Kenya Airways Renews AHM Agreement Covering 787 Fleet

DUBAI—Kenya Airways and Boeing have reached a five-year extension of an Airplane Health Management (AHM) agreement, in continued support of its 787-8 fleet.

The flag carrier operates nine of the type with six currently in-service, according to the Aviation Week Network Fleet Discovery database. Its decision to renew the contract is part of a broader push for enhanced efficiencies.

“In the next few years, we are looking for predictability,” explains COO George Kamal. “We are looking to predict and to analyze every fault. We are looking for highest level of safety. We are looking for passenger excellence—and a lot of those elements come with turnaround time of the aircraft, and the aircraft downtime.”

Boeing’s AHM solution offers a suite of analytics and predictive maintenance tools for real-time alerts. While an aircraft is still en route, inflight faults are communicated to the ground and diagnosed.

With renewal of its AHM, the carrier is targeting a 13% to 18% reduction in aircraft downtime.

“These alerts help maintenance teams make faster, smarter decisions by predicting potential issues before they arise,” says Crystal Remfert, senior director of digital services for Boeing Global Services. “By staging the right people, the right parts, the right equipment, it becomes possible to schedule what would have been unscheduled.”

Kamal expects the solution will help Kenya Airways achieve significant cost savings, avoiding unnecessary downtime through fewer unscheduled maintenance delays on its 787 fleet.

“Five minutes' delay almost costs about $100 per minute,” explains Kamal. “With five minutes' delay and 300 departures per day, do the math: [That is] $150,000 per day.”