IBM has announced that the Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group selected MobileFirst for iOS apps to provide a “seamless experience” across flight operations processes. With apps, Fly Now and Roster for iPad, pilots will be equipped with relevant information and flight-related updates.
The use of the apps are expected to enhance pilot productivity by digitizing manual processes related to airline operations and regulations, according to Captain Quay Chew Eng, SIA’s senior vice president of Flight Operations. These mandatory processes are critical aspects of flight readiness from pre-flight right through post-flight operations, he adds.
From mid-June this year, SIA pilots will have access to these two new iOS apps, as part of a suite of apps installed on company-issued iPads. A cross-geography team from IBM iX, one of the world’s largest digital agencies, has been working closely with Singapore Airlines’ pilots to design apps that enhance operational pre-flight processes. These include:
Fly Now provides a single, real-time location for flight-related information and actions such as the flight plan, pilot check-in, information related to a specific aircraft, collaboration with other crew members, access to technical and operational circulars and historical reports. This app enables pilots to rely less on multiple systems in order to retrieve flight information and cut down on paperwork.
Roster gives a 60-day view of flights assigned to a pilot, as well as an alert-based tracking of the pilot’s upcoming expirations for visas, passports and other flying certifications.
In July 2014 Apple and IBM announced an exclusive partnership designed to transform enterprise mobility through a new class of business apps — bringing IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities to the iPhone and iPad. IBM MobileFirst for iOS solutions will be built in an exclusive collaboration: IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities, with the power of more than 100,000 IBM industry and domain consultants and software developers behind it, fused with Apple’s consumer experience, hardware and software integration and developer platform.
