Servicing airport equipment and infrastructure around the world in 2020 met seemingly insurmountable pandemic-induced challenges. The airline industry was deemed essential, but travelers were encouraged not to fly, countries were closing borders, workers were out sick or quarantining, and there was a lack of raw materials. These factors provided significant challenges for the many companies involved in maintaining safe air transportation and operations.
Leonardo's Air Traffic Management division is a leading developer of en route navigation, precision, approach and landing and surveillance systems to military and civil aviation customers globally. ANSPs, airports and militaries in more than 110 countries have chosen Leonardo's equipment to keep air travelers safe. During the Covid-19 crisis Leonardo needed to find a way to help customers keep equipment running to ensure safety and to avoid adding to the economic pressures despite the dramatic travel restrictions.
Renowned for its industry-leading customer support and certified customer service team, Leonardo developed a method for supporting their customers as COVD-19 and associated travel restrictions began to impact the industry severely. “In early 2020, it was clear we had to find a way to troubleshoot and repair equipment remotely,” said Terry Thomas, vice president of Programs at Leonardo, “the search was on for technologies that could help us.”
How do you take care of your customers amidst government-imposed travel restrictions and country shutdowns? When your field technicians can't reach equipment sites, how do they repair the critical navigation and surveillance equipment and infrastructure you designed and installed for customers who depend on your expertise to keep them operating? Out-of-commission equipment would compound the revenue losses already affecting the industry, and Leonardo was determined to do all it could to keep equipment operating when onsite access to it was severely limited.
To overcome these hurdles, the company capitalized on a recent technology that was gaining popularity. Smart glasses became the foundation of a way for Leonardo to remotely analyze and resolve equipment issues, enabling staff to work effectively and efficiently with customers without actually visiting equipment sites. Leonardo's innovative solution is called NavBOSS Tech Support and Remote Maintenance (NavBOSS). NavBOSS facilitates wireless audio-visual communications with customers anywhere in the world. The system and its augmented reality tools allow Leonardo technicians at a remote service center to see the equipment at the customer's site and communicate with local technicians in real time to troubleshoot issues for the quickest possible resolution.
“Not long after we developed NavBOSS, it was instrumental in quickly resolving an issue encountered in North Dakota,” said Thomas. “There was a problem with a localizer and we resolved the situation within 24-hours.” The technician in North Dakota called Leonardo's customer service department for assistance. Once the smart glasses wirelessly connected to the service center, a Leonardo technician could see everything the onsite technician was viewing.
Together, they assessed the compromised equipment, working through a list of possible issues until they found the problem and fixed it. Without NavBOSS, that problem could have put the system out of service until a technician arrived at the site any number of days later. With industry resources at that time dwindling—money, staff, parts—Leonardo successfully solved a customer's issue quickly, within Covid safety protocols. For the customer, there was no waiting, no travel required, no downtime, and no loss of revenue due to equipment failure.
As it turns out, ICAO reports that 2020 experienced a 60% decline in total world passengers and airlines were blindsided by an approximate US$371 billion loss of gross passenger operating revenues. There are clear signs of recovery for the airline industry, though deficits continue currently. The goal now is to find the fastest route possible to pre-pandemic levels of air travel operations and revenues while still facing a diminished workforce, travel restrictions, and supply chain challenges. Leonardo's NavBOSS is a critical, cost-effective, and enduring component to solving these difficult challenges.