In 2009, Airbus launched the aerospace industry’s first digital traceability initiative with its Flyable Parts Program. What began as a customer-driven effort to improve aircraft maintenance quickly evolved into a global mandate, powered by RFID technology that embeds lifecycle data directly onto critical components.
The program transformed how airlines, suppliers, and MROs manage parts. By digitizing maintenance and inspection records, Airbus cut tasks that once took hours down to minutes, dramatically improving efficiency across assembly lines and maintenance operations. Airlines gained faster turnaround times, reduced costs, and the ability to maximize the usable life of components like oxygen canisters and life vests.
The early success drove Airbus to accelerate and expand the program across all traceable parts, soon joined by Boeing and Bell. Today, millions of flyable parts equipped with RFID tags are in use worldwide, establishing a new benchmark for efficiency, compliance, and cost savings in aviation.
