AAR’s MRO facility in Miami has begun using a French company’s drones to conduct aircraft inspections as part of its maintenance processes, the Chicago-based company announced yesterday. Under a 12-month technology agreement with Donecle, which specializes in automated aircraft inspection by drone, AAR expects to expand the inspections to its other MRO facilities following further assessment and results. AAR will continue to conduct manual inspections, as well as comply with FAA requirements.

“In the case of our MRO sites, our investments in technologies like drones, machine learning, and mobile devices will drive a more efficient operation, optimized technician schedules, as well as improved turnaround times achieved through faster and more accurate inspections and maintenance plan execution, AAR chief digital officer Rahul Ghai said. “This will lead to ultimately higher customer satisfaction, while helping us build out richer data to enhance our overall maintenance planning and execution capabilities.”

According to AAR, the drone can safely perform nose-to-tail visual inspections of Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s in less than an hour using laser positioning.