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Technical documents go online at Continental Airlines

In an exclusive interview with DCLnews, Dave Southern (pictured below) of Continental Airlines explains how the airline has got out of the mire of print and CDs to build a seamless web-based delivery system for all its technical documents.

BACK IN THE LATE 1990s Continental Airlines, the fifth largest U.S. air carrier, was getting bogged down in a mire of paper and microfilm -- a common scenario for all major airlines. Flight manuals and other technical documents were shipped out all over the world on paper (weighty), microfilm, and on CD. CDs were clearly preferable to paper and microfilm, which are expensive to produce and distribute. But these issues, along with the problem of revision control, weren't solved by CDs. Having to manage distribution of CDs in the same way as paper and microfilm meant Continental Airlines couldn't achieve the cost savings they wanted.

"The way we solved it was to have all our documents deliverable via the web," says Dave Southern, manager of Technical Publications at Continental Airlines. "Our web deliverable documents range from PDF to XML. The Electronic Technical Manuals, which include Aircraft Maintenance Manuals [AMM's], Fault Isolation Manuals [FIMs], Component Maintenance Manuals [CMMs], and Illustrated Parts Catalogues [IPCs] are hyper linked to each other where possible and a click away from our General Maintenance Manuals, Flight Manuals, and In-Flight Manuals."

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As Southern points out, the strength of this approach, which has XML as its backbone, is that the basic technical information can be stored in one central place -- and the Technical Data can be compiled from this single source. Technical Writers no longer need to update each work document, only the central information source. They can also complete updates on the same day they come in from the manufacturers, which means maintenance crews no longer have to wait for paper updates to be compiled, printed, and shipped.

"The benefits will go way beyond that," continues Southern. "When mechanics or engineers need parts they will use our system to see if they are in stock and order them online. If a part isn't in stock, the system will tell them where it is located and whether it needs to be flown in from another city".

Blocks at a time

Access to Continental Airlines document management system is through an Internet Explorer based web portal. But access isn't only limited to Continental Airlines' personnel. "We also offer this information to our suppliers and to other airframe repair stations," says Southern. "We can control which documents we want them to be able to view and, again, time and costs are saved because we are not sending them paper or microfilm."

Southern is quick to point out that the company's document management system was not put in place overnight. "We did it in blocks at a time. That way such a vast task was not too overpowering. Plus we knew we would have to run parallel systems -- paper and web-based. To go 100% digital in one shot means that everywhere in the world has to have access to the Internet or at least have reasonably fast access speeds. We ran into problems in parts of South America, Asia and Central Mexico, where speeds aren't fast enough. But it's just a matter of time before the remoter areas get up to pace."

Clearly, a time will come when the print end of the publishing parallel will disappear.

"It's already happening," says Southern. "Paper and microfilm distribution is reducing, as is CD distribution. Not only that, but the whole digital technical publications area is expanding at Continental Airlines. We're now hosting Airport Services Manuals and Cargo Manuals, which are used by our airport agents. The repository also covers manuals used to maintain ground support vehicles."

Mechanics' perspective

But what do the mechanics -- the users -- think of it all? "Feedback from the shop floor has been very positive. But there are still some who just can't give up those paper books; they just love walking around with them!" admits Southern. "It's the shift from paper to digital. In some areas the paper still makes sense for a lot of people. For example, it's hard to look at certain system schematics that on paper come in huge sheets that unfold -- D size drawings. One solution to this, of course, would be to install larger monitors."

Overall, however, maintenance crews find electronic documents easier to navigate than their paper predecessors. And, as Southern says, "They are definitely way ahead."

As to the future, Southern and his team have big plans.

"One of our visions is to make our information available via satellite connections. A mechanic on an island in the South Pacific, for instance, would be able to access the manuals he or she needs to make repairs on an aircraft using a satellite-driven laptop. Once the job is done, they would be able to relay details to their records department and sign the job off -- all online."

DCLnews editorial
1/14/2003

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