RP teams hope to help make flying greener

One team wants to someday sit on their idea, literally.  Another hopes to spark an explosion of green-minded business, from aircraft maker to airline to passenger.

The two teams from the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) are among only 84 out of 315 teams from around the world that hurdled the first round of the Airbus Fly Your Ideas (FYI) competition.

The multinational teams Green Bang and Strategos, composed of  master in business administration (MBA) students with engineering, finance, and marketing backgrounds, are currently preparing for the second round on May 16 that will reduce the number of contestants to five teams.

Green Bang moved to the second round for a business model that aimed to green the entire supply chain  from the production line to  customers.

Strategos proposed to replace synthetic foams in airline seats with Philippine-sourced coco fiber.

With only 15 days to prepare their entries, without sacrificing their MBA studies, team members had to forego weekends and make “lots of sacrifices.”

Strategos’ Kirti Saberwal said their project had a lot to do with social development and sustainability, which Airbus was aiming for. The main idea, she said, was “how the project is going to give back to the society, as well as the sustainability of the aircraft.”

Teammate Enrique Martinez said green business was becoming increasingly important.

Strategos’ proposal to use coco foam for plane seats will “green” Airbus aircraft while providing livelihood to coconut farmers.

Martinez pointed out that most cabin seats were made of foam derived from petroleum derivatives, polycarbons, the manufacture of which contributed to pollution. Disposal added to problems associated with landfills.

He said coco fiber was more environment friendly while providing livelihood. The material also had a track record for durability, he added.

The team, which  created a prototype using coco fiber from San Pablo, Laguna, said the material was already being blended with synthetic foam in furniture upholstery and mattresses.

Strategos team member Jade Jalmasco, an industrial engineer, said they also found that use of coco fiber made the seats cooler, although the new material might take some getting used to.

The team, however, believed the product could further be refined for a softer feel. The foam could also be made lighter than the conventional seat (four to five kilos on an Airbus A320). A lighter plane means less fuel consumption.

Jalmasco said coco fiber seats could last up to eight years, outliving synthetic fibers by three years.  This could save Airbus some $3.9 million in seat replacement costs annually (based on 2010 actual aircraft orders), she said.

A gradual shift to coco fiber could provide livelihood to some 1,000 coconut farmers, said team member Frances Villamayor, an auditor.

Green Bang hopes to introduce an integrated green business model for Airbus. Details, however, are kept secret and closely guarded.

“We are trying to build a business model that could push every component in the airline industry to go green,” said Green Bang team member Ye Yuan. But they also wanted to make sure profitability was not adversely affected, he added.

The design involves greening across the board—from production to consumer—and includes initiatives like giving incentives to consumers and convincing them to pay a little more for greener products.

Ye said their business model was more focused on the market, the customer’s point of view and how he/she  could contribute to greening.

Teammate Kshiti Jain added, “Every passenger has to…be ready to pay for a green environment.  Our business model is basically pushing them by giving them incentives in terms of loyalty.”

The MBA students found that  the Airbus challenge gave them a foretaste of life after AIM, one of Asia’s top MBA schools.

Jalmasco said the competition was an opportunity for them to apply the theories they studied in school.

The annual Airbus competition for university students encourages participants to develop projects for a greener aviation industry, an advocacy of the France-based aircraft maker to contribute to protecting the environment.

Proposals could target any or all points of the “environmental life cycle,” the aircraft maker’s “approach to improve environmental performance of an aircraft and its production process in the areas of design, supply chain, manufacturing, aircraft operations and aircraft end-of-life,” Airbus said.

The teams that will survive the second round will fly in June to Le Bourget, France for the International Paris Airshow and  to present their projects for the final judging.