Avionics and software-as-a-service specialist Flyht Aerospace marked two milestones in recent days, unveiling a launch customer for its newest avionics platform and announcing initial installations of a different device on China Express Comac ARJ21s as part of supplemental type certification (STC) efforts.
Aspiring Bermuda-based start-up Coral Jet is the first announced customer for Flyht’s Automated Flight Information Reporting System (AFIRS) Edge third-generation avionics platform. The airline, which committed to using Flyht products back in March, plans to operate an all-Airbus A320-family fleet on Caribbean, U.S. and Canadian routes and is going through its certification process with the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority.
Edge gives operators several capabilities in one box. It is an aircraft interface device that supplies data to electronic flight bag applications and a wireless quick access recorder. It also is 3G/4G/5G cellular and Iridium Certus capable and can run third-party software.
Coral Jet plans to run some of the services Flyht has developed as part of its Actionable Intelligence software suite. Among them: fuel management and engine performance monitoring. Director of Flight Operations Wes Gardner cites his experience with Flyht’s services at a previous employer as a catalyst for Coral Jet’s commitment.
“The engine exceedances, for example ... it literally saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars because we had the ability to see a deterioration of an engine that was not yet at the manufacturer’s limits to investigate,” Gardner said on a late April podcast hosted by Flyht. “We had set our triggers a little bit higher than the manufacturer’s triggers, and it allowed us to look into the engine. We determined that there was a deterioration of a part, a component, and we were able to mitigate that, change it out and continue flying the engine.”
Flyht plans to wrap up the STC process on the A320ceo and Boeing 737NG families “this year,” said President Kent Jacobs. “Completing these two STCs this year will allow us to meet the demand we are seeing in the marketplace,” Jacobs said. “We see this as a significant step forward in the rollout of this product.”
Meanwhile, Flyht has completed installation and testing of its second-generation AFIRS 228S units on 20 China Express ARJ21s and expects the aircraft to be flying with the new boxes soon. Flyht and China Express in September 2020 announced a deal to have the units installed on 20 China Express ARJ21s during production. The airline has AFIRS boxes on its A320 and Bombardier/MHI CRJ fleets. Flyht is working with Chinese regulators on STCs for more installations.
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