UHF RFID technology improve the management of emergency equipment on aircraft

According to recent news, Fiji Airlines has installed RFID system on more than 4000 emergency equipment, which can shorten the inspection time to a few minutes.

According to the relevant person in charge, the system can not only help inspectors improve speed and reduce errors, but also prevent flight delays caused by emergency equipment inspection. The solution attaches an RFID tag to the emergency equipment, and uses a hand-held card reader to query these devices, and carries out data analysis and management through the software provided by the service provider.

In the long run, Fiji Airlines intends to use this technology to achieve automatic inspection, while analyzing historical data.

Fiji Airlines, an international airline based in Nadi, flies mainly to 10 countries, including the United States. Traditionally, airline staff will check the status of emergency equipment on weekly and monthly stipulated leave.

Before installing the RFID system, it usually takes 90 minutes for small aircraft to inspect and 8 hours for large aircraft to inspect, which is very time-consuming and laborious.

Fiji Airlines began to understand RFID technology last year as part of its Air Management Supervisory System (AMOS) program. In mid year, the airline began to develop a solution with the relevant RFID solution service providers.

Fiji Airlines began testing the technology in January and spent a week training 60 employees. Most of these devices need to be marked withRFID tags.

It is reported that Fiji airlines use the UHF RFID tag. Single record and double record labels are used in the project. They all conform to the ATA Spec2000 Ch9-5 standard. All labels have a unique ID number and are associated with item information in the service provider software. Then use the correspondingUHF RFID handheldread and write device to readUHF RFID tags.

When the inspector works on an airplane, it can only be checked by opening the application on the card reader. The reader reads the RFID tag and then transfers the data to the system through the cellular network. If the system detects that the items are missing, expired or need to be repaired, the system will give reminders to the inspectors.

Up to now, the company has applied more than 4,000 labels to life rafts, oxygen cylinders, generators, extended seat belts, earmuffs, flashlights, fire extinguishers and life kits. These devices are used in the company's A330737, ATR and twin otter aircraft.

Follow up, Fiji air will use RFID technology to track the seat cover. Airlines will regularly clean the seat covers, and RFID technology will provide information on the cleaning and replacement of seat covers. It is reported that the goal of the system is to track the number of cleaning times and to confirm whether the seat cover is installed in the right place.

Fiji Airlines has adopted RFID technology to assist 15 aircraft in faster and more efficient emergency equipment inspection