In 2022, Azul Airlines topped the charts as the world’s most punctual airline with nearly 89% of arrivals on schedule, as reported by Cirium, an aviation sector data analyst. The airline credits this achievement largely to its investment in technology, including a partnership with Brazilian startup WeSafer – the digital arm of Avantia, specializing in advanced technology solutions for process monitoring and security.
As our media partner AEROIN reports, WeSafer implemented the WeSafer On-Time Performance solution, an innovative, exclusive technology that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify actual times and movements through computer vision, trained with over 50,000 images. The technology, in use since September 2022, has helped Azul tackle its core challenges to improve procedures, enhance performance, and minimize ground delays.
Azul reports significant improvements, with over 200,000 events recorded around parked aircraft and more than 15,000 turnaround time (TAT) operations. The solution, integrating special cameras, networking equipment, AI algorithms, and cloud solutions, has digitalized Azul’s flight ramp operations, reducing flight turnaround time cycles.
Real-Time Performance and Remote Monitoring
The WeSafer On-Time Performance has achieved a peak of 100% registered events and maintains an average above 96%, an excellent accomplishment for AI algorithms. All events are relayed in real-time via API to Azul’s Operational Control Center, enabling remote monitoring without human intervention.
According to Mauro de Lucca, Business Development Director at WeSafer, the collaboration between airlines and ground service providers is key to meeting time recovery goals for aircraft in airport terminals. “Procedures in the aircraft parking area are constantly changed by technological advances, while time measurements are still largely unknown to many sector companies,” says the director.
Automated Data Collection and Analysis
The teams from Azul’s Performance Control and IT and WeSafer, collaborated to offer a range of AI technologies and initiatives that automated the collection of indicators and metrics. Consequently, video images were transformed into useful, intelligent data.
Gate allocation, refueling, cleaning, and catering are just some of the processes involved in an airplane’s turnaround. Using video recording intelligence software, WeSafer’s algorithms identify and analyze each ‘frame’ of these times and movements. The real-time status is reported through the interface, while the technology generates historical data for analysis. The system-generated evidence is available for Azul’s Operational Control Center (CCO) and the airport.
According to Daniel Tkacz, VP of Operations at Azul, the collected information enables more precise, near-real-time analysis, even from hundreds or thousands of kilometers away. “Now we can act more quickly instead of having to wait minutes to find out if a procedure has not been executed. These minutes reflect considerable daily financial losses,” he says.
