Blockchain Information Based Systems in Aviation: The Advantages for Aircraft Records Management

The aviation industry is highly regulated and relies much on data records to maintain the track of all types of operations carried out in the aircraft or its products. Since all aviation stakeholders rely on these records to maintain their aircrafts airworthy, several problems occur due to the lack of trustworthiness among stakeholders or sometimes the total or partial loss of these records. This can cut aviation revenue significantly and sometimes put at stake aircraft safety. Fake certifications and licenses, and cyberattacks are other problems that also affect the ecosystem. Blockchain technology can help aviation stakeholders to decrease or even eliminate the lack of confidence on the records and certifications, and reduce the probability of losing aviation records. In this paper, a high-level overview of the aviation ecosystem is presented, and an assessment of the impacts of the adoption of the blockchain technology is made, including the economic impact that blockchain can bring.