Maksymilian Dudek shares StorkJet’s dedication to continuous growth in scope and capability serving the Aviation sector
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From the beginning of his professional career, Maksymilian Dudek has been a Project Manager associated with reducing fuel losses; first for petrol stations and now for jet planes. At StorkJet, he leads the support team and oversees process optimization, his goal is to ensure seamless communication and a high level of customer satisfaction. Maksymilian studied Business Analysis at the University of Economics in Katowice and holds a Master’s in Finance
Aircraft IT: Your name, your job title, and the name of the business?
MD: Maksymilian Dudek, Head of Customer Experience in StorkJet
Aircraft IT: How did StorkJet get started?
MD: What started almost ten years ago as a university project dedicated to parsing QAR data has now grown into a full-scale business. During that time, StorkJet has been constantly growing, reaching over 40 employees in 2022, including Fuel Efficiency Specialists, Aircraft Performance Engineers, and active Pilots. This rapid growth was based on a solid foundation, starting from the most precise and diverse APM (Aircraft Performance Monitoring) software to comprehensive applications for fuel managers and pilots that allow the tracking of savings in over 40 fuel initiatives. Furthermore, we continue to implement innovations through the constant development of a pilot app that supports crews in flight preparations and provides them with reliable feedback regarding efficient flying. With such a portfolio StorkJet is now fully capable of supporting the Airline in all aspects of fuel efficiency for all aircraft types.
Aircraft IT: What is the guiding business principle that drives StorkJet?
MD: To be a part of our customers’ fuel efficiency journey. We are not only providing software and leaving the Airline with the results, but we want to be involved in every step along the way to perfection when it comes to fuel efficiency and emission reduction. That goal is achieved through the consulting service, constant monitoring and reviewing of the progress, regular meetings, and long-term relationship with our clients. During my previous years as Account Manager, I was part of that journey with multiple customers, and I can tell you first hand that it is the way to go. We are cooperating with the airlines that were considered very eco-friendly and efficient, but we still managed to help them find and utilize new areas of savings that were not that obvious or were hard to achieve.
Aircraft IT: What has StorkJet’s greatest business achievement been to date, and why?
MD: We are very proud to be considered accurate when it comes to savings calculations. Using machine learning, we can utilize tail-specific performance models and precisely compute how much can be saved for every flight and every fuel initiative separately. However, this is not our final word — with the ongoing implementation of Flight Path Optimization for FlyGuide EFB, we want to use that knowledge to not only accurately calculate savings achieved in the past but also predict them for the future. As a result, since the vast majority of savings are in pilots’ hands, we intend to provide them with additional useful information, allowing them to perform the flight even more efficiently and enhance informed decision-making.
Aircraft IT: What have been your disappointments and what have you learned from them?
MD: With rapid growth, there are always new challenges that can escalate quickly if not addressed properly. One such challenge on our path was that we had to stop thinking about ourselves as a small
business where everyone knows all the ongoing topics. We had to change our mindset into the scaling company that is working simultaneously on multiple projects. Looking into the past, I can see that some good practices could have been implemented earlier to make our work more efficient. Now we make it our goal to constantly improve our daily work and communication within the company. For example, we shortened our development sprints and ensured that our teams are cross-functional and have a clear vision of the company’s goals. With multiple changes like that, we have significantly increased the pace of our development while also improving the quality and reliability of the results.
Aircraft IT: In a sentence, how would you summarize what StorkJet does for aircraft operations customers?
MD: StorkJet guides customers towards a more sustainable and cost-effective flight future, using innovative IT solutions and automated algorithms that accurately define and meticulously measure areas of opportunities for remarkable fuel savings and CO2 reductions.
Aircraft IT: What do you feel will be the next big thing in operations Aviation IT?
MD: Similarly, as in many other fields, we see a big opportunity in using Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). In the case of Aviation IT, it might be especially useful for actively guiding pilots in-flight to generate further savings. Due to the complex physics required to accurately simulate and predict aircraft behavior, this task is a big challenge, but in StorkJet, we have been using AI for a long time, and we already know how to overcome the above mentioned obstacles and provide our customers with an effective and reliable solution.
Aircraft IT: What do you want your customers to say about StorkJet?
MD: We are satisfied with what they have already been saying. That we are a valuable partner in fuel efficiency and that we are able to provide accurate and reliable data regarding all parts of their operations. Such words confirm the quality of our tools and boost our motivation to constantly focus on the further development of new innovative solutions and establishing our position in the aviation sector.
Aircraft IT: Maksymilian Dudek, thank you for your time.
Have you seen other interviews for Aircraft IT Magazine?
Interview with the head of R&D at StorkJet – Emil Kaptur
Interview with the head of Business Development and Vice President at StorkJet – Piotr Niedziela
Our First Live Conversation with Mark Schulz – Founder of Digital Aircraft
