Hackensack, NJ, Feb. 23, 2009 — I.D. Systems Inc. announced that American Eagle Airlines has selected I.D. Systems' AvRamp™ Wireless Vehicle Management System (VMS) to manage a fleet of aircraft ground support equipment (GSE) at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
"American Eagle is selective in its investments, focusing on innovative, best-practice technologies that can improve our airport ground handling operations, cut costs, and enhance service for our customers," said Joathan Snook, American Eagle's senior vice president of customer services. "We are implementing the AvRamp system because we believe it will improve the safety of the ramp area, where GSE and aircraft operate closely together, and make the airport a safer place to work for our employees. We also believe the system will help us reduce the significant costs required to maintain and operate our GSE fleets, and help us direct our equipment more efficiently to load and unload aircraft, for the benefit of our customers."
The AvRamp system — which was developed in part through funding from the Transportation Security Administration, and which is TSA- and FAA-approved for use at U.S. airports — provides a wide range of safety, security and operational management functions for airport vehicles, including:
— an automatic, on-vehicle driver authentication system to reinforce safety training requirements and secure equipment that has direct access to passenger aircraft
— electronic vehicle safety inspection checklists to help expedite repairs and prevent unsafe vehicle operation
— vehicle speed management and impact sensing to help prevent vehicle accidents and provide analysis if accidents do occur
— real-time equipment visibility with "geo-fencing"(electronic boundaries that define "off-limits" areas), to reduce the risk of vehicle runway incursions
— automatic fuel conservation functions to reduce energy costs and the airline's carbon footprint
— an array of wireless communication and data reporting tools designed to optimize fleet utilization
"The AvRamp system's core ability to manage who is authorized to drive what equipment can make a significant contribution to safety on the ramp," said Peter Fausel, I.D. Systems' executive vice president of sales, marketing and customer service. "AvRamp has many advanced safety management capabilities as well-automated geo-fencing, for example, which can automatically warn a driver who is approaching an active runway, and shut the vehicle down if the vehicle gets too close to that runway."
"Although AvRamp is an airport safety and security system at heart, it also provides many ways to help manage and reduce GSE fleet costs, so it can generate a much more compelling return on investment than some other safety-only technologies," continued Fausel. "We look forward to helping American Eagle generate economic benefits from AvRamp, at the same time as it helps enhance their GSE safety practices."
"We are eager to explore all of the fleet management tools that AvRamp has to offer to manage operating costs and increase efficiency," Snook said. "For example, we expect to be able to plan and control preventative maintenance schedules more tightly, based on actual vehicle usage rather than on calendar days, which should increase the efficiency of our maintenance staff and help reduce GSE fleet maintenance costs."
"We also think that AvRamp's ability to automatically conserve vehicle fuel will result in lower GSE fuel costs, which has the significant parallel benefit of reducing the emissions and carbon footprint of internal combustion vehicles," Fausel added. "In addition, because the AvRamp system incorporates both a GPS receiver and two-way text messaging on every vehicle, we expect it will help American Eagle allocate vehicles more efficiently to service aircraft when flight schedules and gate assignments change."
