Southwest Airlines takes off with IFS

Southwest Airlines has deployed IFS as its enterprise maintenance management standard to optimize operational performance by safeguarding aircraft reliability and availability.

IFS is now live across the airline’s total fleet of almost 730 aircraft, including the Boeings 737-700, 737-800 and 737 MAX 8. Servicing over 100 destinations, Southwest is the largest domestic carrier by enplanements in the US.

The airline has undertaken the initiative to replace multiple legacy maintenance and compliance systems to harmonize mission critical processes into a single IFS solution. This solution will allow the company to stay true and focused on its principles of quality and compliance while further modernizing its processes.

IFS will provide Southwest maintenance personnel the information needed to streamline configuration control and compliance management processes, while additional insights delivered by the solution will drive an efficient process, enabling a mobile user experience. The digitization of process is also positively impacting compliance by providing real-time validation at the point of maintenance.

Southwest becomes the latest airline to deploy IFS, alongside Air France-KLM Group, China Airlines, LATAM Airlines, Qantas, and more.

Scott Helmer, IFS president of aerospace and defence, said: “Southwest is an innovator among the world’s airlines and this milestone achievement speaks to the company’s ambition and commitment to excellence. Throughout this project, IFS has demonstrated an ability to handle the scale and volumetrics of the world’s largest airlines and was subjected to load testing that simulated a fleet of 1,000 aircraft. I am delighted that again IFS commitment to this industry is acknowledged with Southwest’s choice; it is now well positioned to continue its industry leadership delivering world-class moments of services for its customers.”

Landon Nitschke, Southwest Airlines senior vice president, said: “IFS gives us the peace of mind and control we need to not only maximize the airtime of our fleet but deliver what is important to our customers – on-time flights and a great travel experience. The value of IFS does not stop at aircraft maintenance – the solution’s open architecture means we have embedded it and made it an integral component of our enterprise-wide IT ecosystem. With careful planning and preparation, we are proud to have successfully undertaken the largest single MRO system migration in the history of our industry.”