Disruptive Technologies and their application to Operational Disruption

The aviation industry has always been at the forefront of trying to incorporate new technology to make the industry safer and secure, efficient, sustainable and to improve the passenger experience. In recent years, airlines, airports, aircraft manufacturers and airspace managers have experimented and implemented disruptive technologies (Automation, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Blockchain, Robotics, Biometrics etc) to improve their operations. One of the weaknesses of the aviation industry is operational disruption such as flight delays and cancellations, crew shortages and industrial action, the impacts of weather and climate, unscheduled aircraft groundings/technical issues etc. Many airlines and airports are now implementing disruptive technologies to prevent and/or better manage disruption.

For this assessment, you are to choose ONE aviation organisation. This could be an airline, an airport, an aircraft/engine manufacturer, an MRO organisation or an air traffic control provider. You are to describe and explain how disruptive technologies could be implemented by this organisation to avoid and/or better manage operational disruption. You are to critically evaluate disruptive technologies explaining how it can be integrated into the operation, how it can deliver a positive benefit to disruption management and explain some of the limitations of the technology.

You are to submit the assessment in the form of an essay of 1,500 words. Your essay will be assessed on the following criteria:

• Research and Use of Literature
• Content, Knowledge and Understanding
• Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation
• Organisation and Coherence
• Clarity of Expression
• Quality of Referencing

You should read the feedback received for the first assessment to ensure you submit a good quality essay. Please refer to your MSG distributed in class or via Blackboard for further details including "General Advice on Essay Writing," the "Assessment Criteria", the "Marking and Feedback Sheet", "Harvard Referencing & Plagiarism" as well as hand in date and procedures.

Note: Background - Aviation,  Harvard style and Minimum 25 references