Graham Warwick/ATLANTA
BOEING HAS MOVED to resolve a growing dispute, between avionics suppliers and simulator manufacturers, over the data required, to simulate aircraft systems. The manufacturer says that it was forced to intervene by the volume of complaints received from suppliers and airlines.
Tom Goldade, avionics and flight systems procurement manager, for Boeing Commercial Airplane Group's material division, says that the problem arose because of the dramatic increase in the amount of software used in airliners. The Boeing 777, for example, has 5 million lines of code, compared with 400,000 in the 747-400, he says.
Because of the increasing cost of avionics, simulator manufacturers are electing to simulate aircraft systems rather than buying the actual hardware. The result is a loss of revenue to avionics companies, which previously sold hardware to simulator manufacturers at the higher price charged for aircraft spares, Goldade says.
Simulator manufacturers, meanwhile, are pressing Boeing to supply the data needed to simulate the avionics "free of charge", he says, under agreements which require the company to supply its airline customers with complete aircraft data. Avionics suppliers are opposed to the free transfer of proprietary data provided to Boeing.
Pressure is being applied to Boeing, through the airlines, when simulator manufacturers pass their data costs on to the carriers, which then complain to Boeing, explains Goldade.
The company has held a series of meetings with avionics and simulator manufacturers, at which an agreement on how to proceed was signed, Goldade says. Boeing will act as an arbitrator he adds, as the parties work to resolve their differences.
Boeing, meanwhile, plans to decide on a long-term solution to the problem by early November. This could involve setting prices for software packages, so that airlines know from the outset, the cost of the data required to build a simulator Goldade says.
Source: Flight International
