ASTRONICS
Astronics Corporation is launching a new family of flexible, compact, 64-bit avionics I/O computing platforms for problem-solving and tech insertion in areas such as mission computing, distributed control and avionics data conversion.
VIASAT
EL AL Israel Airlines and Viasat Inc. announced they expanded their successful relationship, adding the Boeing 777 widebody fleet to the mix of EL AL aircraft with Viasat’s equipment for high-speed in-flight connectivity (IFC). In addition to the Boeing 777 fleet, Viasat equipment currently powers the connectivity experience across EL AL’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing 737-900 and part of Boeing 737-800 aircraft. EL AL plans to have all widebody aircraft equipped with Viasat’s latest generation IFC solution and all narrow-body fleet equipped with Viasat’s in-flight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) offering. EL AL expects to have the majority of its fleet connected with the Viasat service by the end of 2020. “EL AL takes great pride in being an innovative airline, and they continue to push the in-flight connectivity boundaries,” said Don Buchman, vice president and general manager, Commercial Aviation, Viasat. “EL AL was first to launch Viasat’s fast IFC service in Europe and the Middle East; first to deploy high-speed internet on transatlantic flights using the advanced ViaSat-2 satellite; and are now the first airline to bring IFC to the Boeing 777 aircraft for global routes before the launch of our ViaSat-3 satellite constellation. Enabling high-speed, high-quality internet to their full fleet confirms their dedication to bring customers and crew fast, reliable connectivity service—no matter where they fly.” The Viasat in-flight Wi-Fi service offers an at-home or office experience in the sky, keeping flight crews connected for enhanced passenger service and enabling passengers using smartphones, tablets or laptop computers the ability to browse websites, connect to email and instant messaging, use apps and social networks and to stream music and/or films when in-flight. Today, EL AL offers three in-flight Wi-Fi packages—Basic, Social and Business—which can be purchased during the flight through the EL AL Wi-Fi portal via credit card or EL AL Matmid Club points.
AIRBUS
Air Canada’s first Airbus A220 was unveiled this week when it rolled out of the painting hangar at the A220 final assembly line in Mirabel. In December, Air Canada will be the first Canadian airline to take delivery of this Canadian-designed and developed aircraft when it receives the first of its 45 A220s on order. The A220 features an innovative cabin design, as well as significantly lower emissions and a reduced noise footprint. The A220-300 for Air Canada will provide passengers with superior comfort in a 137-seat dual-class cabin layout. Air Canada’s brand new A220-300s will replace the flag carrier’s existing mainline fleet of smaller, older narrow-body aircraft and support the airline’s hub and network growth, creating one of the world’s youngest and most fuel efficient fleets. Now that the aircraft is decked out in Air Canada’s livery, it has moved to pre-flight activities in the A220 flight line hangar in Mirabel, before taking off for its first flight later this fall. Currently, there are 94 A220 aircraft flying with six operators on regional and transcontinental routes in Asia, America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, proving the great versatility of Airbus’ latest family member. The A220 has an order book of 530 aircraft as of the end of October 2019.
Airbus and China are strengthening their long-standing partnership as both sides commit to a further deepening and broadening of cooperation in the aviation industry. A Memorandum of Understanding on the Further Development of Industrial Cooperation was signed in Beijing by He Lifeng, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China and Guillaume Faury, Airbus Chief Executive Officer in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and visiting French President Emmanuel Macron. According to the MoU, both sides have agreed to take practical and effective measures for new initiatives regarding both Airbus single-aisle and widebody aircraft. As part of Airbus’ objective to reach a global A320 Family production rate of 63 aircraft per month in 2021, the Airbus Tianjin A320 Family Final Assembly Line (FAL Asia) remains on track to ramp up its production to six aircraft per month by the end of 2019, which is a 50% increase compared to its original design. A350 XWB capabilities will be extended into the Airbus Tianjin wide-body Completion and Delivery Center (C&DC) from the second half of 2020. The C&DC is scheduled to deliver its first A350 aircraft by 2021 from Tianjin. The potential of China’s aviation market is huge: While China domestic is set to become the world’s largest market, international traffic to and from China has nearly doubled over the last 10 years. According to the Airbus Global Market Forecast, China is expected to require some 7,560 new aircraft over the next 20 years. In both Airbus’ single-aisle and widebody aircraft programs, cooperation is well established. In single-aisle, the FAL Asia has been successfully operating for over a decade since its inauguration in September 2008. To date, 450 A320 Family aircraft have been delivered from Tianjin to Airbus’ Chinese and Asian customers since. In twin-aisle aircraft, the first Airbus’ widebody center outside Europe, the C&DC – inaugurated in September 2017 – has successfully performed A330 aircraft completion activities including cabin installation, aircraft painting and production flight test, as well as customer acceptance and aircraft delivery. The A350 XWB has garnered 913 firm orders from 51 customers worldwide.
October was a landmark month for Airbus in terms of new business, with orders logged for 415 new commercial jetliners. This includes one of the company’s largest-ever transactions with a single airline operator, and overall bookings that significantly strengthened the extra-long-range A321XLR’s market positioning – while the 77 deliveries brought the total number of A320neo/A321neo jetliners delivered to customers/operators above the 1,000 mark. Leading October orders was Indian carrier IndiGo’s for 300 additional A320neo Family aircraft, taking its overall order for the type to 730. Other bookings in October for the A321XLR included 30 for Malaysia’s AirAsia X, 20 for Hungarian-based Wizz Air, 12 for JetSMART of Chile, and two for an unidentified customer. Another unidentified customer ordered 13 A321XLRs in a transaction that also included 12 A330-900 highly efficient wide-bodies. Completing the A320 Family orders during the month was China Airlines’ contract for 11 A321neos; seven A320neos for Taiwan’s Tigerair; and an agreement by the U.S. based lessor Aviation Capital Group for three A320neos. Overall, the A320neo Family reached a new milestone of over 7,000 orders from 113 customers with a backlog of more than 6,000. New transactions were also booked in October for the latest member of Airbus’ single-aisle product line: the A220. France’s Réunion Island-based airline, Air Austral, signed a firm order for three A220s, becoming the first A220 customer in the Indian Ocean region; while Air Tanzania, the A220’s initial African-based operator, extended its fleet of A220-300s with two additional aircraft. The 77 deliveries during the month were made to 45 customers and led by the A320 Family with 59 deliveries (56 NEOs and three CEOs). Since the A320neo Family entry into service in 2016, October marked Airbus’ 1,000th A320neo Family delivery, an aircraft which was received by IndiGo. Among the other notable deliveries in October were the first A321neo for Taiwan’s STARLUX Airlines (through lessor GECAS). Completing the October deliveries were four A220s, along with 14 Airbus wide-body aircraft: eight A350-900s and six A330s (four NEOs and two CEOs). During the first 10 months of 2019, Airbus made 648 deliveries overall to 92 customers, compared with 584 aircraft over the same period of 2018 – equivalent to 64 more deliveries. Taking the latest orders and deliveries into account, Airbus’ aircraft backlog as of 31 October stood at 7,471 aircraft including 6,107 A320 Family, 436 A220 Family, 593 A350 XWBs, 284 A330s and 51 A380s.
BOEING
Boeing will showcase its broad portfolio of commercial and defense products, services and technologies at the 2019 Dubai Airshow, which runs November 17-21 at Dubai World Central. The company’s presence and activities at the show will focus on safety, innovation and industry partnerships in the growing Middle East market. At Boeing’s exhibit, visitors can immerse themselves in a 360-degree theater and learn more about the company’s capabilities throughout the product life cycle. An interactive display will highlight Boeing’s latest family of aircraft and services, as well as the company’s vision for the future of mobility. A seating mock-up and virtual reality experience will offer visitors a closer look at the 777X. The exhibit will be located near the main entrance of the exhibit hall (1110). On the airfield, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner will demonstrate the breakthrough capabilities and innovations that have made it a favorite of both operators and customers. This unique 787 sports a full-body decal celebrating the Employees Community Fund of Boeing, the company’s employee-managed charitable fund. An Etihad 787-9, Emirates 777-300ER and a Boeing Passenger Air Vehicle (PAV) will be on static display. The U.S. Department of Defense also will display several Boeing platforms at the show, including an F-15E fighter, an MV-22 tiltrotor and a KC-46A tanker. The UAE will showcase a CH-47F Chinook helicopter. Boeing’s market outlook values the Middle East commercial airplane and services market at more than $1.5 trillion over the next 20 years. Boeing also anticipates 40% of defense and space opportunities in the next decade will originate outside the U.S., with strong platform and services growth opportunities in the Middle East.
In observance of Veterans Day in the United States and Remembrance Day in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, Boeing announced a $10.4 million charitable grants package to support 102 veterans nonprofit organizations worldwide. The package will fund programs through 2020 and beyond. This latest investment builds on Boeing’s three-year, $25 million commitment to increase veterans giving. Since 2017, Boeing has donated $27.4 million in support of veterans programs. Boeing’s investment includes a $500,000 grant to the Military Spouse Corporate Career Network (MSCCN) and its sister nonprofit, Corporate America Supports You (CASY). Funds will support the direct placement of 1,500 military spouses and 2,000 unemployed and underemployed National Guard, reservists and veterans over a three-year period.
OTHER NEWS
- Well, the link title says it all – and it is really, really, really big! Just use your right arrow key to see how small you really are!
- To see how financially small you really are! Mapping the Population of Global Millionaires in 2019
- Your microvascular system may help determine aircraft cooling Mimicking body’s circulatory AC could keep airplanes, cars and computers cooler: Researchers’ program designs materials with human-like microvasculature — ScienceDaily
- How about some hot music in your safety video – try Korean Air! Korean Air X SuperM Safety Video – YouTube And as one reader noted: “Imagine the amount of people who may buy a ticket to literally anywhere just to see this video.” Pretty cool!
- What is happening to the A380? Why was the Airbus A380 a Failure? – YouTube
- “A new game called Airplane Mode might provide the most relaxed gaming experience imaginable, as players are only tasked with enjoying the ride as a passenger on a six hour trans-Atlantic flight that plays out in real time.” Honestly, a Video Game That Strands You On a Boring Six-Hour Flight Is Just What I Need Right Now
- Wow, how stupid am I? Recently I got in some photo’s of flight scenery from Bob Bogash, a retired, smart friend and airplane enthusiast. In my last email we sent, I suggested he build a website for some of the amazing air pictures he has. “Hah”, he noted, and this is why: Trains, Planes, and —
Paris, Amstelveen | June 11, 2019–EPCOR, the AFI KLM E&M subsidiary specializing in MRO solutions for pneumatic systems and Auxiliary Power Units (APU), has announced the signature of a new contract with existing client EL AL. Signed on June 3, 2019 in Tel Aviv, this new exclusive agreement covers the entire Boeing 777 fleet of the carrier, comprising six aircraft. It marks the renewal of a previous contract for supporting EL AL’s APUs of type GTCP331-500.
EPCOR’s Managing Director, Martijn de Vries said: “Last year EL AL entrusted us with the long-term maintenance of its 16 type APS5000 APUs. With this new signature, we are strengthening the partnership that unites us and we are consolidating the foundations of our future collaboration“.
Lufthansa Systems will participate in activities of Cockpit Innovation’s investment fund
Raunheim/Tel Aviv | November 7, 2017– Cockpit Innovation, the high-tech investment arm of EL AL Israel Airlines, and Lufthansa Systems announced the formation of a unique strategic partnership in the realm of aviation and travel entrepreneurship. Under the new partnership, Lufthansa Systems will support with identifying and cultivating breakthrough startup technologies. Furthermore the company will play a major role in the process of locating and selecting startups to cooperate with Cockpit, by sending experts from the company to work with the startups on relevant developments.
Lufthansa Systems’ goal is to partner with promising startups in the aviation and travel industry through the Cockpit Fund activities and then connect the entrepreneurs and their innovative technologies with the industry’s leading airlines. Cockpit has invested so far in seven companies from a variety of fields such as AI, Big Data, communications and fintech (financial technology) that create new, high-quality value for customers and enhance the efficiency of airlines and other sectors in the industry. Among the portfolio are 30secondstofly, Routier and Bidflyer.
In addition, Cockpit recently became a key investor in the second fundraising round of AeroCRS, in which the startup raised more than NIS 1 million. AeroCRS developed a platform based on an advanced SaaS (Software as a Service) model that enables airlines to set up and manage their entire digital operations, distribution and sales system within a short time – sometimes within few days. AeroCRS currently serves more than 50 airlines around the world.
Henry Chen Weinstein, CEO at Cockpit, says: “The right partnerships have proved themselves as innovation catalysts. We are constantly working to expand Cockpit’s global ecosystem. The connection between Cockpit and a leader in the worldwide industry such as Lufthansa Systems is undoubtedly a major achievement on the path toward the ability to invest in and support startups that focus on additional sectors in the industry on a global scale.”
Stefan Auerbach, CEO at Lufthansa Systems, added: “We are delighted being part of this unique digital travel and aviation collaboration for entrepreneurs. The core of our company strategy is to put airlines in a perfect position for the digital future. Together, we will become true sources of potential and inspiration for innovative ideas”
- Israeli airline opts for SchedConnect – expansion of long-standing customer relationship
Raunheim, Germany | October 5, 2016– Lufthansa Systems today announced that EL AL Israel Airlines now manages its codeshare connections using SchedConnect. This solution from Lufthansa Systems flexibly adapts the management of codeshare flights to schedule changes and offers a high degree of automation. This enables EL AL to optimize its codeshare management while reducing costs and enhancing its competitiveness. The two companies signed a five-year agreement for the solution which is in use since mid-September.
“We previously coordinated our codeshare connections largely manually. Thanks to the extensive automation of the system, SchedConnect will considerably simplify our codeshare management, prevent errors and optimize processes,” said Sandu Jacob, Data Base Department Manager, Scheduling & Distribution System Division at EL AL. “We expect significant cost savings from this as well as additional revenues.”
SchedConnect offers a high degree of automation by calculating the optimum codeshare connections on a daily basis. To do this, the system processes schedule data from over 150 airlines worldwide. Each and every month, five million codeshare connections on average are calculated using SchedConnect. If a minimum connecting time fails to be met due a schedule change or a partner flight is canceled, the system automatically assigns the marketing flight number to another suitable connecting flight from the partner. Changes are sent through the reservation systems to travel agents and customers as well as to the operations and passenger-related systems of the airlines involved.
“EL AL has been our customer for over ten years, and we are delighted that, in choosing SchedConnect, it has opted for yet another solution from our company,” said Marco Cesa, Senior Vice President Regional Management EMEA. “EL AL can now benefit from the advantages of a professional codeshare management system with a central flight schedule database and the automated exchange of schedule data.”
In addition to SchedConnect, EL AL uses the leading Lido/Flight flight planning solution, manages its crews with NetLine/Crew and entertains passengers with the wireless BoardConnect in-flight entertainment system.
EL AL Israel Airlines, Israel’s flag carrier, was founded in 1948 and offers more nonstop flights to and from Israel than any other airline. EL AL flies from Israel to 35 destinations and serves hundreds of others worldwide through partnerships and codeshare agreements with other airlines. EL AL embodies Israel’s innovative spirit and is known for its authentic hospitality.
This week we continue to review the Portland Parade of IFEC that we introduced last time to cover some folks we didn’t mention previously. Over the next few weeks we will try to cover all we talked with and give our readers a brief review. If you had not heard, El Al won the Best Achievement in Passenger Experience Award at APEX this year for “Cockpit”, and high Tech innovation hub – a way for the airline to help fund and develop new technology products and services that will contribute eventually to revenues. It works like this: “Today reality in the aviation world challenged El Al to create additional sources of revenue apart from flight tickets – by developing new businesses on the existing platform from the realization that innovation is to the aviation world like breathing is to life.” By finding and supporting new innovations from the world of ideas and making them successful businesses is an interesting idea for airline revenue enhancement. Congratulations to Rinat Cohen and his team! And speaking of APEX, we got a bit confused about all the planned APEX events till we saw their Forthcoming Events display – It might help you as well!
AirFi
AirFi are the ‘portable’ Wi-Fi folks from the Netherlands and we talked with Martjin Moret and Job Heimrikx about their Wi-Fi product and they told us that their “little white server/router box” has been flying since January of this year, have 100 in service and 245 by the end of the year… all in more than 100 airplanes soon. The “portable’ white box streams to 50 passengers for 15 hours with 50 users. We understand is on a B787 delivering second screen entertainment. Also, expect a new version to be shown at AIX that will deliver stronger signals, faster data rates, and serve more people with more movies. We anticipate a new moving map display and customizable points of interest. Martijn told IFExpress that there is no STC involved so the units are usually stored in a bin and they have patents pending on the device.
Rockwell Collins
Rockwell showcased a portfolio of cabin solutions in Portland featuring in-flight entertainment, connectivity and content services – all aimed at demonstrating technologies that will engage, entertain and empower airline passengers. “We’re investing heavily in flexible IFEC solutions and applications that, when coupled with our Ka-band global connectivity offering, bring a very compelling value proposition to airlines,” noted Craig Elliott, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Air Transport Cabin Solutions for Rockwell Collins. “Airlines will be able to personalize the experience for their passengers, resulting in increased brand loyalty and additional revenue.” We noted Inflight Internet and satcom services using Global Xpress that featured crew connectivity, real-time credit card authorization and wireless IFE, On-Demand seat centric IFE using a cool and intuitive touchscreen seatback interface, Broadcast entertainment, and an Airshow App – very nice. Rockwell Paves On-Demand in-flight entertainment (IFE) system is now offered for the 737 MAX. The seat-centric IFE solution has been added to the 737 MAX catalog. With the PAVES On-demand seat-centric design, each in-seat system is independent, so if one unit has an issue, no other in-seat systems are affected. Additionally, PAVES On-demand is equipped with a quick-release mechanism to quickly remove and replace in-seat displays. Security-wise. Also we note that Rockwell Collins has been selected by Boeing to provide the Avionics Gateway secure server on new 777X airplanes. The Avionics Gateway will feature the newest generation of Rockwell Collins’ Secure Server Router (SSR) that enables the safe transfer of data between the flight-deck, cabin crew and airline operations on the ground. Next-generation aircraft will offer incredible on-board networking capabilities and aircraft makers like Boeing are investing in sophisticated, secure solutions to ensure the networks are protected from malicious threats. Stay Tuned, or should we say, Watch Out!
KID-SYSTEME
KID rolled out their cabin and cargo surveillance system and you can check out the easy-to-understand presentation here. The system comprises a myriad of aircraft applications including, Cockpit Door Surveillance, Cabin Video Monitoring and Cargo Surveillance in one common system. It is designed to be aircraft program / manufacturer independent to enable a fleet-wide deployment of a common video surveillance solution for airline customers. Click on the Video Surveillance link in the above website to get an excellent slide presentation of the system. We note that it is capable of monitoring some 20 cameras in the cabin and cargo areas and the system has a modular architecture that adds video recording, watermarking, connectivity and more (link). This system is one of the most flexible and least obtrusive in the cabin. Interestingly, the 5 megapixel cameras only consume 2.8 watts and look more like small access panels. Further, the watermarked live video streams enables video recording as evidence.
Latitude Aero
We had an unscheduled meeting with nice guy, Kelvin Boyette, President and CEO, from Latitude Aero, a newer entrant in the seat refurbishment business. In the Rockwell Collins booth, Latitude had an example of their work. Noted Mr. Boyette: “The overall goal was to provide a proof of concept of turning an older, mid-90’s first class seat into a newer slimline seat with in seat video as opposed to in-arm. The Sicma seats were manufactured in 1996 and modified again in 2001. Other than that they remained untouched until we acquired them in August. In addition, we were also able to introduce their new 12” monitor into the seats as well.” He also noted, “We were able to complete the seats in 22 days, also proving our R&D and conceptual abilities that will allow the IFE/ISPS providers and seat OEMs the ability to use us for their outsourced R&D prototyping. Typical proof of concept seats have taken as long as 7-8 weeks at other facilities to go from design to shipment. I have uploaded quite a few pics from the show onto our Facebook page.” Check them out as they look very capable.
“Overall for the airline,” noted Kelvin, “getting a ‘new look’ seat with modern amenities and current generation IFE for around half the price of a new seat is quite a deal.” We agree.
For AIX followers, for the tenth time now, the Crystal Cabin Award Association is calling for submissions their international prize in aircraft interiors. The search is on for the most innovative ideas and products related to traveling above the clouds. Entries will be accepted at www.crystal-cabin-award.com until 4 November, and the winners will be announced, as always, as part of the Aircraft Interiors Expo (5 – 7 April, 2016) in Hamburg. The talented few who manage to win the hearts and minds of the 24 members of the expert jury will join the elite ranks of an impressive gallery of winners. This year alone saw such big names as B/E Aerospace, ViaSat, Embraer, and Etihad Airways taking home the trophies. And to make the Award even more attractive in its jubilee year, an eighth category has been added: “Cabin Concepts”. Meanwhile, the “Cabin Systems”, “Electronic Systems”, “Passenger Comfort Hardware”, and “Visionary Concepts” categories have been refined to further sharpen the focus in these fields.
The folks at BAE Systems just published a bit about their in-seat power system development.
CIT Aerospace notes that the top four US airlines account for 83% of US traffic; in Europe, it takes 40 airlines to account for 83% there – just thought you wanted to know.
Rumor has it that the new ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital (FEH) had two recent successful flight tests. Check it out here.
And lastly, Ron Chapman is back… and he told IFExpress that we “might go Ape” over his new connectivity solution.
Tel Aviv | August 5, 2015– Boeing [NYSE: BA] is pleased that EL AL Israel Airlines has announced its intent to purchase and lease up to 15 787 Dreamliners, with purchase rights for 13 additional airplanes. When finalized, the order will be posted to the Boeing Orders & Deliveries website.
“We are honored that EL AL has selected the 787 for its fleet renewal plan,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner. “The Dreamliner will be an excellent addition to EL AL’s all-Boeing fleet and marks another chapter in a partnership between our two companies that spans over half a century.”
London, UK | March 27, 2013– Bluebox Avionics announces that Israel’s flag carrier, El Al, has significantly expanded the scale of the recently deployed Bluebox Ai portable inflight entertainment system. El Al initially deployed the Bluebox Ai solution in September 2012 providing customers with access to the latest Hollywood early window content as well as a range of other movie, TV, audio, reading and gaming content all delivered via secure iPad devices. This has proven so successful that the flag carrier ordered more units to meet demand, tripling the current implementation to 300 units.
Tal Kalderon, Inflight Entertainment Manager at El Al, is delighted with the impact of Bluebox. “Passengers have really taken to the Bluebox solution which has lived up to its promise of delivering a wide range of engaging content in a powerful package. It has also proven to be very easy for us to manage. We therefore decided to quickly increase the number of units we have deployed to make more widely available to our passengers.”
David Brown, Joint Managing Director of Bluebox recognises the value of customers expanding. “This decision to increase the number of Bluebox Ai units deployed so quickly after the initial roll out underlines the significant impact of the solution. El Al’s customers are delighted, the airline is clearly delighted and of course we are also delighted.“
Inflight connectivity is about getting data to and from a passenger’s laptop, or getting their voice to the right ear, wherever that might be. The technology behind it may not be interesting to passengers, but it is technological developments, such as TriaGnoSys’ new GSM roaming solution, that drive increased efficiencies, reduce costs and thereby enable airlines to offer more connectivity to more people.”
