*

42 airlines, including Qantas, Delta Air Lines ( DAL ) and

NetJets, use

GE's FlightPulse

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FlightPulse user base grew from 40,000 to over 60,000

pilots in

a year

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More than 9,000 pilots use the app each day

By Dan Catchpole

Oct 9 (Reuters) - The number of commercial pilots using

GE Aerospace's flight data monitoring app, FlightPulse,

has expanded rapidly from 40,000 a year ago to more than 60,000,

and the company expects to exceed 70,000 by year-end.

The app, the only one of its kind used commercially, allows

pilots to evaluate their performances across various metrics

compared to other pilots and learn to fly more efficiently and

safely. Airlines pay an undisclosed fee per pilot to use it, and

the app burnishes the engine-maker's reputation for safety and

efficiency with its airline customers.

Qantas Captain Mark Cameron has been using

FlightPulse to get accustomed to the Airbus A321, which

he recently started flying after years in the much larger A330

twin-aisle jet.

It is easier to take off or land too steeply in the

single-aisle A321, which could cause the jet's tail to hit the

runway, he noted. "And so, FlightPulse tells me what my attitude

was on every landing."

Qantas uses FlightPulse data from all of its pilots to make

its flight operations more efficient and safer, said Cameron,

who is also the executive manager of group safety for the Qantas

Group, which includes seven airlines. "We drive a lot of our

operational efficiency and provide data to our pilots through

FlightPulse."

Since helping GE Aerospace launch the app in 2017, Qantas

has used it to improve operational practices across the airline,

such as recommending pilots use less reverse thrust to slow down

after landing when safe to do so, adding up to fuel savings.

Each airline can only access its own data, said Andrew

Coleman, who runs GE Aerospace's Software as a Service division.

FlightPulse is used by 42 airlines, which range from 200

pilots to more than 15,000, and include Qantas, Delta Air Lines ( DAL )

, and NetJets, a private business jet operator.

Coleman hopes to surpass 100,000 pilots as registered users

in 2026.

Pilots have to know that the data will not be used

punitively and only to improve performance, he said.