Volocopter Plans to Integrate Swiss MRO Software

Swiss Aviation Software and Volocopter cosigned a landmark multi-year contract for maintenance operations software (AMOS from Swiss AS. AMOS will be used to manage Volocopter’s electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft fleet worldwide. Seamless software integration will ensure continued fleet airworthiness, offer aircraft reliability monitoring and analysis, and act as an interface to Volocopter’s proprietary digital operating system, the VoloIQ. This is the first time Swiss-AS is collaborating in an urban air mobility setting, a key development as Volocopter prepares for entry into service in 2024.  

Volocopter is set to receive type certification in 2024 for its VoloCity, a 2-seater electric air taxi built for city use. The company will be the first to launch commercial services in Europe that meet the same very high safety standards commercial airliners must satisfy. Besides product certification, a successful industry launch and future operations scale-up require a solid UAM ecosystem. Plus, eVTOL fleets in global megacities will need to deliver fast turnaround times to maximize vertiport and airport space and provide an efficient customer service. 

AMOS excels at managing vehicle configuration traceability throughout its life cycle, a critical aspect of proper aircraft fleet maintenance. Further such aspects include component design/purchase dates, installation/replacement dates, and total operating hours. AMOS will also monitor ground handling operations, deploy the relevant tools, and manage ground staff assignments. Ground technicians will use AMOSmobile/EXEC, a touch-optimized mobile maintenance solution for “live” data streams. Further, artificial intelligence (AI) will enable reliability monitoring to improve fleet management efficiency. 

Meanwhile, Volocopter’s VoloIQ backbone will monitor customer-facing services like the booking process, as well as aircraft location and status, and battery health. Interlinking Volocopter’s air- and ground-side operations will create a fast, transparent, and safe fleet management system to support eVTOL operations scaling.

Why it’s important: The partnership with Swiss AS’ AMOS software will further eVTOL health monitoring and help to streamline operations and prognostic care of aerial mobility fleets, as the aviation industry at large is attempting to move past diagnostic to incorporate more data analysis and insights to manage potential maintenance and system malfunctions prior to occurrence. AMOS will help with this transition, and Volocopter is likely making their integration task easier by partnering early.