GE Aviation Chooses Microsoft Azure to Help Drive Digital Transformation in Aviation

Emirates Airlines also is expanding its relationship with GE Aviation to include predictive maintenance and diagnostics using data analytics.

July 17, 2018

Courtney E. Howard

GE Aviation Digital Solutions engineers in Evandale, Ohio, are scaling the company’s analytics and operations solutions on Microsoft Azure, selected as the preferred cloud, to help accelerate digital transformation in aviation. GE’s data and analytics solutions combine with the scale of Microsoft Azure to deliver hybrid, on-premise, and cloud solutions across the enterprise that help enhance data protection , regulatory compliance, and efficiency.

Emirates Airline is expanding its long-standing relationship with GE Aviation, historically only focused on the company’s engines and services business, to include predictive maintenance and diagnostics. GE and Emirates have jointly started an effort where the latest digital technologies are employed related to artificial intelligence ( AI ) and optimization coupled with airlines’ operations experience, to develop enhanced integrated resources planning and automation for the day of operations, improving on-time performance (OTP) and passenger experience. Microsoft acts as the infra cloud partner in this initiative through Azure.

Azure is Microsoft’s cloud computing service for building, testing, deploying, and managing applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed data centers.

“Microsoft’s cloud, with its strong enterprise capability, including global reach, scale, and security were all important in our decision to partner with them,” explains John Mansfield, chief digital officer for GE Aviation. “The collaboration reinforces our ability to deliver hybrid, on-premise and cloud solutions across the enterprise which is critical for data protection, regulatory, and efficiency.”

GE Aviation is using Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud to scale its analytics and operations solutions. The partnership with Microsoft is accelerating the global cloud deployment of existing products as well as building new analytic workbench capabilities to enable future services and products, officials say.

“Coupled with an airline's operations experience, we’re able to develop enhanced integrated resource planning and automation for the day of operations, improving on-time-performance and passenger experience,” Mansfield adds.

GE Aviation, a part of GE (NYSE:GE), provides software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive, and predictive.

Courtney E. Howard is editorial director and content strategist at SAE International, Aerospace Products Group. Contact her by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..