Built in-house by Emirates, Hub Monitor is being used by Emirates’ operational staff in Dubai to share and monitor real time information on the various activities that are carried out to prepare aircraft for departure. Through its monitoring and proactive alerting system, the application helps avoid delays and improve on-time performance, ultimately leading to a better passenger experience.
Adel Al Redha, Emirates executive vice president and chief operations officer, said, “The Hub Monitor application is a unique and innovative tool developed in line with our vision to continuously re-examine our processes and introduce smart and more efficient means to improve our operations resulting in a better passenger experience.
“Our operations team, in coordination with IT, has led the development of the hub monitoring system in a record time of five months, building on an existing solution that had already been developed by Emirates Engineering. The team examining the various functions of Hub Monitor in real time are working to roll out further modules and the next module will be implemented later this month.”
It currently takes about 105 minutes to turn around the Emirates A380 and approximately 90 minutes to prepare the Boeing 777 aircraft for departure at Emirates’ hub in Dubai.
There are a number of activities involved in the aircraft turnaround process. Some of these include a complete cleaning of aircraft interiors, water and toilet servicing, flight catering and loading meals for passengers, servicing the auxiliary power unit (APU), refueling the aircraft, maintenance checks, and loading luggage and cargo.
With Hub Monitor, cross-functional teams from departments including engineering, network control, airport services, flight operations and dnata operations keep track of the turnaround activities on a real-time basis.
The application also triggers alerts to operational staff when there is a delay or deviation to any above- or below-wing activity against a preset precision timing schedule (PTS). These pre-emptive alerts allow Emirates’ teams to identify and resolve the root cause of any potential delays.
Hub Monitor integrates data coming in from a number of internal platforms and real-time aircraft downlinks. It then provides the consolidated data through a single-view interface to relevant internal stakeholders. Hub Monitor is also mobile-enabled, meaning staff deployed on the aircraft, ramp and in other remote areas can also easily access the information.
The application provides information on all Emirates’ aircraft in Dubai, giving teams the ability to proactively recalibrate and plan their activities to minimize the impact of any unavoidable or unforeseen delays.