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An aviation industry software company focused on digitizing aircraft fueling operations is expanding its work with airlines to connect that data to electronic tech logs. The aim is to provide real-time visibility into ground operations and improve aircraft turnaround times.
Formed in 2015, i6 has built a digital platform that connects all parts of the fuel management cycle, allowing airlines to digitally track fuel inventory, manage contracts with fuel suppliers, enable communication between pilots and fueling teams, calculate optimal fuel amounts, and collect and analyze data about fueling operations.
“Fuel is a large proportion of every airline’s bottom line—something in the region of 35%—so everybody’s keen to know how much they’ve got and where it is,” i6 Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer Alex Mattos says. “What we’re trying to do is connect the refinery to the wingtip, all the way through the chain, to make sure everybody knows where it all is.”
Mattos says one of the key benefits of i6’s software is enabling paperless fueling operations, which provides real-time visibility that can help airlines make decisions about fuel supply, catch errors and connect systems to allow better agility. “Airlines can make decisions on their fueling later because we connect digitally from an airline’s systems to the fueling systems, so we can see, ‘I’ve made a change.
The weather’s bad, or there’s more cargo, or this is a holiday plane so everyone’s got all their luggage,’ and we can change our fuel loads much quicker,” he says.
Carriers such as British Airways, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic are already using i6 software to manage fueling operations digitally, and Mattos says the technology has helped to improve turnaround times, minimize fuel costs, reduce paperwork errors and provide greater visibility.
Mattos says i6 is now examining how its technology could be further applied to provide efficiencies in maintenance, too. “Fuel is part of maintenance records,” he says. For instance, he points out that airlines use fueling in ground testing, and fuel records and aircraft technical records interact when pilots determine how much fuel they want for a flight.
I6’s software already integrates with electronic flight bags to exchange data about flight schedules and fuel loads, and Mattos says carriers such as Virgin are now working with the company to integrate their engineering technical logs with the software so maintenance staff can pull up digital records about fuel, such as provider, amount, type, density, temperature and more.
He adds that the software’s digital footprint may also prove appealing as more airlines convert to sustainable aviation fuel, since it can track quality control, blending ratios and other crucial fueling factors.
I6 is also expanding its airline customers and its partnerships to more locations. Mattos says i6 is currently conducting a network trial with Aer Lingus and, as Delta’s international digital fueling partner, the company hopes to grow its work with the airline to additional locations such as the Caribbean. He also notes that as British Airways expands its presence in the U.S., the carrier is “very interested in how we can take what we have done at Heathrow and their European network and support them in the U.S. in the same way we work with a number of other airlines.”
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