GE Aerospace's flight data app rapidly expands user base
FILE PHOTO: Pilots are seen in the cockpit of an airplane as it sits on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy International Airport on the July 4th weekend in Queens, New York City, U.S., July 2, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
The number of commercial pilots using GE Aerospace's flight data monitoring app, FlightPulse, has expanded rapidly from 40,000 a year ago to more than 60,000, and the company expects to exceed 70,000 by year-end.
The app, the only one of its kind used commercially, allows pilots to evaluate their performances across various metrics compared to other pilots and learn to fly more efficiently and safely. Airlines pay an undisclosed fee per pilot to use it, and the app burnishes the engine-maker's reputation for safety and efficiency with its airline customers.
Qantas Captain Mark Cameron has been using FlightPulse to get accustomed to the Airbus A321, which he recently started flying after years in the much larger A330 twin-aisle jet.
It is easier to take off or land too steeply in the single-aisle A321, which could cause the jet's tail to hit the runway, he noted. "And so, FlightPulse tells me what my attitude was on every landing."
Qantas uses FlightPulse data from all of its pilots to make its flight operations more efficient and safer, said Cameron, who is also the executive manager of group safety for the Qantas Group, which includes seven airlines. "We drive a lot of our operational efficiency and provide data to our pilots through FlightPulse."
Since helping GE Aerospace launch the app in 2017, Qantas has used it to improve operational practices across the airline, such as recommending pilots use less reverse thrust to slow down after landing when safe to do so, adding up to fuel savings.
Each airline can only access its own data, said Andrew Coleman, who runs GE Aerospace’s Software as a Service division.
FlightPulse is used by 42 airlines, which range from 200 pilots to more than 15,000, and include Qantas, Delta Air Lines, and NetJets, a private business jet operator.
Coleman hopes to surpass 100,000 pilots as registered users in 2026.
Pilots have to know that the data will not be used punitively and only to improve performance, he said.
