Doug Stewart, President, AircraftLogs

Aviation Maintenance: Tell us about Aircraftlogs.

Stewart: We are a Columbus, Ohio-based technology company providing aircraft management services to corporate and private aircraft operators. The three main areas are flight operations, maintenance management and financial management. It is a subscription-based service.

AM: How old is the company?

Stewart: A little over four years old, starting in January 2005. We saw a major void in the general aviation segment. The aircraft are high tech, but the "back office" can be a little archaic. Those people wanted better technology. There are some stand-alone software technologies for maintenance tracking, scheduling or pilot logbooks, but they aren’t connected to the aircraft records themselves.

AM: What are some of the capabilities of each module?

Stewart: The flight operations module captures ATC data and logs flights automatically. This eliminates paperwork. Operators can manage multiple aircraft and crew from anywhere. The flight department manager can monitor all pilots and their flight activity, the status of each aircraft, and passenger manifest information. The maintenance management module addresses all aspects of compliance and protects the aircraft records. We provide full maintenance tracking, as well as digital logbooks, electronic signatures, and aircraft status sheets. You can track maintenance due items, life-limited parts, ADs and service bulletin compliance within this module. The financial management measures direct operating costs and provides complete IRS reporting capability. This module is most helpful for operators carrying many passengers under Part 91 rules.

AM: What about a company’s older records?

Stewart: Historical maintenance records can be archived within our system. All paper documentation can be archived and stored for electronic review. You can then place the originals in a vault or other safe place, and limit their risk of loss. In addition, AircraftLogs provides a quick start to utilizing our system. We can convert historical flight records and passenger manifest and load them into AircraftLogs. The first time you log on, the info is there.

AM: Tell us more about Aircraftlogs’ maintenance tracking?

Stewart: We provide complete maintenance management capability. The system will track maintenance due items, life-limited parts, AD’s and Service Bulletin compliance in accordance with manufacturer and FAA requirements. Many airframes and engines are already pre-loaded. The system can be customized to your own specifications. Users can specify an unlimited amount of inspection requirements and track them against numerous criteria. User-defined maintenance timers can be customized to alert items coming due.

AM: The Tax Manager module looks especially helpful, especially with all the recent scrutiny of business jet use:

Stewart: Yes, there’s a storm brewing, so everyone wants to stay compliant with the new tax requirements. Although they are very complicated, the raw data flows from your flight records and passenger manifest. The Tax Manager works in conjunction with our logbooks and trip sheets to produce necessary IRS documentation. AircraftLogs can also track operating expenses at any level of detail. All of your aircraft flights and passenger details can be charged against categories that you define. You can basically categorize and allocate aircraft cost by any type of flight, mission codes, or tax category that fits your business.

AM: What about "fringe benefit calculations"?

Stewart: This is one area where we’ve completely automated SIFL — a task that used to take hours of work. Tax regulations often require that fringe benefit income is reported by company executives for personal use of the aircraft. The rates are published by the IRS and called "Standard Industry Fare Levels" (SIFL). These lengthy calculations require point-to-point leg mileage, knowledge of who’s on board, what rank of employee they are, whether they have guests, and more. They even involve MGTOW — the bigger the plane, the higher the charge. It was very complicated — most people used massive spreadsheets, but the Tax Manager calculates SIFL automatically after each flight. If you handle SIFL, your number-crunching drops by about 90 percent. Troublesome details like the "hitchhiker rule", fuel stops, and passenger drop offs also got solved. The Tax Manager handles all of it.

AM: All of this is sensitive information. How is it protected?

Stewart: We utilize a sophisticated Qwest CyberCenter with state-of-the-art network control to house production servers, web servers, and customer data. Backups are performed regularly. There is system security at every level, and the system was designed to FAA requirements for electronic recordkeeping systems. While physical logbooks are in-house for scanning and archival, they fall under specialized insurance. Customers also have their own local backup tools, so they can download partial or full backups, anytime.