At the end of 2022 low-cost carrier Jazeera Airways became the first airline in Kuwait to ditch paper pilot logbooks and move completely to electronic technical logs (ETLs) in the cockpits of its 19 Airbus A320s. Now, the airline is seeing benefits in efficiency, safety and sustainability.
“With its implementation, we've seen minimal human errors and faster—and, more importantly, accurate—data processing rates, thereby improving the overall reliability of our fleet,” says Raghed Al Kaasamani, vice president of engineering at Jazeera Airways.
Jazeera chose Conduce’s eTechLog8 as its ETL software, in part due to both companies’ goal of totally digitizing airline data processes. Conduce’s solution can “provide integrated workflows across all of Jazeera's maintenance and operations systems,” Al Kaasamani says.
Jazeera started implementation in May 2022 and began testing the ETL in parallel with paper logs in late September. The airline gained regulatory approval to shift entirely to the paperless eTechLog8 in the first week of December.
After choosing eTechLog8, Jazeera and Conduce staff met to discuss configuration. The companies agreed on system configuration and setup, and drafted training materials. The airline then presented its implementation plan to Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation and asked to begin parallel flight trials on its entire fleet of A320s, which includes both A320ceos and A320neos. A few months later, the companies presented trial results to the regulatory agency, which issued a letter of no objection.
Jazeera created in-house computer-based materials to train pilots on the use of eTechLog8. Pilots were also given a hands-on training session with the software. “The entire process was carried out within a span of two months,” Al Kaasamani says. He also notes that pilot acceptance of the system has been very quick.
One of the biggest challenges Jazeera faced during implementation was getting its maintenance technicians to record data both in the ETL software and on paper logs during the parallel trial of both systems. This challenge occurred largely because data entry had to be done during turnarounds, and the airline’s turnaround times at gates is very brief. Now that all data is contained only in the ETL, this difficulty has ceased.
Al Kaasamani is very happy with the shift away from paper. “The ETL exists as a simple way of interacting between the maintenance organization and the pilot, thereby minimizing turnaround time,” he says.
Conduce’s eTechLog8 records Out, Off, On and In times at gates and on runways, tracks deferred items integrated with the minimum equipment list and allows pilots to look at the history of what has recently been resolved and fixed on the aircraft, all in real-time. In paper-based systems, pilots must wait until they are at the aircraft before seeing what deferrals are associated with the flight.
“There are also benefits that extend into aircraft safety,” Al Kaasamani says. “With an electronic logbook inputting data in real-time, compliance discrepancies can be caught immediately, preventing the release of an aircraft in a non-compliant state.”
Furthermore, Al Kaasamani says there has been a steady shift toward sustainability in aviation, and many airlines are now replacing traditional paper-based methods with more efficient digital solutions.
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