In April Cirium is making changes to improve the coverage and accuracy of cumulative aircraft utilisation data points, associated calculated statistics, and usage of this data to project aircraft utilisation, within the Fleets Analyzer Projection tab.
These improvements are made possible through the creation of a new utilisation data set that blends historical reported utilisation with contemporary tracked utilisation. The two datasets complement each other to provide the industry’s most accurate view of an aircraft’s lifetime utilisation.
As part of this change reported utilisation will be retired and replaced by the new blended data set. All historical reported utilisation will be preserved and visible in product under the new column headings (see table below). The last date for reported utilisation for any aircraft is June 2024. After June 2024, the reported data will be blended with tracked data to provide more timely data with much enhanced coverage.
Key changes:
- New Blended Data Set: combines historical reported utilisation with contemporary tracked utilisation where this was possible.
- Retirement of Reported Utilisation: reported utilisation will be retired and replaced by the new blended data set.
- Preservation of Historical Data: All historical reported utilisation will be preserved and visible under new column headings.
- Effective Date: The last date for reported utilisation for any aircraft is June 2024. After this date, the data will be blended with tracked data for more timely and enhanced coverage.
Why is the new dataset better?
Cumulative utilisation (an aircraft’s total flight hours and flight cycles over it’s lifetime) currently relies on reported utilisation data.
As of Q1 2025, reported utilisation covers only ~50% of the in-service commercial fleet, including only 40% of commercial operators. Due to ongoing reporting and acquisition challenges, when available, the data suffers from a three-month lag. This mean for ~50% of the in-service commercial fleet cumulative utilisation is not being gathered.
To address this issue, we have combined the historical reported utilisation with tracked utilisation; which covers 99% of the in-service commercial fleet with a lag of one-day. Following the last reported utilisation date for an aircraft, the data is switched to tracked utilisation, meaning we can continue adding data to an aircraft’s cumulative utilisation without relying on data being reported by the aircraft OEM or operator.
Data will only be blended into cumulative utilisation if there is no gap between last reported date and first tracked date, or when a gap can be explained by an aircraft event e.g. storage. If there is an unexplained gap, data will not be blended into cumulative, however, data will be blended for for annual, month and period utilisation.
How will this affect the Projections Tab?
With blended utilisation, the number of aircraft with up-to-date cumulative utilisation will increase by ~40,000 or 147%. The increase will impact utilisation projections for many aircraft in Fleets Analyzer, as the projection logic has more data to work with. Expect to see changes, however they represent the improved accuracy and coverage of the data.
What will the reported utilisation data points be replaced with?
| Old | New |
| Cumulative Reported Hours | Cumulative Hours |
| Cumulative Reported Cycles | Cumulative Cycles |
| Average Cumulative Reported Cycles | Average Cumulative Cycles |
| Average Cumulative Reported Hours | Average Cumulative Hours |
| Average Reported Flight Time | Average Flight Time |
| Average Period Reported Cycles | Average Period Cycles |
| Average Period Reported Hours | Average Period Hours |
| Average Period Reported Flight Time | Average Period Flight Time |
| Total Cumulative Reported Cycles | Total Cumulative Cycles |
| Total Cumulative Reported Hours | Total Cumulative Hours |
| Total Period Reported Cycles | Total Period Cycles |
| Total Period Reported Hours | Total Period Hours |
| Total Period Reported Utilisation Aircraft | Total Period Utilisation Aircraft |
| Current Average Reported Flight Time | Current Average Flight Time |
| Current Cumulative Reported Cycles | Current Cumulative Cycles |
| Current Cumulative Reported Hours | Current Cumulative Hours |
| Average Annual Reported Cycles | Average Annual Cycles |
| Average Annual Reported Hours | Average Annual Hours |
| Average Daily Reported Utilisation | Average Daily Utilisation |
| Average Reported Flight Time With Operator | Average Flight Time With Operator |
| Cumulative Reported Cycles With Operator | Cumulative Cycles With Operator |
| Cumulative Reported Hours With Operator | Cumulative Hours With Operator |
| Previous 12 Months Average Daily Reported Utilisation | Previous 12 Months Average Daily Utilisation |
| Previous 12 Months Reported Cycles | Previous 12 Months Cycles |
| Previous 12 Months Reported Hours | Previous 12 Months Hours |
| Previous Month Reported Cycles | Previous Month Cycles |
| Previous Month Reported Hours | Previous Month Hours |
In addition to the above datapoints, tracked utilisation will also be available as an option in Fleets Analyzer.
When will these changes take place?
The changes are scheduled to take place in Mid April. A Knowledge Base post with the exact date will be published 2 weeks before the change. If you have any further questions please reach out to helpdesk@Cirum.com.
Further reading:
