25 April 2020: NAVBLUE, Airbus' flight operations subsidiary has developed a new app which can provide an accurate interpretation of the performance variation for each Airbus aircraft, on an individual aircraft basis. The new software solution is called the Performance Factor Optimizer and is connected to Airbus' Skywise open data platform. It automatically computes the "delta specific range" (DSR) and the associated performance factors used in the Flight Management System (FMS) and the flight planning system, with an automatic aircraft performance database pairing.
However as the aircraft ages, the performance of the solution varies leading to slightly higher fuel consumption levels. It could be due to the degradation effects which impacts both engine and the airframe.
The Performance Factor Optimizer application automatically identifies and investigates the resulting DSR trends over time, allowing a more continuous and regular monitoring while reducing the operator workload. As a next step, using the power of additional aircraft data sources (QAR, DAR, SAR*) the app will enable an increased number of points to be analysed, resulting in better coverage of the flight phases for even greater accuracy.