202 Int. J. Sustainable Aviation, Vol. 4, Nos. 3/4, 2018 Copyright © 2018 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Perspectives for application of the internet of things and big data analytics on end of life aircraft treatment Samira Keivanpour* Department of Management, Information and Supply Chain, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, Canada Email: skeivanpour@tru.ca *Corresponding author Daoud Ait Kadi Department of Mechanical Engineering, Laval University, Quebec, Canada Email: Daoud.Aitkadi@gmc.ulaval.ca Abstract: Recycling and advanced management of the aircraft at the end of life (EoL) is a novel challenge in the aviation industry. The new paradigm of the internet of things (IoT), Industry 4.0 and big data analytics in the logistics and operation management have a considerable impact on the sustainability of EoL aircraft treatment. This paper aims to highlight the role of IoT and big data analytics in the future of EoL aircraft management based on the waste hierarchy approach. Strategy, architecture, and infrastructure of IoT enabled EoL treatment is proposed, and an empirical study based on secondary data is provided to show the application. This study confirms the merits of using IoT and big data analytics to improve EoL aircraft treatment process in sustainability and performance. Keywords: end of life aircraft; internet of things; IoT; big data; waste hierarchy approach; data warehouses; online analytical process; OLAP; radio frequency identification; RFID; aviation industry; sustainability; dismantling. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Keivanpour, S. and Kadi, D.A. (2018) ‘Perspectives for application of the internet of things and big data analytics on end of life aircraft treatment’, Int. J. Sustainable Aviation, Vol. 4, Nos. 3/4, pp.202–220. Biographical notes: Samira Keivanpour is currently a faculty member at the Department of Management, Information and Supply Chain, Thompson Rivers University (TRU). She earned her Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering and MBA in Operation Management from Iran. She received her PhD in Industrial Engineering from the Laval University. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow and Professional Researcher at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Laval University, before joining TRU in 2017. Her research interests include sustainable solutions in supply chain and logistics, digital supply chain, and Industry 4.0 and business intelligence.