Smoother Flights When AI Runs the Show - Industries Blog

Korean Air's fleet of 139 passenger planes carries millions of passengers across the globe every year. Ensuring each plane is safe and well-maintained is a priority. When Korean Air addressed line maintenance issues with its fleet, its team of 2,000-plus maintenance employees has historically had to pore over troves of maintenance records to find crucial data on everything from how to fix an important plane part to a plane's maintenance history. "Maintenance issues represent a substantial cost to an airline--to the tune of 28 percent of the total operating cost," said Rob Ranieri, Vice President and Partner, Global Industry Offering Leader, Travel and Transportation at IBM. To remedy this tedious and costly practice, Korean Air recently enlisted IBM Watson Explorer to compile and analyze data from various sources, including technician notes, material cost data and in-flight incident history.