While the big airlines and aircraft manufacturers are pursuing BlockChain technology applications, it is general aviation that has the most to benefit from exploiting BlockChain to cut costs and improve the reliability of information (and thus value) of small aircraft. BlockChain can prove that a plane was properly maintained, with legitimate parts, by certified A&P mechanics, enabling both safer operations now and higher resale price later. FBOs can attach service documents, flight hours and routes can be automatically logged in to an aircraft’s record on the BlockChain, pilots can log flights and certifications.
BLOCKCHAIN IS SECURE. Unlike traditional databases that can be hacked, BlockChain data is very secure and shared on a peer-to-peer computer network—not in one central database. Large companies like Airbus and Walmart are already using BlockChain today to avoid counterfeit goods, enable faster identification and recall of products, and cut supply chain expenses. BlockChain enables aircraft business partners to securely share reliable, unhackable data. Aircraft maintenance data today is largely paper based and even if scanned, is isolated in IT systems and databases of multiple parties. By uploading it to the BlockChain, with credentials of the A&P mechanic and repair shop verified and logged, all the data on the aircraft reliably and securely attached to the aircraft “digital asset” on a BlockChain, “predictive maintenance” analysis can detect and alert on problems before they occur. Was the plane really hangered at its home field in a dry region, not on an outside ramp in a damp area? FBOs registered to use Aircraft BlockChain can report this data. With reliable flight hours logged onto the BlockChain, insurance and financing companies can track proper usage as well as maintenance with more confidence. Knowing that an aircraft has been and is now being maintained to high standards, using only verified authentic parts from qualified A&P mechanics, with reliable flight history data, buyers can have more confidence that the data is legitimate, not altered when the aircraft is readied for sale, yielding a higher sales price for the plane.
Benefits
- Avoid counterfeit parts
- Reliable, hack-proof record of maintenance work, A&P credentials
- Log hours (automated via ADS-B and other systems) with plane showing locations, not just hours
- Prove the aircraft was hangered in arid state, flown at least monthly, not sitting out on the ramp in Florida for a year
- Complete and reliable, hack-proof date for used aircraft sale - generating more sales, higher price
- Digital identity to verify qualified A&P, PIC certifications, FBOs (rated by pilots)
- Cryptocurrency loyalty rewards token (tradable with other participating loyalty rewards programs)