On 8 June 2022, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Malaysia Aviation Group, a global aviation organisation that comprises different aviation business portfolios aimed at serving Malaysian air travel needs, to collaboratively build a Flight Operations Safety Audit (FOSA) system to automatically analysing  and mining data into line operations as part of the Threat & Error Management (TEM) programme, with the partnership spanning over two years.

The MOA was signed by Professor Dato’ Ir. Dr. Abdul Rahman Mohamed, Deputy Vice Chancellor of USM and representatives from MAG airlines including Encik Ahmad Luqman bin Mohd Azmi, Group Chief Operations of Malaysia Airlines Berhad, Philip See Yew Jin, Chief Executive Officer of Firefly and Captain Muhamad Nizar Abdul Bari, Director, Flight Operations of MASwings.

The FOSA collects comprehensive flight observations and converts them into insights that will aid in the improvement of all phases of line operations. Being the first of its kind in South East Asia, the system is adaptable to different service sectors that place a high value on operational safety and provides an opportunity to address gaps through a systematic safety change process. The total market worth of the system and intellectual property associated is estimated to be RM2 million.

A customised training programme of FOSA was delivered to three airlines under MAG, including Malaysia Airlines, Firefly and MASwings; making it the first cross operator line operations safety audit programme in Malaysia.

Through the MOA, both parties will leverage on research prospects within operational management, lean services, and data mining being investigated, as well as knowledge transfer through training, internships, and industry lectures.

The research will be led by USM Associate Professor Ir. Dr. Chin Jeng Feng and his team (Prof Dr. Farzad bin Ismail, Dr. Hasnida binti Ab Samat, Associate Professor Dr. Jamaluddin bin Abdullah, Associate Professor Dr. Loh Wei Ping and Dr. Nur Amalina binti Muhammad). The FOSA team include Captain Mohd Radzi Mohamad Alias, Captain Kamarul Mahadir Mohd Shukor, Captain Afi Aizam Bin Missman, Captain Raveen Kumar Paransothy, Captain Wadhani Vivek Anand, Captain G.Sunder Ganesan, and Senior Officer Hasanul Ishraf Johari.

MOA signing: From the left: Captain Mohd Radzi Mohamad Alias, Captain Mohd Ariffathillah B. Jamel, Philip See Yew Jin, Associate Prof. Dr. Jamaluddin Abdullah, Prof. Dato’ Ir. Dr. Abdul Rahman Mohamed, Ahmad Luqman B. Mohd Azmi, Captain Muhamad Nizar Abdul Bari, Captain Hamdan Che Ismail and Dr. Mohamad Ikhwan Zaini Ridzwan.

FOSA team and guests attending the MoA Signing Ceremony