Korean low-cost airline Jeju Air and LG Corporation’s IT services subsidiary LG CNS have partnered to explore blockchain-based solutions in the aviation industry. The first project will address aircraft maintenance.
Ensuring that all parts in a commercial aircraft are working and properly installed is no minor issue. The aircraft industry heavily relies on reselling and reusing aircraft parts. Checking their maintenance history and quality is not the easiest of tasks, and the process is subject to fraud with counterfeits regularly popping up. With all the air travel industry has been through due to Covid-19, the last thing needed are accidents due to dubious parts installed on aircraft.
Blockchain-based solutions can track the history and usage of aircraft parts and provide an additional layer of trust about the reliability and safety of the installed parts. Like most blockchain solutions, the value of the initiative still relies on properly auditing the information put on the blockchain.
This will not be the first blockchain project for the traceability of aircraft parts. One of the first was Honeywell, a major reseller of used parts. SITA, a technology company jointly owned by the airline industry, launched a solution last year to track parts movement and maintenance history.
One of the purposes of blockchain use in commercial aircraft parts tracking is to make the checking process more time efficient and less costly. Consulting firm PwC estimates the technology has the potential to reduce maintenance costs in the industry by 5%, which is equivalent to $3.5 billion.
Besides commercial implementations, government organizations are also involved with blockchain solutions for aircraft parts. The U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy have a partnership with SIMBA Chain for projects in the same area. The Air Force also used SIMBA’s blockchain solution for parts built using 3D printing.
Meanwhile, blockchain startup Authenticiti partnered with Capgemini to provide blockchain parts audit trails to government aircraft parts contractors.