On Wednesday, British Airline EasyJet said they plan to install a system of drones to help engineers with the inspection and assessment of the company’s fleet of Airbus A319 and A320 planes. EasyJet demoed the techology at its Luton headquarters on Wednesday, saying the drones will cut down inspection time from a full day to only a couple of hours.
The airline is working with Coptercraft, a UK- based shop that builds customized drones from the frameworks of Droidworx, Freefly and DJI frames. The drones will be directed to scan the fuselage so that engineers can identify any additional inspection requirements.
EasyJet chief executive Carolyn McCall said: “We have examined and assessed cutting edge technology across many different industries and are now applying a range of new technologies to the aviation sector for the first time to help us run our fleet of aircraft more effectively, efficiently and safely.”
The drones are currently being developed with a formal trial set for this summer and commercial deployment in 2015.