SmartNOTOC

Inspiration

The 👩‍✈️ NOTOC ('Notification To Captain') 🧑‍✈️ is a crucial and compulsory document for transporting dangerous goods, live animals or other specialized cargo. There are significant implications if inaccurately prepared or delayed. Such errors could lead to severe outcomes including misloading and compromising the safe carriage of freight, aircraft safety events and regulatory breaches.

Given the dynamic nature of air transportation, last-minute changes are frequent. However, the manual updating and reissue of a paper-based NOTOC can lead to serious mistakes. The lengthy duration required to inform all relevant parties due to this manual process exacerbates the issue and has knock-on effects to on-time performance which is crucial for airlines and customers alike.

Add to that the fact that currently there is no agreed standard, digitization or straightforward method to notify stakeholders or interline carriers at destination airports. This lack of communication and data transparency can result in inaccuracies and unnecessary duplication of administrative tasks. The lack of standards also causes current processes in place (mostly paper-based), to not always be followed even within the same airline due to operational differences.

Problem Statement

As a captain, I want to: Receive the NOTOC promptly upon completion for reviewing special shipments on my flight. Be alerted about any NOTOC changes in real-time to stay updated on last-minute alterations or potential delays and ensure I always have the most up-to-date version. Ensure the NOTOC is securely accessible at all times to prevent loss or damage.

As a load planner of an interline flight, I want to: Receive confirmation that the booked special shipments are en route on the incoming flight for confirmation of carriage and positioning in my flight. Be alerted about any last-minute changes during the loading of special shipments to adjust the plan as required.

As a master load planner at Operational Control, I want to be notified of any last-minute changes during the loading of special shipments to take appropriate measures for the affected flight.

As the emergency crew at both the origin and destination airports, I want to receive the NOTOC promptly upon completion to be aware of any special shipments if there is a safety event.

As a 1R developer, I want a standard to store/update a copy of the NOTOC into my 1R DB for easy sharing with all relevant parties.

The following stakeholders should promptly receive the NOTOC and be immediately informed of any modifications:

The Flight Crew
The Load Planner at the Origin Station The Master Load Planner (Weight & Balance) at the System Operations Control (SOC)
The Load Planner at the Destination Station, including secondary carriers for interline shipments
The Loading crew
The Emergency Services at the Origin Airport
The Emergency Services at the Destination Airport

This ensures that all parties are kept up-to-date with the latest information, enabling them to perform their roles effectively and maintain the highest standards of safety and efficiency.

Proposed Solution

Considering 1R aims to make data safely available to all relevant stakeholders in a new standardized way, we will create a solution that leverages 1R data model, 1R APIs (NE:ONE server) alongside the publish/subscribe (pub/sub) concept to create a 1R smartNOTOC standard to significantly enhance the availability and real-time updates of the NOTOC and special shipments information such as dangerous goods. Validations will be in place throughout the process through the use of AI where applicable. This approach ensures that the NOTOC is accessible as soon as it’s prepared, and any modifications are instantly communicated to all relevant stakeholders. This real-time information sharing can improve operational efficiency, decrease the use of paperwork, enhance decision-making, and ensure the highest standards of safety are maintained.

Pillars

⭐️ Instant, reactive, agile NOTOCs that can be fed to Crew, Ground Staff, Load Planners, Airport Authority and Emergency Services without delay or need for printing

⭐️ Bridging data gaps between Airlines and allowing NOTOC data to be fed through end-to-end on multi-leg or interline shipments, saving duplication of NOTOC work at the middle stations

⭐️ Paperless and improving the 1R standard

Challenges

💡 Challenge 1: Develop a solution that Leverages IATA ONE Record to pre-validate, including corrective shipper actions of documentation for special handling cargo, aiming to expedite the acceptance process and reduce customer wait times

💡 Challenge 3: Create an AI-powered tool or system that leverages IATA's ONE Record standard to enhance processes like safety measures and ensure compliance or other processes in air cargo operations

💡 Challenge 6: Open Challenge, let your creativity go loose as long as you use the ONE Record API