The Link - October 2014 1

Airbus Customer Services

Newsletter No. 26 - October 2014

The
Link

A350 XWB
flight simulation
training device
qualification
Training & Flight Operations

Airbus Smarter Fleet

for Fuel Efficiency
Maintenance & Engineering
02 The Link - October 2014

The
Link
Newsletter No. 26 - October 2014

AIRBUS S.A.S. 31707 Blagnac Cedex, France

© AIRBUS S.A.S. 2014 - All rights reserved,
Airbus, its logo and the product names are
registered trademarks.
06 12
Confidential and proprietary document.
This document and all information contained herein
is the sole property of AIRBUS S.A.S.
No intellectual property rights are granted by the
delivery of this document or the disclosure of its
content. This document shall not be reproduced or
disclosed to a third party without the express written EVENTS 03 Coming soon
consent of AIRBUS S.A.S. This document and its
content shall not be used for any purpose other than
that for which it is supplied. The statements made
herein do not constitute an offer.
They are based on the mentioned assumptions
and are expressed in good faith. Where the MAINTENANCE 04 Search On Service Bulletin +
supporting grounds for these statements are not
shown, AIRBUS S.A.S. will be pleased to explain & ENGINEERING
the basis thereof. 06 Airbus Smarter Fleet for Fuel Efficiency
Concept design by GDICS.
October 2014.
Printed in France by Airbus Print Centre.
08 Iridium SatCom for the A320 Family
The printer, Airbus Print Centre is engaged in a
waste management and recycling programme
for all resulting by-products.
10 Extended Service Goal
for A320, A330 and A340 families

SERVICES 11 New Flight Ops documentation

& CUSTOMER service centre
SUPPORT

TRAINING 12 A350 XWB flight simulation qualification

& FLIGHT
14 Required Navigation Performance
OPERATIONS
monitoring tool

16 From FCO to KAM

AIRBUS CUSTOMER SERVICES NEWSLETTER
is published by Airbus Customer
Services Communication
1 rond-point Maurice Bellonte
31707 Blagnac cedex - France
AIRBUSWORLD 17 AirbusWorld highlights
Any comments or contributions for future
editions of The Link should be sent to:
Customer Services Communications
- The new WISE application is online
Tel: +33 (0)5 61 93 43 88
Fax: +33 (0)5 61 93 47 73
[email protected] - TechRequest deployment planned
during last quarter 2014
Publisher: Bruno PIQUET

Editor: Lucas BLUMENFELD

- ISDS: Sharing data to improve fleet performance
Photo credits: Airbus,
Getty images, Shutterstock
- A new digital experience with the newly designed
Cover: A350 XWB simulator
(see article on pages 12 & 13) customer portal
 The Link - October 2014 03

Airbus Customer Services

Events
Coming soon
From October Flight Ops Engineering & Documentation regional seminars
to December Four Airbus Flight Ops Engineering & Documentation regional seminars will be held
before the end of this year:
From 7 to 9 October in Miami (USA)
From 28 to 30 October in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
From 18 to 20 November in Istanbul (Turkey)
From 2 to 4 December in Gatwick (UK)
For more information, please refer to the Flight Ops community on AirbusWorld.

14-16 October Lessors’ conference

The next Lessors’ conference will be held from 14 October
to 16 October in Seville (Spain). This is a great opportunity
for our largest community of customers – the lessors - to
exchange directly with Airbus.
Invitations and the agenda have been sent.

17-20 November A380 symposium

The A380 symposium will be held from
the 17 to 20 November in Bangkok (Thailand).
Invitations will soon be sent to all A380 customers.
Airbus offers large-scale worldwide symposiums every
three years, for each aircraft family (A300/A310, A320,
A330, A340 and A380) allowing a formal snapshot of your
fleet with a medium-term outlook and setting priorities at
senior management level.

18-20 November A320 Family regional seminar in China

You may already add the next A320 Family regional seminar to
your agenda which will be held in Sanya (China) from 18 to 20
November.
Since 2012, Airbus proposes ‘regional seminars’ by aircraft
family, where 30 to 50 airline managers (usually fleet
managers) coming from a small number of operators in the
region, gather together with Airbus and share experience
concerning the technical and economical performance
of their fleets.
04 The Link - October 2014

The new
SO SB+
service
Extracting specific SB+ data for your fleet

SO SB+ service is available for all Airbus civil aircraft programmes

based on approved SB+
SO SB+ service provides you with a complete extract of all the SB+
applicable to your fleet (structured information listed in a tabular file
per aircraft programme).

The complete picture of SB+ services

Engineering Planning Preparation Logistics Embodiment

decisions
SO SB+ SB+ Job Card
(See The Link - October 2013)
The SO SB+ service is designed to generate benefits focusing on:

Quick and efficient Maintenance & Engineering decision making with

• A full fleet view
• Access to essential data without SBs seeking/browsing
• “Top-down and bottom-up” filtering (all fields are filtering criteria)

Value added all along the process

• Supports Maintenance & Engineering phases (engineering decisions, planning, preparation and logistics)
• Eases data integration within your Maintenance Information System (MIS)

Handling facilitation
• Ready to use and recurrently updated according to your contract
• Compliant with standard office automation tools (e.g. MS-Excel ©)
• Standard/advanced native filtering functions

For any additional information or ordering, please contact:

[email protected] Marie-Christine MIRAMONT
Or directly send an email by flashing the QR Code. [email protected]
 The Link - October 2014 05

MAINTENANCE & ENGINEERING

Top-down and bottom-up

SB main
filtering capabilities information
Compliance ETOPS*/LROPS* affected
Based on simple and/or advanced filtering, SO SB+ Jacking type Electrical impact, MOD
allows you to answer all your engineering questions Fuel savings Referenced documents
(engineering decisions, planning, preparation Weight & Balance etc...
and logistics) without seeking/browsing the SBs.

SO SB+ deliverable Direct filtering

• About 100 fields extracted, tabular file Material and cross-sheets
• Delivered recurrently 4 or 12 times a year, sets advanced filtering
or upon request Kit and kits price/availability

SB+

int
• Commercial policy available on request Tools price/availability Tasks

po
Consumables ar

se
t

ry
ch en
in g
Re-identified parts fro m a ny
Major FIN impacted
Items list: ref, designation,
quantity, old ref, Additional work
Task man-hours
etc...
Subtasks Elapsed time
etc...

Examples Man-hours
Minimum number of persons
Work zone
Access
Skills External reference
Kit prices and availability etc...
(following a retrofit decision)
INDEX TABLE

INDEX TABLE

MATERIAL SETS

Other applicable SBs using accesses already open on your aircraft

SUBTASKS

INDEX TABLE
* ETOPS: Extended-Range Twin-Engine Operations ** LROPS: Long Range Operations
06 The Link - October 2014

Mixed fleet Fuel Fuel

IT
flight data efficiency efficiency
capabilities
expertise assets platform
 The Link - October 2014 07

MAINTENANCE & ENGINEERING

Airbus Smarter Fleet

for Fuel Efficiency
Advanced IT services for efficiency in your operations
A new fuel efficiency solution is now part of the Airbus Smarter the work accomplished so far, and to get concrete feedback
Fleet portfolio which provides operators with advanced IT from airline experts. As a result, Airbus in collaboration with
services for maintenance, engineering and flight operations. IBM, developed this IT solution to optimise fuel efficiency.
Smarter Fleet enhances an airline’s operational efficiency
Airbus will now continue to develop activities and organize
by using ‘big data’ to manage their aircraft more effectively
follow-up sessions with our customers in a near future.
and provides a more open, modular and flexible platform.
Thanks to cutting edge technologies, the fuel efficiency
Airbus is increasingly adding value to their Airbus Smarter Fleet
platform is also scalable to align with your future fleet
portfolio by integrating new services with existing ones.
developments, whilst best data quality ensures the best
This trend is being driven by today’s growing volume and
possible savings.
complexity of operational ‘big-data’ coming from multiple
By working directly with airline experts and being able
resources, new technological opportunities, and by the
to decode raw data (including the QAR - Quick Access
economic environment which increases expectations
Recorder), Airbus delivers a unique solution that ensures
for ‘value-for-money’ from IT solutions.
both the quality and features customers expect.
In July 2014 Airbus held a workshop with seven airlines
to design an application for fuel efficiency. The objective was
to exchange experience and expertise with Airbus’ customers
to support the development of the new Airbus fuel efficiency
solution. In addition, it was an opportunity for Airbus to present Stephen ROEBUCK
[email protected]
08 The Link - October 2014

Copyright Iridium SatCom

Iridium SatCom
for the A320 Family
now in service
Offering a complete worldwide coverage
for the A320 Family

Of the A320 Family in-service fleet, only a limited number are

equipped today with a Satellite Communication (SatCom) which
brings the benefits of communication between the aircraft and
ground via the Inmarsat constellation of geostationary orbit
satellites. The current Inmarsat provides both cockpit and cabin
connectivity applications.
The first Iridium SatCom solution has now been certified and is
operating on the A320 Family. Iridium SatCom provides an
alternative to Inmarsat for cockpit applications:
a) Pilot cockpit voice transmissions in addition to HF/VHF
(High Frequency/Very High Frequency) voice transmissions
b) Data transmissions for ATC/AOC (Air Traffic Control/Aircraft
Operational Communication) data-links in addition to HF/VHF
data communication.
 The Link - October 2014 09

MAINTENANCE & ENGINEERING

The fact that the Iridium SatCom constellation orbits closer to the Earth than the Inmarsat equivalent has
some advantages. The system requires less power, which in turn enables a lower cost and lower weight
solution. Iridium SatCom also enables a complete worldwide coverage including the polar regions.

Typical SatCom cockpit interface architecture

Multi-purpose
Data Control
Display
Units (MCDU)

Air traffic Satellite

service data
unit unit

Display system Audio

Flight Warning management
System (FWS) unit Voice
Audio
Control
Panels (ACP)

Chime Push-to-talk
A320 cockpit

IRIDIUM INMARSAT

Weight
7 Kg 45 Kg

(including wiring)

Power 28 W max 500 W max

Summary
consumption 28 V DC 115 V AC Iridium SatCom offers:
Coverage Worldwide +/- 80° latitude • Light weight and low drag solution
Data From 4 kbps (Aero I) • Integration with existing data-link
2-4 kbps
processing To 432 kbps (SBB) systems (e.g. FANS A+ - Future Air
Voice quality: Voice quality: Navigation System)
good & stable good & stable • Optional voice channel for the cockpit
Quality
Latency: ~ 300 ms Latency: ~500 ms (ATC/AOC included)
Establishment: ~10 s Establishment: ~10 - 20 s
• Harmonisation with line fit deliveries
Cockpit voice
Cockpit voice • Connectivity and interface
Capability Cockpit data
Cockpit data with Electronic Flight Bag
Cabin connectivity
(future development)

Thanks to its affordability, the Iridium SatCom solution has attracted significant
interest and is already flying successfully with a number of customers including
some which have been retrofitted via Airbus Upgrade Services.

Note: Sylvie SARTHOU

Certification on the A330 Family is scheduled this year with retrofit availability in 2015. [email protected]
10 The Link - October 2014

MAINTENANCE & ENGINEERING

DSG ESG

Extended
Service Goal
for Airbus aircraft
Flying beyond the Design Service Goal for additional revenue

An aircraft is designed with an objective in terms of operational life. This is defined at the point of aircraft design and is known
as the Design Service Goal (DSG) which refers to a maximum number of Flight Cycles (FC) or Flight Hours (FH), whichever
comes first, without reference to aircraft age. In general, the Design Service Goal is aligned with a 20 year utilization at average
FC and FH per aircraft model. Of course, dependent on the aircraft operating scenario, either limitation could be faced first.

When an aircraft is approaching the DSG limitation, the owner has a choice.
They may choose to withdraw the aircraft from service or they may wish to invest In a nutshell, the full ESG
in the Extended Service Goal (ESG) programme to enable aircraft operations to may be achieved by:
continue up to 10, or even more, additional years.
1) A top cover Service Bulletin
The ESG programmes active in Airbus today include the A300/A310, A320, A330 (SB) which is issued once a
and 340 families and are the result of documented actions and analysis. This leads full concession review is
to specific requirements dependent not only on the aircraft type but also on its con- completed and the Repair
figuration. Design Approval Sheet
Once the needs for individual aircraft are identified and the required actions taken, (RDAS) review performed.
flight operations can continue past the original DSG objectives in line with the 2) Systems related SBs and
airworthiness authority certified maintenance programme. kits embodied where
Driven by demand, the most active programme today is on the A320 Family where required. A small number
around 80 aircraft are involved. This figure will of course increase greatly over coming of systems components
may need to be replaced
months and years in proportion with the early aircraft deliveries.
or upgraded, as well.
The ESG will enable customers to earn additional revenue by flying their aircraft
longer, as well as benefiting from the increased residual value of their Airbus fleets. 3) Structural related SBs
In addition, operators will have the opportunity to upgrade their fleet to keep and kits embodied where
required.
in-service aircraft at the highest level of efficiency. We encourage customers with
older aircraft to consider their fleet planning at an early stage in order to achieve
the Extended Service Goal in the most cost efficient manner.

John GRANT
[email protected]
 The Link - October 2014 11

SERVICES & CUSTOMER SUPPORT

New Flight Ops

service centre
Airbus establishes a Flight Operations
“This new centre will
documentation centre in Bangkok

Airbus has established a new subsidiary in Bangkok (Thailand)

complement expertise
for the production of flight operations’ data for use by airlines
worldwide. at Airbus’ headquarters,
The centre, named Airbus Flight Operations Services, will
produce electronic versions of the standard flight operations meeting demand for
the ever-growing Airbus
manuals, improving the growing use of the Electronic Flight Bag
(EFB) for all Airbus aircraft types. The centre will offer several
additional services, such as data customisation services for
individual airlines where required.
fleets around the world”.
Airbus Flight Operations Services will open in Thailand early 2015.
Headed by the Managing Director Benoît De MONTETY it will
initially employ around 30 people, almost all of whom will be
recruited locally. The team is expected to grow further and will
comprise skilled professionals with proven experience in airline Benoît De MONTETY
flight operations data management. [email protected]
12 The Link - October 2014

A350 XWB
flight training
Following approval of A350 XWB training programmes
and the successful qualification of its flight simulator;
customer training soon to begin

While the A350 XWB is conducting the final certification tests, a significant milestone
has been achieved with the qualification of the programmes’ Full Flight Simulator
(FFS) as well as its Flight Training Device (FTD). These were
specifically designed to support and demonstrate the A350 Transition course
and the A330-A350 Common Type Rating (CTR), and they represent a major step
towards the A350 XWB’s Entry-Into-Service at the end of this year.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) carried out FFS and FTD evaluations for the A350 XWB from July 28th to
August 2nd. This process was conducted in parallel by simulation experts and pilot
inspectors from these authorities.
A dedicated Airbus team worked closely with the training devices’ manufacturer,
supporting the evaluations of the aviation authorities for the training devices
throughout the whole process.
Following the aircraft’s evolution throughout the flight test campaign until EIS,
the final aircraft data will gradually be made available, with the FFS and FTD being
updated accordingly.
The courses evaluated by EASA and FAA included the A330-A350 XWB differences
training with the objective of the CTR, the A350 XWB Cross Crew Qualification (CCQ)
course, as well as the standard transition course dedicated to pilots without Airbus
“fly-by-wire” experience.
The evaluation which took place from August 4th to September 15th involved a team
of four pilots from EASA and FAA acting as evaluators, while 16 pilots representing
the authorities tested the training.
A major milestone was completed on 17 September, when EASA and FAA
confirmed the approval of the A330-A350 XWB Level D differences training, allowing
recognition under the EASA regulatory scheme for the assignment of a single licence
endorsement “A330-A350 XWB”, and assignment of a CTR under the FAA rules.
The Airbus Training department is very satisfied with this achievement and is now
waiting for the formal approval of the courses by the authorities, in order to start
the first A350 XWB customer training.

Régine VADROT
[email protected]
 The Link - October 2014 13

TRAINING & FLIGHT OPERATIONS

14 The Link - October 2014

Airbus Required
Navigation
Performance
monitoring tool
Monitoring of RNP operations as required by the regulations.

The RNP AR (Required Navigation Performance - Authorization The RNP monitoring tool is not just doing the required
Required) operation is a specific type of RNP operation, monitoring. Two specific modules are included:
mostly used for approaches. This type of navigation allows
RNP 3D-viewer - an optimized aircraft trajectory explorer,
an aircraft to fly a calculated path between two 3D-defined
ensuring quick and easy identification of path deviations.
points in space (waypoints) and optimizes the airspace
This function is dedicated to display flights loaded from
and trajectories. It therefore contributes to the reduction
a report session to follow their tracks around landing and
of emissions and fuel consumption. For such operations,
take-offs, according to the environment data.
airlines are required to implement an RNP monitoring
programme in order to obtain authorization from the authorities RNP report viewer - facilitating document creation for
(monitoring reports must be sent regularly). mandatory reporting to the aviation authorities.
This function is dedicated to reporting and displaying statistic
Developed by Airbus, the new RNP monitoring tool offers
reports on RNP approaches. Flights can be selected to be
new functions for RNP AR monitoring and reporting, thanks
replayed in the RNP 3D-viewer module.
to a specific event reporting system and an aircraft
trajectory viewer.  Such features guide the user through the knowledge required
for RNP AR monitoring in an efficient way.
Directly plugged to a compliant Flight Data Analysis (FDA)
software (AirFASE), the RNP monitoring tool takes advantage This innovative functionality will help our customers monitor
of an event-based design and processing system to manage RNP AR paths faster, more precisely and with lower resources.
specific tasks such as:
• Statistic computation and reporting: total of RNP AR
procedures conducted, with a number of satisfactory
and non-satisfactory ones (root causes are identified).
• Present RNP AR flights and events in a convenient format Anthony GONTIER
for flight analysis, with 3D terrain and procedure waypoints [email protected]
to better assess risks.
 The Link - October 2014 15

TRAINING & FLIGHT OPERATIONS

RNP 3D-viewer

RNP report viewer example

L1.00
Max. Lateral Deviation (Nm)

0.00

R1.00
Initial Inter- Final Total: 14 procedures
Approach mediate Approach
Fix Fix Fix
Satisfactory: 13
(IAF) (IF) (FAF) Unsatisfactory: 1
16 The Link - October 2014

TRAINING & FLIGHT OPERATIONS

Key Account
Managers “We will take
A new team dedicated to serving your training
the lead and
needs regionally proactively seek
Making the change from Fulfil Customer Order (FCO) to Key Account Manager (KAM)
is a concrete example of the change of strategy within Airbus Training. With this new
out ways to
approach, “Training by Airbus” was developed to help deliver objectives to better
serve the airlines: provide our
• By having a presence close to our customers worldwide,
• By providing innovative and top-quality solutions,
customer with
• By providing a broad range of reduced cost-effective training services
for our customers.
the training they
A commercial team has been created to fulfil the customers’ needs and acts as
the focal point of contact for our customers, to help the airlines put it into practice.
need”.
Now, each customer has one KAM – this way, the KAM can develop an in-depth
relationship with each customer, analyse their business needs, their goals and their
strategy. Over time, this close collaboration will contribute to the development of
strong and effective business relationships with our customers, providing them Eleonora ASCOLESE
with training services that match their needs and expectations. [email protected]

Airbus Training Centre Toulouse

Flight and Performance Leasing Flight specialized courses
Ghislaine SANCHEZ-MARTIN Jeremy KEEDWELL Gérald ESQUIROL
Internal Training and Suppliers MRO VIP/Corporate Jet
Evelyne FERRANDO Arnaud DE-GEUSER Béatrice CAMPGUILHEM Airbus Training
Centre Beijing
Europe Kelly XU
Na LIU
North America Marco ARJOL
Bill RIVENBACK Irina KROUJKOV
Sylvie TREPOUT
Airbus Training
Centre Miami Africa,
Capt. Brad LAMBERT Central America Middle East
Asia & Pacific
& Caribbean & South Asia
Emmanuel LEMAIRE
Chiara MARTINEZ Zied BEN-AOUN
Audrey ROUX
David SOULIE
Thierry TIN-HIN
Andrew WILKINSON
South America
Yvonne BARRETT Airbus Training
Centre India
Malvika-Kiran SHINDE
 The Link - October 2014 17

AirbusWorld Four essential

IT projects

highlights achieve major

milestones

As part of Airbus’ efforts towards excellence in support,

four major IT projects have been launched to radically improve
exchanges with customers directly through AirbusWorld.

The main objectives are to improve access to information while adapting to customers’
expectations, Airbus fleet evolution (e.g. growth) and latest IT technologies (e.g. mobility).
Here are the topics:

• New WISE (World In-Service Experience) application simplifies the way Airbus
publishes information on in-service experience

• TechRequest standardizes the way customers send all technical requests

• ISDS project has delivered a simple and efficient application for reporting
in-service data

• The new AirbusWorld design will improve customers’ access to information

All projects have now reached major achievements Christophe COUREAU

as detailed on the following pages. [email protected]
18 The Link - October 2014

The new WISE TechRequest

application deployment
is online planned during
last quarter 2014
WISE (World In-Service Experience)
offers simple and direct access
to technical articles for operators TechRequest is a new online collaborative
and suppliers. application to manage technical queries.
It provides answers to frequently asked questions on
The first deployment phase in Q4 2014 will
general subjects, and a status on the resolution of on-going cover the ‘Engineering support’ domain.
in-service problems.

The new WISE was opened to all customers and suppliers Available 24/7 through AirbusWorld, TechRequest offers an
on 28 July 2014, improving document content and access. end-to-end solution allowing the submission, follow-up and
closure of technical queries. It is tailored to handle urgent as
• You can now easily and rapidly find in-service information well as routine queries through an intuitive and efficient
in only two types of documents: The new Technical interface, supported by real-time shared information.
Follow-Up and In-Service Information (ISI) articles. The second deployment phase will continue in 2015 with
• Former documents (previous TFU model, Service Flight Operations and Tech Data domains amongst others.
Information Letters (SIL), Modification Operational Impact The initial feedback received from early adopters is very
(MOI), prior WISE articles, etc.) have been reformatted encouraging, highlighting a “hands-on tool greatly simplifying
to gather all required information on one specific subject daily exchanges with Airbus Customer Services”.
into one single TFU or ISI document.

• The search engine has also been improved to rapidly

and efficiently retrieve documents.

Airbus Customer Services is also committed to enforce

EASA’s “Instruction for Continued Airworthiness” policy
by ensuring a clear segregation between “instructions”
(documents enabling operators to perform an action
on their aircraft) and “information” (documents helping
customers to support and improve operations of their
aircraft).

For more information please consult “Next generation WISE

overview” in AirbusWorld.

Gilbert GORETTA Fabien FETZMANN

[email protected] [email protected]
 The Link - October 2014 19

AIRBUSWORLD

ISDS*: AirbusWorld will

Sharing data bring a new digital
to improve fleet experience
performance
*In Service Data Sharing In a continuous strive towards excellence,
the AirbusWorld portal is being
co-built with pilot customers
to ensure optimum satisfaction.
The new Data Loading Interface (DLI)
The newly designed portal will offer innovative functionalities
application enables the upload of to ensure quick and easy access to information for our users.
in-service data through AirbusWorld. Its features will include:
• “Cockpits” aggregating information for specific users/roles
It contributes to saving customers’
• An application store
time and more accurate fleet
• A customizable user interface
performance measurement.
• Mobile platform compatibility

At the end of August, 40 operators were using DLI to report The possibility to predefine a user context (by airline, aircraft
in-service data (aircraft and component reliability, logbooks type, MSN, ATA chapter, etc.) will automatically optimize the
and scheduled maintenance findings). display of the related data.

The upcoming release planned during Q4 this year will: This new AirbusWorld portal will be opened to all customers in
Q2 2015.
• Extend the scope to additional reports
(post flight reports, Service Bulletin reports,
electronic warranty claims and suppliers’
shop findings)

• Include an automatic data exchange with AIRMAN-web

• Deploy DLI within Airbus Supply

• Introduce a new flexible concept for data uploading.

Next step: A fully automatic solution (called “Machine to

Machine” connection) is now ready for two MIS
(Maintenance Information Systems) and this will further
decrease workload for operators. The first pilot operator
will be using it by December 2014.

James MAYBERRY David PIVETTA

[email protected] [email protected]
20 The Link - October 2014

Training by Airbus
Reaching new horizons together

Your one-stop shop for training

FLIGHT FLIGHT OPERATIONS
CABIN MAINTENANCE
STRUCTURE

Let’s shape your talents

WHERE, WHEN AND HOW YOU WANT IT