Predictive maintenance

Heading off problems before they occur.

By Owen Davies
Contributing Writer

Business aircraft “live” on schedules, routine checks, major overhauls, and hot section inspections – and they take place like clockwork. Yet, unscheduled maintenance and inadequately rare aircraft on ground (AOG) incidents are expected parts of the professional pilot’s life. This is where predictive maintenance comes in.

A modern bizjet contains between 5000 and 10,000-plus sensors distributed through the airframe, engines, and avionics suites. If a part is likely to need work, technicians can recognize it and schedule maintenance when it is least inconvenient. This can cut aircraft downtime and avoid unwelcome excitement for pilots.

NBAA quotes a study in which predictive maintenance reduces unscheduled maintenance events by 35–40% and improves dispatch reliability from the expected 97.5% to 99.2%. What follows is a look at the predictive maintenance programs offered by business airframers and engine makers.

Business jets

Bombardier. The company’s Smart Link Plus system monitors roughly 2000 airframe parameters in real time on Global 5500 and 6500 aircraft. Global 7500 and Challenger 3500 aircraft are delivered with Smart Link Plus as standard equipment, while installations are being booked for many older models.

Smart Link Plus transmits data to the ground for real-time monitoring and diagnosis of problems. This lets the operator dispatch parts and, if necessary, technicians during the flight, minimizing the delay in returning the aircraft to service.

In 2025, Bombardier partnered with Rolls-Royce to integrate the turbine maker’s Engine Vibration and Health Monitoring Unit with Bombardier’s Smart Link Plus. The combination gives monitors some 10,000 engine health parameters in real time for the Pearl 15 engines in Global 5500 and 6500 aircraft.

Cessna. LinxUs monitors continuously flight data of Citation jets and SkyCourier turboprops with a flight data recorder. After landing, it downloads the data to a monitoring service. It can also use cellular or satellite networks to send data about faults and exceedances in flight.

Cessna does not analyze the data itself. Instead, operators must sign up with a third-party service. Options include Acron Aviation’s Flight Data Connect, ForeFlight’s Flight Data Analysis, GE Aerospace’s C-FOQA, and Safran’s Cassiopée Flight Data Monitoring services.

During in-flight events, these programs provide near-real-time information for pilots and maintenance techs to get necessary resources to the aircraft’s destination. Responses travel by e-mail, which can take up to 6 minutes to arrive.

Dassault Aviation. Predictive maintenance at Dassault Falcon is housed within an integrated platform known as 3DEXPERIENCE from Dassault Systèmes. From design and engineering to life-long maintenance and fleet support, if it happens to a Falcon or to the company’s Rafale fighters, it happens within 3DEXPERIENCE. Even suppliers and other corporate partners are tied into the system.

Dassault can diagnose – and sometimes fix – Falcon 6X and 10X issues in flight.

For predictive maintenance, Dassault’s core technology is FalconScan for 6X and 10X fleets.

It monitors more than 100,000 parameters for fault detection, troubleshooting, and trend monitoring. During a flight, FalconBroadcast sends the data to ground operators, who use the web-based Computer Assisted Troubleshooting System (CATS) to diagnose and, in some cases, correct malfunctions on the aircraft.

The process depends heavily on virtual twin aircraft and “big data” analytics.

Embraer. Aircraft Health Analysis and Diagnosis (AHEAD) is Embraer’s predictive maintenance program for business aircraft. It combines aircraft sensor data, maintenance and operating history, and environmental factors with analytics and AI-based algorithms. It monitors systems including engines, pneumatics, hydraulics, landing gear, navigation, and instruments, detecting anomalies and degradation patterns and forecasting when maintenance is likely to be needed.

AHEAD was developed from 20 years of experience with predictive maintenance for the company’s E-Jet airliners. Although the system is intended for bizjets, Virgin Australia plans to equip its E190-E2 fleet with the hardware it requires.

Foresight MX HUMS for Bell 429 monitors engine data and uses vibrations analysis to sense developing problems in the drive train and highlight MX needs.

Embraer highlights one little-mentioned benefit of predictive maintenance. By eliminating excess fuel burn caused by maintenance issues, it cuts CO2 emissions.

Gulfstream’s reliability and performance analytics program monitors some 15,000 parameters,  using data collected from across the Gulfstream fleet to forecast the parts and services aircraft will need. Hydraulic, pneumatic, environmental, and engine data are tracked to identify trends that could affect aircraft availability.

Combining this with operational insights and maintenance history, Gulfstream advisors optimize maintenance planning and help operators avoid unexpected service disruptions. Real-time performance reports also are available. Gulfstream says this approach to predictive maintenance improves scheduling, reliability, and convenience for its customers.

Helicopters

In the sling-wing world, no one monitors the airframe or environment or needs in-flight diagnostics and condition warnings for brief flights. Predictive functions after landing are an extension of the standard health & usage monitoring systems (HUMS) that track vibrations in moving parts, monitor rotor track and balance, and record stress cycles and exceedances during flight. Each manufacturer has its own package, but they all are variations on this theme.

Cassiopée FDM monitors flight data and gives operators a precise and accurate safety overview.

Many helicopter companies use Foresight MX by GPMS International.

It monitors the usual moving parts. An integrated flight data management system captures exceedances and tracks up to 33 parameters, including GPS heading, torque, pitch, roll, and yaw rates. 

Predictive algorithms warn when maintenance is required and project the remaining life of the part.

Airbus Helicopters. Smart Predictive Maintenance suite adds human analysis to the raw HUMS data. The company’s teams report abnormal events to the operator and recommend the appropriate maintenance work. Airbus personnel also contact the operator’s maintenance team periodically to point out anything they need to deal with before it can cause problems. Airbus also relies on the Foresight MX HUMS package to monitor rotor, engine, and component data.

Operators equipped with the GPMS package can enroll in the Airbus Flyscan service for better remote support and maintenance guidance. Airbus HUMS experts use the data for early recommendations for maintenance. Airbus says the packages can be adapted to different mission profiles and operator structures.

Bell is another GPMS International customer. It has relied on Foresight MX for predictive maintenance since the STC was approved in 2018. The system is now available for Bell 407, 429, 212, 412, and 505 aircraft.

When the Bell 525 reaches certification in Q4 2026, it will bring something new to the product line. The Integrated Vehicle Health Management System talks directly to the Garmin G5000H touchscreen flight deck. Pilots can view them on the multi-function display (MFD), and they are available for technicians on the ground.

Leonardo. Heliwise Services is Leonardo’s package of HUMS data collection and analysis systems. They combine diagnostic models like advanced anomaly detection and advance vibration data mining (AVDM) with data analysis to improve diagnostics and reduce analyst workload. HUMS services are accessible through the Leonardo customer portal.

Leonardo tailors offerings to the customer. For small operators, there is Heliwise full support. After a flight, the operator can upload HUMS data onto Leonardo’s secure server for routine analysis and anomaly detection.

Those with HUMS systems integrated with SkyTrack satcom can transfer data in flight to an HUMS team on the ground. Leonardo estimates this can save up to 40 man- hours of labor per helicopter per month. And for customers with in-house HUMS analysts, Heliwise Premium is the solution. It consists of the standard AVDM tool, plus a 24/7 on-call analysis service that guarantees to respond to anomalies within 4 hours.

MD’s 500 and 530 series helicopters are the OEM’s first models to receive predictive maintenance tracking. Like Airbus and Bell, MD uses the GPMS Foresight MX package for predictive maintenance in its current MD 500E and MD 530F helicopters. Operators can see the health of key drive train components on a cloud-based dashboard.

Once a trend appears in a component’s sensor data, a prognostics panel estimates item’s remaining useful life. The GPMS predictive maintenance package will be available on the MD 564, introduced at Verticon in March 2026 and planned to enter service in H1-2028.

Robinson. The R88 is the first Robinson model to come with predictive maintenance as standard equipment. Foresight MX tracks the data. The standard package includes 5 years of level 1 monitoring, which supplies health-status indicators for drive train, engine, rotor track and balance, and flight data.

Robinson also includes one year of Level 2 monitoring, providing deeper diagnostics, individual bearing and gear health, calculated remaining useful life for critical parts, and optimized rotor track and balance recommendations.

Sikorsky. The oldest helicopter builder has one of the most modern and comprehensive predictive maintenance programs in the industry – at least for the S-92 and military models. Ground stations receive instant telemetry alerts of exceedances through SkyTrack using Iridium Certus satcom systems. Data is fed to Sikorsky’s diagnostic analysis computers for evaluation.

The company’s component life trend modeling for the main rotor hub and gearbox is unique. FAA allows Sikorsky to grant serial-number-specific life extensions to components like the main rotor hub.

Backed by 20 years of fleet experience, the company rescheduled inspections from 375 flight hours to 500 hours and from 750 flight hours to 1000 hours. Sikorsky estimates that this eliminates a full year of maintenance downtime over an aircraft’s 30,000-hour lifespan.

Engines

GE Aerospace. The full-authority digital engine control (FADEC) used with GE engines has an array of sensors to monitor dozens of gas path, thermodynamic, and mechanical parameters. An aircraft health management unit captures up to 10,000 aircraft and engine parameters and offloads data on landing. In the air, data can be sent to ground stations using GE’s wireless data network unit or integrated systems like Bombardier’s SmartLink Plus.

GE uses digital twins to analyze the data. The company maintains a virtual

P&WC FAST collects and analyzes flight data and sends it to the customer soon after engine shutdown. It comes included in the ESP maintenance program.

model of each engine in active service. This information is compared against a historical database compiled over millions of previous flight hours.

If a specific combination of micro vibrations and oil temperature fluctuations preceded a component failure on a jet in Europe, the system automatically flags it if the same symptoms appear on a jet anywhere in the world.

Honeywell offers several predictive maintenance products for business aviation. Honeywell Ensemble is the company’s engine-focused digital maintenance service. It monitors engine parameters continuously, including vibration, inter-turbine temperature, engine pressures, and fuel consumption. Then it runs them through what Honeywell calls EngineCompressorAI after each flight. Operators can review engine data almost immediately.

GoDirect Connected Maintenance is a nose-to-tail maintenance platform that uses artificial intelligence and real-time aircraft data to spot mechanical failures before they happen.

Honeywell Ensemble delivers real-time flight data and predictive AI insights to catch engine anomalies early, syncing records seamlessly with digital logbooks to eliminate operational disruptions and optimize business jet maintenance.

For helicopters, the HUMS uses sensors on rotating parts to measure component health, then collects, analyzes, and manages the data for human operators. RECON adds connectivity and faster processing, so ground teams can track the aircraft’s condition no matter where it is operating. All this feeds into predictive and preventive maintenance to identify potential issues with components and track trends in their performance.

Pratt & Whitney Canada. FAST is P&WC’s digital engine health platform. It captures full flight data, analyzes hundreds of engine and aircraft parameters, and sends relevant intelligence wirelessly to the customer soon after engine shutdown. It can also provide flight data monitoring on certain aircraft, such as the Leonardo AW139 and Beechcraft King Air 200/300 models.

The company’s oil analysis technology is particularly important for helicopter engines. AI and machine learning massage the oil sample analysis to detect potential issues as much as 1000 hours in advance. The human-staffed Proactive Help Desk interprets this data and helps customers plan necessary maintenance.

P&WC’s predictive maintenance is delivered as part of the ESP pay-per-hour coverage and fleet management program (FMP).

Rolls-Royce. The company’s engine vibration health monitoring system tracks more than 9000 parameters on Pearl 15 engines. Meanwhile, on the BR700, FADEC provides 1000 data streams. Computerized analysis of engine condition after landing identifies potential faults and makes recommendations for needed inspections.

Much of this work happens in the IntelligentEngine framework. This is a digital twin ecosystem that combines the physical engines, sensor data, and analytics for better maintenance decisions.

Bombardier Smart Link Plus monitors some 2000 parameters and sends data for real-time monitoring and diagnosis of problems.

For Rolls-Royce, a key concept is the Blue Data Thread, which links maintenance and operational data from manufacturing through to the MRO.

This allows it to forecast part life and send alerts for necessary maintenance.

The company emphasizes context – ie, where the engine flew, the pollutants it encountered, how it was operated, and how hard it was worked. By folding environmental and mission variables into the model, Rolls-Royce can extend intervals when the engine has an easier life and tighten them when conditions are harsher.

Williams International. The FJ33 and FJ44 turbofan engines incorporate several ECU-controlled data collection systems to support root-cause analysis. Multiple snapshots are taken during takeoff and cruise to measure dozens of operational parameters, while continuously capturing and logging thousands of data points per hour.

In addition, a rolling diagnostic window preserves a large collection of pre  and post event measurements whenever a fault occurs, including detailed diagnostic information on all sensors and actuators that interact with the engine.