure 2).

Figure 2

Instead of paper moving back and forth between crew, refuellers, and back-office, the EFF allows crew to order fuel digitally, saving an average of seven minutes per flight. There are a multitude of similar workflows where digitization has led to improved efficiency and cost-effectiveness. After six years of development, we have refined the EFF to streamline the complexities of aircraft operations.

CONTINUOUS ENHANCEMENTS

We went live with the EFF in 2019 and have continuously enhanced the product ever since. Initially led by Operations, we expanded its scope to streamline and integrate other areas, such as Operations Control. This includes introducing real-time communication among Operations, airport and engineer departments regarding aircraft status and fuel management.

Features like the en-route diversion guide illustrates our operational evolution. In the past, crews managing engine failure or depressurizations had to sift through 60- or 70-pages of finely printed maps and charts looking for safe altitudes to which to descend. The EFF includes a solution that, when the flight plan is generated, creates hundreds of thousands of calculations for the entire flight route. Now, if there’s an engine failure or depressurization, rather than flying a convoluted route whilst wearing an oxygen mask in the middle of the night, crew can go directly from where they are, straight to an emergency airport (figure 3).

Figure 3

The solution will provide crew with the exact altitudes they should descend to, so that they can concentrate on completing the checklists and navigating the aircraft to safety. These are game-changing capabilities with significant safety implications and Flight Folder is the medium to deliver these capabilities. We place our crew at the center of our development to build up trust in the system which is crucial to our success.

THE EFF IN ACTION: SUCCESS STORIES

The transfer of real-time data back to the Dispatch Team has streamlined regulatory reporting and simplified flight plan updates for the crew. (figure 4).

Figure 4

Ground staff have access to a connected console that displays the status of each aircraft, including its current phase of flight, and the crew’s completed tasks and location, enhancing transparency in operations.

Who has access to the system?

While flight crew and dispatchers are the primary users, ground support and other ground services also have access to stay informed. Operational control staff can communicate directly with the crew and send messages. Crew operations, responsible for managing crew schedules, have access to information about flight status. While they do not have the app itself, data from the app feeds nearly every aspect of the airline. When an aircraft moves or disruption occurs, this data enables ground staff to react promptly.

INTEREST FROM OTHER AIRLINES: IMPACT AND RESULTS

A few years ago, Air Hong Kong and Hong Kong Express started using the flight folder. Their implementations went smoothly, and the flight folder has become an integral part of their workflow.

Our crew has showcased the EFF to several other airlines, who have been impressed by the product’s sophistication and have inquired about commercializing the solution. Over the past five to six years, we have consistently declined such offers. However, we now see the EFF as a significant differentiator in transforming crew operations and airline efficiency, and we are eager to collaborate with the industry to further elevate this product.

Having implemented the EFF, we have seen measurable results including faster turnaround times and reduced fuel consumption, as aircraft are lighter without the burden of old paperwork. Some specific results include saving seven minutes per flight with digital refueling and an average of 1.2 minutes per hour of flight time saved using the inflight direct-to tracking function. Delivery of new flight plans to crews is now 20 minutes quicker which allows more accurate final flight plans to be delivered just prior to departure. Automatic fuel calculations save typically around 80kgs of fuel per flight and the electronic Enroute Diversion guide opens up more flight routes to be dynamically flight planned which in turn supports savings in excess of 4-5 tonnes of fuel on selected long-haul routes over high terrain. Historical fuel figures enable flight crew to have confidence in flight planned fuel levels leading to a high percentage of crews not uplifting discretionary fuel: there have been 2.8 million USD per year of savings in fuel-related costs driven by weight reductions, rationalisation of fuel carried and inflight efficiency gains. In the back office, there have been savings of over 3 million USD per year as a result of streamlining processes, reduction in printing costs, headcount reduction and streamlining of the fuel procurement processes. As well as delivering these measurable benefits to the airline, we estimate that 1000 trees per year will have been saved as a result of the reduction in use of printing paper.

However, the most significant savings stem from pilots’ confidence in the data shared, which supports accurate fuel figures and management. This has resulted in a return on investment that far exceeds our initial costs. Additionally, safety benefits are evident, particularly in emergency procedures, such as dealing with depressurization or engine failures, as mentioned above.

With improved data access, we are beginning to explore other initiatives related to on-time performance, en-route fuel efficiency, crew fuel levels, in-flight workflows and the NOTAMs they review.

NEXT STEPS AND FUTURE PLANS

Looking ahead, we will build on our current foundations to synthesize the data collected. Through advanced data analysis, we aim to enhance transparency in back-office functions and improve disruption management, fuel state management, and aircraft status monitoring. This ensures that aircraft requiring immediate attention are promptly addressed.

The integration of AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) is also a key part of our development roadmap. We are pioneering an industry-first use case to enhance the prioritization and tagging of NOTAMs, significantly reducing the crew’s cognitive load during flights.

By commercializing the flight folder to the wider market, we aim to gather valuable feedback to elevate this product to the next level. We firmly believe that the combination of airline operation expertise and the agility of our new entity, Cathay Technologies, will enable us to deliver a market-leading solution.