(Image: Dinosaur Planet from the ARC 3D Map Suite of Young Explorers from Panasonic Avionics)

During AIX Hamburg Panasonic Avionics Corporation (PAC) focused on their position as a strategic partner shaping the future travel experience in conjunction with their airline customers and ecosystem partners. PAC said, “We are looking at ways to address the new era in travel that responds directly to changes in passengers’ expectations.”

You may well remember that during APEX Boston, the company launched their Wellness solutions – a collection of comfort and care technologies that promote well-being – and in Hamburg, they announced that Etihad is the official launch customer for the offering. “One of the biggest challenges air passengers face when travelling across multiple time zones is jet lag. To help passengers combat this, Panasonic, in collaboration with Detalytics, has developed a new innovation called Jet Lag Adviser, and this is being integrated into Etihad’s passenger app.  The Jet Lag Adviser takes a range of passenger inputs including chronotype, circadian rhythms, height, weight, the nature of travel, and travel information such as flight times, routes and zones and uses its artificial intelligence engine to produce personalized jet lag plans for passengers with tailored advisories to help them reduce jet lag.”

They are also increasing their range of Wellness solutions with the launch of Calm and myNoise. Calm is one of the premiere apps for sleep, meditation and relaxation and will introduce a series of visual and audio enhancements for passengers that will be integrated into Panasonic’s Wellness solutions. Categories include Breathing & Meditation, and Nature Scenes to reduce stress and aid relaxation, Sounds & Music for relaxation and sleep, and audio Sleep Stories to help passengers rest. myNoise is a collection of soundscapes that travelers can listen to that facilitate relaxation, sleep, focus and enjoyment. Based on the elapsed time in flight and an individual jet lag schedule, Panasonic will recommend different soundscapes to help passengers relax, focus and enjoy their flight by reducing inflight anxiety and aiding sleep, neutralizing the ambient noise for a more focused mindset, and helping them express their creativity for the best possible experience.

One of their major announcements in Germany was the launch of the ARC Inflight Map Platform, which is a “revolutionary” 3D inflight map application and service for Panasonic’s NEXT and X Series IFEC systems. In a nutshell, ARC brings a wide range of innovative new features to the traditional inflight map application, while expanding that concept into a fully integrated experience within the IFEC system. In other words, the map has evolved into a service technology with extensive configuration options, improved passenger experience, premium point of interest content and analytics to optimize passenger interaction. “This is the first truly personalized map application,” said Andrew Mohr, Head of Innovation for PAC. Designed and built by Sweden-based Tactel, the development work is largely over and the product will enter into service in the first quarter of 2020. The short-term focus is on developing detailed content of regions so descriptions are available when an aircraft flies over them. Andrew is particularly pleased about ARC’s Suite of Young Explorers for children, which boasts features like: Dinosaur Planet (see the article image above), Pick a Planet, Design Your World, and new games, which will be announced shortly. “I’ve been advocating for a children’s moving map interface with dinosaurs for years!” said Mohr.

ARC goes hand-in-hand with another newly announced cloud-based service called Insights, which is a comprehensive data analytics offering that provides an in-depth view of onboard experiences to empower smarter business decisions. Insights capabilities include: diagnostics and descriptive analytics, predictive and prescriptive analytics, behavioral and sentiment analytics – all enable a personalized experience for the passenger and facilitate improved operational efficiency for the airline by harvesting onboard and third-party data from various passenger touch points including IFE, connectivity, location and weather monitors, as well as, social media. Oh, and of course, all this is done in real-time. Data analytics specialist Black Swan is working with Panasonic on the Insights project. When ARC and Insights are combined, a powerful tool is at the airline’s fingertips, or should we say wingtips!

All of these developments facilitate the concept of travel as the fourth place, which Panasonic focused on during their presentation in the Digital Trends Stream of the Passenger Experience Conference (covered in previous issue of IFExpress); as well as, during their press briefing at AIX. “We are the airlines’ strategic partner for shaping the future travel experience,” said David Bartlett CTO of PAC. “Imagine what flying could be like when a personally curated experience promotes, rest, wellness, and maybe even a sense of play.”

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GOGO

Gogo Announces First Quarter 2019 Financial Results

Key Highlights for Q1 2019:

• Consolidated revenue of $200 million–at the high end of our preliminary estimated range of $197 million to $200 million provided on April 15, 2019
• Net loss of $16.8 million–39% year-over-year improvement
• Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $38 million–as compared with $11.9 million in Q1 2018
• Net Cash Used in Operating Activities of $(6.2) million; Unlevered Free Cash Flow of $11.1 million (1)
• Subsequent to the end of the first quarter, Gogo completed its previously announced offerings of $925 million aggregate principal amount of 9.875% senior secured notes due 2024 and commenced a tender offer for the outstanding 3.75% senior convertible notes due 2020

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AIRBUS

• The first A330neo of the Americas has been delivered to Azul Linhas Aéreas on lease from Avolon, becoming the first airline from the Americas to fly the A330-900. The aircraft is the first of 15 A330neo ordered by Avolon. The A330neo, Airbus’ new generation A330 aircraft, will be used by the airline to expand its international route network between Brazil and Europe and the United States. Fitted with a three-class cabin accommodating 34 business class, 96 economy Xtra and 168 economy class seats, the A330neo offers passengers greater comfort along with the newest and the most advanced in-flight experience while the airline will benefit from the aircraft’s unrivalled operating economics. The A330neo is the true new-generation aircraft building on the most popular wide body A330’s features and leveraging on A350 XWB technology. Powered by the latest Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, the A330neo provides an unprecedented level of efficiency – with 25% lower fuel burn per seat than previous generation competitors. Equipped with the Airbus Airspace cabin, the A330neo offers a unique passenger experience with more personal space and the latest generation in-flight entertainment system and connectivity.
• The first A330-900 widebody destined for Delta Air Lines made its inaugural test flight Tuesday from Toulouse airport. The highly fuel-efficient twin-engine jet, one of 35 Delta has on order, is due to be delivered to the Atlanta, Georgia-based airline in the coming weeks. The A330-900 is the larger of the two A330neo variants that Airbus launched in 2014. The A330neo brings significant efficiency improvements while also introducing the award-winning Airspace by Airbus cabin, which offers the newest and most advanced in-flight experience with extra personal space, larger overhead luggage bins, latest generation in-flight entertainment system and state-of-the-art ambient lighting. Incorporating the latest-generation Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, along with aerodynamic enhancements – including new extended composite wingtips which provide 3.7 metres of increased overall wing-span, as well as increased lift and reduced drag – the A330neo is a more efficient aircraft, delivering 25% lower fuel burn than previous generation aircraft and the lowest seat-mile cost in its category. The A330-900 range is 6,550 nautical miles in a typical three-class configuration.
• Deliveries April 2019: Airbus logged orders for a total of five A350 XWB and A330neo widebody jetliners in April and delivered 70 aircraft during the month from across its A220, A320, A330neo and A350 XWB single-aisle and widebody product lines. Deliveries in April were made to 35 customers. In the single-aisle sector, Airbus provided three A220s, and 57 A320 Family aircraft (47 in the NEO configuration, along with 10 CEO versions). For widebody jetliners, two A330neo jetliners were provided during the month, along with eight A350 XWBs (in both the A350-900 and A350-1000 configurations). Taking the latest orders, deliveries and cancellations into account, Airbus’ backlog of jetliners remaining to be delivered as of 30 April stood at 7,287 aircraft.

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OTHER NEWS

• Know about the AEEC Subcommittees and Working Groups? Here is a great list by the AEEC and AMC – Subcommittees & Workgroups | SAE ITC
• Need satellite data or images? Check this out at Airbus: Airbus startup aims to make satellite imagery easier to use
• Ever seen a Beluga take-off? First take-off of Airbus’ BelugaXL – Album on Imgur
• What is the longest flight like for a traveler? What It Feels Like To Travel On The Longest Flight In The World – Digg
• If you think you know about Neural Networks, well, you might or might not. Here is a video that will get you started (there are 2 available). Hope you like math!
• “1. You can’t change other people, and it’s rude to try.” And 87 more here – 88 Important Truths I’ve Learned About Life
• In 4 years, 97% of passengers will be AI scanned – U.S. Airports Will Use AI To Scan 97% Of Passengers’ Faces Within 4 Years
• Where is all the antimatter cause it should be here after the “Big Bang”? Antimatter breakthrough indicates the universe is hiding something Dont know what antimatter it is? Try this: Antimatter keeps with quantum theory. It’s both particle and wave | Science News
• We wondered about this: American Airlines Just Quietly Did Something That’s Very Bad News For Customers (Southwest Did It, Too) | Inc.com And here is one reason why! Will Fuel Prices Spoil Airline Profits In 2019? | Commercial Aviation content from Aviation Week

 

 

 

Singapore’s myKrisWorld Sets a New Standard in Personalization for Airline Passengers

Lake Forest, California | November 2, 2017–Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic), a world leader in Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC), and Singapore Airlines, today introduced a series of eight new innovations in personalization with the launch of myKrisWorld – the airline’s newest inflight entertainment offering.

Hideo Nakano, Chief Executive Officer for Panasonic Avionics Corp., said, “Panasonic Avionics and Singapore Airlines have always been at the forefront of IFEC innovation.  Whether it’s the shift to in-seat audio/video to video on demand, or the introduction of high-speed connectivity services to passengers, both companies have embraced technologies and services that have defined premium air travel. Today, we are proud to partner with Singapore Airlines to introduce the latest tectonic shift in our industry — personalization.”

Nakano continued, “Last year, we helped Singapore Airlines introduce their award-winning companion app. Today, we’re taking that personalized experience to even greater heights with a series of innovative features that include passenger log-in at their seat; playlist, bookmark, language preference storage and wallpaper customization between flights; customized and personalized entertainment spotlights; popular, trending and recommended content; and exclusive content based on frequent flier tier.”

myKrisWorld embraces Panasonic’s vision for IFEC, which centers around the concept of “the Internet of Me,” taking all of the things that people care about and bringing them together to deliver personalized and contextualized experiences.  Each of these features is made possible by Panasonic’s ability to deliver actionable analytics, where data is used to improve the quality of the passenger experience.

With myKrisWorld, the experience starts before passengers board their flight. Passengers can use Singapore Airlines’ app or website to preview content and set up their customized playlist. Once onboard, they can either synchronise their mobile device or log in at their seat to access their pre-selected content.

Crowd-sourced data will offer up alternative titles that are popular. It can ask passengers if they want to finish the movie that they started on the previous flights. It can also make recommendations based on a passenger’s individual habits and what content is trending inflight at that moment in time.

Nakano concluded, “What is truly exciting is that we were able to leverage Singapore Airlines’ previous investment in our eX3 system and introduce this new suite of personalized experiences.

“By embracing the culture of mobile, we can increase the rate of evolution in the passenger experience, transforming what was once a passive entertainment system into another digital channel that airlines can leverage to better serve their customers.”

For the past three or so years we have known PXCom’s Cyril Jean and from a personality point-of-view, he is one of the nicest in the industry. Lately, he has been on our radar as a potential industry tree-shaker. Let us explain.

While he has been in our industry, Cyril has towed the straight line when it comes to the application of entertainment content for the travel industry- specifically as we know it, inflight entertainment content and information solutions. In the past, he and his company have been looking into a ‘more evaluative solution’ …our words, not his. By that, we mean, his solutions have been (till now) standard inflight entertainment and travel destination related. However, we recently got an interesting press release and Infographic from PXCom that got our attention on the Personalization Cycle.

In the link, it noted “Now it’s time to take traditional screens already built into passenger seats and bring them into the digital revolution. With new available technologies, these screens have become an actual digital media with the capacity of communicating directly with each passenger’s smartphone. This is a revolution that offers incredible opportunities!” which really caught our eye. Not only does the piece poo-poo the old pop-up window advertising concept, it outlays a new concept for that process that focuses on ‘personalized message content’ – “People more readily accept ads that are targeted to their immediate situation. If not, the advertiser risks being permanently blocked by an ‘ad-blocker’. In other words, all of the marketing tools being developed are currently focused on personalizing message content.”

“In this environment, PXCom has launched a research program aiming at creating a model to personalize services depending on the destination. This model takes into consideration the latest technology available in current passenger entertainment systems, and anticipates future evolutions.” We had to find out more, so we contacted PXCom’s chief, Cyril Jean and asked a few questions:

1. IFExpress Did you develop this yourselves or did you use an outside source?
Cyril: We developed PXCom-bound topics by ourselves. Our goal with this infographics and article is to try to federate the IFE stakeholders. As you can easily understand PXCom alone cannot do anything. This personalization cycle involves the IFE manufacturers’ teams. And yes, we are already exchanging with some of them on that topic.

2. IFExpress: Is this new concept considered an adaptive technology?
Cyril: Software experts will answer no, since we do not use adaptive algorithms. Yet, we can consider it is ‘adaptive’ since the weights of the factors change with the pax usages. (Editor’s Note: Cyril told us that personalization data companies like Google, Facebook or Tripadvisor are far-ahead of the IFE industry when it comes to personalization and we have to agree.)

3 IFExpress: This is the first of this technology we have seen for IFE, is that correct?
Cyril: Correct.

4. IFExpress: Please describe how this concept (or the software) works?
Cyril: Well, it’s all about data gathering and the core software is on the back office for data matching.

5. IFExpress: Can you give an example of how a user would input their preference or is there another way to get the preference data for the computer?
Cyril: A simple example is:
· Flight 1 : you browse the destination guide and open some “Arts Galleries” points of interest.
· Flight 2 : You’re flying to NYC, and the IFE has included in your “Personalized Selection” the latest exhibition at the MoMA (+ a skip the line offer), and the latest art gallery sponsoring its property.
· Flight 3 : The system is informed that you’re flying with your kids, and you find in your “Personalized Section” a special offer for LegoLand.

6. IFExpress: I say ‘computer’ but I really don’t know what I am talking about? Can you give a bit more info about operation?
Cyril: It’s all about the pax profile. Far more easy to implement with BYOD IFE. Regarding seatback screens, it mainly works thanks to the Companion App. Since the players (Airlines, IFE Manufacturers, PXCom) can access your inflight profile, everything can be stored in the IFE server, and downloaded/uploaded once the aircraft lands for back-office batch processing. The only intelligence which has to be loaded onboard the IFE server is PXCom’s software in order to match the factors.

7. IFExpress: I assume the passenger preference is determined by some pax-system ‘testing’ in the front end of the trip… but I do not have clue how the pax interaction with the system works. Can you help?
Cyril: The system records the browsing path, favorites selections and booking options for each flight. These records are used for the next flights.

8. IFExpress: What, exactly then, is the passenger profile?
Cyril: Our PAX profile relies on a list of characteristics as described in our infographics. Each point of interest/destination activity is tagged according to the same mapping. The platform operates the matching between the tags in real time.

9. IFExpress: How is it determined? Do passengers input any personal data so your system can determine ‘what they want or like’?
Cyril: Our platform’s requirements feature a special module enabling passengers’ inputs. Yet, there is currently a paradox well described in this article.

As explained in this article, pax are not ready to share personal data, except on social networks. Hence the solution may be found in partnerships with companies whose core business is social data gathering & analysis. In the “on-the-ground” world we are at the dawn of personalization-driven marketing. Passengers no longer understand a technological gap between on-the-ground and In-flight technology. Hence, the IFE industry has to listen carefully to the trends which are arising.

Inflight media has always been considered a premium relying on the sole quality of its affluent & captive audience. The IFE industry has an absolute opportunity to maintain this position… for the airlines’ ancillaries sake.

10. IFExpress: Is there any interest by airlines?
Cyril: To be fully transparent for the moment we do not exchange much on that topic with the airlines. They know what our goals are and agree with that, but the immediate future is to provide pax with our innovative services.

11. IFExpress: Is there any test being done by an airline… and what is the airline interest?
Cyril: It is far too early. Yet, I know that some players such as SITA OnAir have both technology and agility to perform this with PXCom.

12. IFExpress: What do advertisers say?
Cyril: Guess what? They love it, of course. Advertisers are more likely to pay when they have the ROI insurance. And such personalized offers are in the current marketing trends. PXCom “mission” is to participate in transforming the IFE from a tactic media (global broadcast of ads) to a strategic media (promotion of extremely targeted ads) focused on destination-related services.

Finally, Cyril told IFExpress: “PXCom is currently studying some partnership proposals with major retailers and big brands of fine delicacies in order to onboard the service in the early 2016. The competitive edge for these brands relies in PXCom solution’s portability from one IFE platform to another without any additional development.” Stay Tuned!

For more information, you might contact Cyril  and
in conclusion, it might be interesting for the APEX or AIX crowd to consider a new discussion/research category – The Personalization Cycle?

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MORE NEWS

1) AIX 2016 will welcome more than 50 new exhibitors for the first time, along with long standing exhibitors including Airbus, B/E Aerospace, Boeing, Panasonic and Zodiac Aerospace. It will be taking place as always in Hamburg, from 5-7 April, with the Passenger Experience Conference on 4 April.

2) Recently, we got an interesting letter from Boeing retiree, Bob Bogash about his efforts in the aviation safety area. Now we know, this is an InFlight Entertainment and Connectivity newsletter but Bob’s research into aviation safety is complete, data driven and available to read on his website.
When we asked about his data accuracy and his “recent” piloting certification, he responded: “I just report the FACTS, as derived from public documents, and where I give my opinion, I state it as my opinion. As far as “recently obtained pilot skills” goes, I got my Pilot’s License on July 15, 1964 and have been flying for 51 years”… Sorry Bob!

3) Hah! You thought we made a mistake in last week’s edition of IFExpress when we quoted the Gogo 2Ku flight test speed trial at 5 to 6 GB/sec… but you knew the answer was higher than it should be, yes 5 to 6 Gb/sec is correct. Our readers were tested and here is the first “winner” to note the discovery – Peter Lemme. And thank you for your input!