Fiji Airlines will use RFID technology to help make faster and more efficient emergency equipment inspections within 15 aircraft possible. The company installed RFID systems on more than 4,000 emergency devices this year, reducing inspection time to minutes. Marco Andreacchio, senior project manager for RFID solutions at EAM, said the system not only helps inspectors increase speed and reduce errors, but also prevents flight delays caused by delays in emergency equipment inspections. The solution attaches labels to emergency equipment and uses handheld readers to query these devices for data analysis and management using EAM-supplied software. In the long run, airlines intend to use this technology to automate inspections while analyzing historical data. Fiji Airlines uses RFID technology to improve emergency equipment management Fiji Airlines is an international airline located in Nadi, flying to 10 countries, including the United States. The airline checks the status of emergency equipment weekly and monthly. Before the RFID system was installed, the inspection of a small aircraft took 90 minutes and the inspection of a large aircraft took 8 hours. Last year, Fiji Airlines began investigating RFID technology as part of its AMOS program. In mid-year, the airline began working with EAM Worldwide to develop a solution at EAM's Dubai office. EAM Worldwide has provided RFID life jackets for Fiji Airlines since 2009. In January of this year, the airline began piloting the technology and spent a week training 60 staff. Most devices need to be labeled with a tag. Fiji Airlines uses UHF RFID tags provided by William Frick and Co. to meet AS5678A specifications. Lifejacket tagging is done at the factory. The project uses single and dual recording labels, all of which comply with the ATA Spec2000 Ch9-5 standard. All labels have a unique ID number and are associated with item information in the EAM Worldwide TagControl software. TagControl uses named WebApp, DesktopApp, MobileApp to manage and share data on computers and mobile devices. Fiji Airlines uses Alien Technology's UHF RFID handheld readers to read the tags. When the inspector is working on the aircraft, he can simply check the TagControl application on the reader. The reader reads the tag ID via RFID and then transmits the data to the TagControl over the cellular network. If the system detects items lost, expired, or required for repair, the system will alert the inspector. To date, the company has applied more than 4,000 labels to life rafts, oxygen cylinders, generators, extended belts, earmuffs, flashlights, fire extinguishers and life jackets. These devices are used on the company's A330, 737, ATR and Twin Otter aircraft. Next, Fiji Airlines will use RFID technology to track seat covers. The airline regularly cleans seat covers and RFID technology will provide seat cover cleaning and replacement information. Andreacchio said: "The goal of the system is to track the number of washes and verify that the seat cover is in the right place. " Fiji Airlines is also confirming the possible use of tag labels for spare parts. In the long run, the company hopes suppliers will ship their own RFID tags before shipping. Andreakio said: "Refit labels have become the past, the future of RFID tags will be delivered with the product."