Bridgestone and Japan Airlines Expand Cooperation
Japan Airlines (JAL) and the Bridgestone Corporation have announced that they will be utilizing tire wear prediction technology to schedule tire replacements on large aircraft, including the Airbus A350-900, which will be operated starting May 2024.
"During takeoff and landing, aircraft tires are subjected to high loads at high speeds over a wide range of temperatures, and after several hundred flights, they need to be replaced. However, the rate of wear varies depending on factors such as the characteristics of the aircraft, airports, and so on. For this reason, it is difficult to predict when tire replacement is necessary, which is why sometimes tires need to be replaced urgently or in large quantities at one location," notes Bridgestone. "For this reason, in May 2020, we began planning tire replacements on regional aircraft operated by JAL, using both flight data and our tire wear prediction technology."
Bridgestone adds that over the past four years, they have been able to improve the efficiency of JAL's tire management, reduce the company's tire and wheel inventory, and also reduce CO2 emissions during tire production and operation. In addition, predictive maintenance helps reduce the time spent on unplanned overtime work by mechanics and overall increases the efficiency of airport operations.
"In 2024, using the knowledge accumulated by our companies, we will continue to develop tire wear prediction technology and expand its application area," says Bridgestone. "And now, scheduled tire replacement using this methodology will be performed on both regional and larger aircraft."
According to Ryota Tamura, JAL's Senior Vice President in charge of aircraft maintenance, "although this initiative may seem simple, it is actually a complex task, and this project is a great example of our company's digital transformation." "We would like to thank Bridgestone for their significant contribution to improving the efficiency and safety of our operations, and we hope to continue our cooperation and development of technologies for aviation," he added.
Nobuyuki Tamura, the head of Bridgestone's division offering solutions for the mining and construction industries, industry, and aviation, noted that "we are very pleased to contribute to the growth of productivity in tire replacement operations using our digital technologies and knowledge gained from airport workers."