August 21, 2018–North America-based completions and MRO specialist Flying Colours Corp., has completed its first Ka-band installation on a Gulfstream GV airframe. Installation by the Flying Colours avionics team required the mounting of the radome, tail antenna and cabin hardware to bring powerful connectivity to the cabin and flight-deck. The work, part of a major refurbishment of the cabin interior, and revamp of the fuselage exterior, was completed in July at the Peterborough, ON. headquarters.The service, supplied through the Honeywell JetWave™ system, is powered by Inmarsat’s Global Xpress satellite constellation to deliver ultra-high-speed broadband connectivity to the aircraft. Web-surfing, voice calls and texting, the use of messaging apps, email exchange, gaming, streaming television and video services are now available throughout the cabin. Onboard hardware serves data via the WiFi system to multiple personal devices carried on board, as well as the aircraft’s own cabin management and inflight entertainment systems which were also upgraded as part of the major refurbishment project.

Rockwell Collins Venue™ revitalises cabin management system

Existing controls, screens and operating systems were also switched out and replaced with the Rockwell Collins Venue™ CMS. High-clarity touchscreen displays, intuitive controls and seamless integration into monuments enables optimal management of the cabin environment, ambience, communications and entertainment. Cabin-crew and passengers can now control mood lighting, cabin temperature, or music choices, as well as view Airshow® moving maps or box office movies from the convenience of their own smart devices.  The future proofed system architecture will also support new technologies as they come online.

“We knew this client was going to be regularly flying international routes and needed a robust connectivity solution, as well as a sophisticated CMS/IFE to effectively manage the passengers on-board experience. Both systems were the most logical choice to fit the aircraft’s demanding missions and customer expectations,” said Kevin Kliethermes, director of sales for Flying Colours. “Passengers increasingly want to replicate their terrestrial digital lifestyle, entertainment and communication options in the air. Ka-band, more sophisticated CMS and a growing array of satellite services make this possible. We anticipate we will be carrying out many more installations like this one across a range of airframes over the next twelve months,” said Kliethermes.

KID-Systeme

Let’s face it, one of the most important amenities on an aircraft is the USB power. In fact, the longer the flight the more important USB power is. Why? Because personal device battery life is a function of time. As you may remember from an earlier issue of IFExpress, we touched on the Mirus Aircraft Seating integration project for AirAsia’s new Hawk slimline economy seating for their A320 fleet that includes the IFE peripheral experts, IFPL, who are supplying the USB interface port for USB consumer technologies. What you may not know is that KID-Systeme is the single source supplier for the USB power source via their SKYpower system. This initial A320 retrofit program, which was announced in 2016, is now up and flying and has been followed-up by a line fit order for the airline’s new Airbus A320/A321neo aircraft. During AIX we had the opportunity to talk with KID about the project and they indicated that the high-power USB outlet in conjunction with the In-Seat Power Supply unit minimize weight while limiting the intrusion into the passenger space, facilitating the passenger experience in Wi-Fi equipped cabins. “… we celebrate a striking success in Asia together with Mirus and we are pleased to announce our new relationship with Mirus and IFPL, offering an innovative, low cost, low weight & high-power USB solution. The system can be installed on Airbus line-fit aircraft as well as on all types of retrofit programs”, says Jens Markworth, VP Sales KID-Systeme GmbH. SKYpower is designed with high power efficiency and low standby power and is intended to guarantee passengers with sufficient power to use their electronic devices, whether they be laptops, smartphones, and/or tablets en route. We foresee more teaming efforts like this one in the industry’s future.

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Rockwell Collins

Five Rockwell Collins engineers have been named to the fifth annual class of Rockwell Collins Fellows at a special ceremony yesterday with company leadership and members of the first four classes of Fellows.

Implemented in 2014, the Rockwell Collins Fellows program distinguishes exemplary engineers whose leadership, innovations and technical expertise — along with their dedication to mentoring others — advances Rockwell Collins and their respective fields.

The Class of 2018 Fellows are:

• Joseph Graf, principal systems engineer in Airborne and Ground Communications Products for Government Systems in Cedar Rapids
• Patrick Morrissey, senior security engineering manager for Commercial Systems Cyber Security Engineering in Cedar Rapids
• Warren Prasuhn, principal systems engineer in Safety Programs and Process for Commercial Systems in Cedar Rapids
• Karl Shepherd, principal systems engineer in Airborne Solutions for Government Systems in Cedar Rapids
• Joel Wichgers, principal systems engineer in Precision Positioning and Guidance for Engineering & Information Technology in Cedar Rapids

“Our Fellows are helping our company achieve industry-changing moments, historic wins and barrier-breaking technology that’s yet to come,” said Nan Mattai, senior vice president of Engineering & Information Technology. “I’m extremely proud of their accomplishments.”

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Gogo

Gogo Business Aviation says its AVANCE L5 connectivity system was installed on the 200th aircraft; it expects 500 by the end of 2018.

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Airbus:

The A320 Family Production Line

Airbus has inaugurated the fourth Hamburg A320 Family production line. Making use of digital technologies and a more flexible industrial set-up, the innovative state-of-the-art line is a key enabler for ramping up the single aisle program to 60 aircraft per month by mid-2019.

Frank Horch, Hamburg’s Senator of Economy, Transport and Innovation and Thomas Jarzombek, Federal Government Coordinator of German Aerospace Policy, witnessed the milestone together with Guillaume Faury, President Airbus Commercial Aircraft, and 500 distinguished guests at a special ceremony in Hamburg. “The inauguration of our latest, most modern A320 production line opens a new chapter in efficient, digital aircraft manufacturing,” said Guillaume Faury. “With these new technologies we are building our aircraft more efficiently, a key enabler for higher production rates. I would like to thank the teams, who pushed this newest Airbus production standard from concept to reality.”

With more than 14,000 A320ceo and A320neo Family aircraft ordered and over 8,100 delivered, the A320 is the world’s most successful single-aisle aircraft family. Incorporating the latest state-of-the-art technologies including new generation engines and Sharklets, the A320neo Family provides 15 percent fuel savings at delivery and 20 percent by 2020. To date the A320neo Family has captured nearly a 60 percent market share with more than 6,000 orders from 100 customers.

The A320 Family aircraft are manufactured globally, at Airbus sites in Europe, China and the US. In addition to the new production line, Airbus also inaugurated a larger and modernized Hamburg A320 Family delivery center with more customer areas, more efficient delivery processes and increased hospitality services.

Airbus & the Côte d’Ivoire

Airbus and the government of Côte d’Ivoire signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a framework of collaboration to support the development of the country’s aerospace industry which has been identified as strategic for its economic development. Under the terms of the MoU, Airbus and the government of Côte d’Ivoire will explore channels of cooperation in developing the aerospace sector in Côte d’Ivoire in various areas.

“We are confident that this partnership with Airbus will contribute to Côte d’Ivoire’s economic growth as well as support us build a stronger framework for industrial development, creation of jobs and capacity building for our country,” said his Excellency Daniel Kablan Duncan, Vice President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. We are committed to deliver on our vision and make Côte d’Ivoire a hub for aerospace technology in Africa,” he added.

“Collaboration between the public and private sector is essential to facilitate economic and industrial growth. Through this MoU we will work closely with Côte d’Ivoire’s government, share expertise, discuss opportunities and support efforts in building a robust and sustainable aerospace sector. At Airbus, we are committed to supporting the sustainable socioeconomic development of Africa through partnerships such as this. ” said Guillaume Faury, President Airbus Commercial Aircraft.

Airbus A330neo

The A330neo, Airbus’ newest widebody aircraft, has embarked on a worldwide tour to demonstrate its readiness for airline operations. As final step in the aircraft certification phase these function & reliability tests, also known as route proving will include ETOPS missions, landing at diversion airports and testing airport handling services. After a fly past over Airbus’ European sites, the A330neo will head for 15 major airports worldwide over five continents, aiming at achieving 150 Flight Test Hours in three trips. The route proving tests are performed with the first A330-900 production aircraft, fully equipped with an Airspace by Airbus cabin and flying in launch operator’s Tap Air Portugal colors. The aircraft first flew on 15th May 2018 launching flight-tests to check cabin systems such as air conditioning. The route proving tests form part of the last trials required for aircraft Type Certification scheduled for summer 2018.

Launched in July 2014, the A330neo family is the new generation A330, comprising two versions: the A330-800 and A330-900 sharing 99% commonality. It builds on the proven economics, versatility and reliability of the A330 family, while reducing fuel consumption by about 25 percent per seat versus previous generation competitors and increasing range by up to 1,500nm compared to the majority of A330s in operation. The A330neo is powered by Rolls-Royce’s latest-generation Trent 7000 engines and features a new wing with increased span and new A350 XWB inspired Sharklets. The cabin provides the comfort of the new “Airspace” amenities.

Airbus & Cathay Pacific Airways

Cathay Pacific Airways has become the second airline to operate the A350-1000, the world’s newest long range widebody airliner. The airline took delivery of the aircraft at a special event in Toulouse, France. The aircraft is the first of 20 A350-1000s ordered by Cathay Pacific and will join the carrier’s growing fleet of A350 XWB aircraft, which already includes 22 A350-900s. Both aircraft are complementary and provide for maximum commonality with unmatched operating efficiencies, while offering passengers the highest levels of comfort in all classes. Travelers will benefit from absolute well-being in the cabin, with more personal space, optimized cabin altitude, more fresh air, controlled temperature & humidity, integrated connectivity and the latest generation of in-flight entertainment system. With its true long-range capability, the A350-1000 will form an important part of Cathay Pacific long-haul operations. The aircraft will be deployed on the airline’s new non-stop route from Hong-Kong to Washington DC, representing the longest flight – approximately 17 hours – performed by any airline out of Hong Kong.

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SITA

Global air transport IT provider SITA has announced that its technology, BagJourney, is managing baggage for an increasing number of the world’s airlines. In the first six months of this year alone, more than 20 airlines have chosen the solution. SITA BagJourney is one of the key technologies helping the industry meet the IATA Resolution 753 requirement to track every stage of every bag’s journey.To meet the conditions of Resolution 753, airlines must track every item of baggage at four key points in the journey: at check-in, loading onto the aircraft, transfer and arrival. The biggest challenge airlines and airports face doing this is scanning at the point of transfer and on arrival. Typically, these were not areas of the airport where scanning was done so they require attention and new infrastructure. With a growing number of customers, SITA’s baggage management technology is firmly established as the solution of choice for the air transport industry. Together, SITA’s BagJourney customers handle hundreds of millions of bags each year and these airlines are enjoying as much as 30% reduction in the rates of mishandling. SITA has been the recognized leader in bag tracking and tracing for more than 25 years with its systems in every major airport in the world. SITA BagJourney is the world’s first community-based baggage tracking system that provides an end-to-end view of the baggage journey using data from multiple sources. Today, SITA is leading the baggage community by providing technology and professional services to help airlines track baggage and unlock the value of the vast amounts of tracking data that will be produced.

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Inmarsat

The London School of Economics, in association with Inmarsat Aviation, has revealed the findings of Sky High Economics: Evaluating the Economic Benefits of Connected Airline Operations. The report finds that consolidating the advantages of connected aircraft could deliver substantial economic benefits for the global airline industry, as well as significant environmental benefits, including a reduction in the industry’s annual global fuel use and a net reduction in CO2 output.

Highlights of the findings include:

Major savings for airlines

• The potential for multiple savings, efficiencies and safety opportunities could equate to a 0.75% – 1.00% reduction in the IATA consolidated US$764 billion annual global airline costs of operation.
• Savings could reach $15billion per year and a reduction of 21.3 million tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2035

Reduced delays for passengers

• Weather is responsible for 70% of all flight delays and is a contributing factor in 23% of aviation accidents. Connectivity, which allows airlines to improve navigation and avoid adverse weather conditions could deliver annual cost savings of $1.3billion
• Connectivity could deliver a 66% reduction in crew-related scheduling delays – adding up to $2.4 billion in annual savings

Revolutionizing air traffic management

• IP-enabled real time data exchange between aircraft and air traffic control services is allowing airspace to accommodate increasing passenger numbers. By 2035, this could create a $3billion annual saving for the airline industry – while helping to safely meet growth expectations

This is the second chapter in the Sky High Economics series, a first of its kind research report evaluating the economic value of connected aircraft from now until 2035. The first chapter, on the economic value generated by passenger connectivity, was released in September 2017.

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Hainan Airlines

On 15th June, the all-new DreamWorks Theater of Universal Studio Hollywood was opened in L.A.. Hainan Airlines has organized an inflight activity themed ‘DreamWorks Theater’ with Universal Studio on their HU469 from Chengdu to Los Angeles and they have also launched four KungFu Panda liveried aircraft. The DreamWorks Theater flight served by the third KungFu Panda liveried aircraft, in which all the flight attendants wore the new uniform to introduce the opening of DreamWorks Theater, as well as, sharing with dedicated Po fans Universal Studio brochures, and a Universal Studio ticket worth $129 to every passenger! In addition, the entertainment project was revealed on this flight which was the new film Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest, which recounts Po’s perilous mission to deliver the rare and precious Liquid of Limitless Power to the Palace. With Po’s new dream on the Kung Fu Panda liveried aircraft, Hainan Airlines graciously invites passengers to participate in the opening of the DreamWorks Theater. We note that this year remarks the 10th anniversary of Hainan Airlines entering North American market. Hainan Airlines has enjoyed rapid development on North American route network over the past decade. Since the launching of Chengdu-Los Angeles route on March 15, 2017, Hainan Airlines has now opened twelve routes from domestic key first- and second-tier cities to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, San Jose, Chicago, Boston and New York.

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Lufthansa

Watch this one: Lufthansa has had preliminary take-over talks with Norwegian!

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Other News

• If you want to check out the world according to Gogo, why not get their free “In-flight Connectivity 101 ebook. It’s free to download here In-flight Connectivity 101 eBook – Avionics and it is full of data – really good info!
• Confused about Blockchain? Henry Canaday covered it nicely here: How Might Blockchain Be Used To Manage Aircraft Assets? and Expect High Adoption Of Blockchain In Next Few Years
• Want to see how a Boeing B-52 bomber is re-assembled? Reassembling the B-52 Midnight Express
• Here is a great use of a parachute! Plane loses wing but saved by BRS parachute GIF | Create, Discover and Share on Gfycat

Cedar Rapids, Iowa | April 4, 2018– Rockwell Collins will be showcasing its suite of aircraft cabin and connectivity solutions at this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg, Germany, April 10-12. The company will have two separate exhibits, booth 4C30 focusing on connectivity in the cabin and booth 5B30 featuring Cabin Interiors.

This marks the first AIX that Rockwell Collins will feature both cabin connectivity and interior systems products since the company acquired B/E Aerospace in April 2017.

“This year at AIX, we’re focused on demonstrating to airlines and suppliers our portfolio of complete cabin solutions to enhance operations, increase customer satisfaction and drive down costs,” said Joel Otto, vice president of Strategy and Business Development, Information Management Services for Rockwell Collins. “AIX provides our customers the convenience of learning about all our cabin solutions in one location.”

Attendees are encouraged to visit booth 4C30 to learn more about Rockwell Collins’ connectivity solutions on display that include:

• CabinConnect, a wireless in-flight connectivity and entertainment solution enabling high-speed aviation broadband access for passengers and cabin crew. Passengers can stream video and other content to their personal devices, surf the internet, send and receive email, use social networking and universal messaging on their smartphones, tablets, laptops or gaming devices. Airlines can deliver more personalized services, create new opportunities for revenue generation and increase operational efficiencies.
• Airshow® Moving Map, the industry’s most widely used and award-winning moving map to keep passengers informed with real-time flight information throughout their journeys.
• Aircraft Dashboard, a web-based suite for real-time monitoring for an at-a-glance overview of all your Rockwell Collins connectivity services. Provides cabin crew and Aircraft Operations Center monitoring of aircraft connectivity status and ACARS communications.
• Flight data display flight tracking, powered by ARINC MultiLink, provides real time situational awareness of aircraft in-flight positioning and can allow notifications when making flight plan deviations.

In booth 5B30, attendees can learn more about Rockwell Collins’ portfolio of cabin interior solutions that include:

• Meridian economy class seating product, the top-selling single aisle platform, high comfort in a slim-line seat, scalable and configurable to an airline’s requirements.
• MiQ business class seating product, an award-winning seat for narrow-body aircraft and wide-body premium economy cabins.
• Qsuite premium class seating product, a one-of-a-kind individual pod seat with a closing door and double bed transformation. It’s equipped with a large in-flight entertainment screen, storage and table space.
• Air Rest new electric business class seating product, this unique seat brings the comfort and technology of Rockwell Collins’ widebody business class to narrowbody premium seating.
• Silhouette Move, the revolutionary and patented class divider that elegantly increases cabin footprint for additional passenger space or additional seat placements.
• Essence Microwave Oven, will be delivered and in service on both Boeing and Airbus platforms in 2018.
• Integra Pulse Portable oxygen tank cylinder assembly, provides operators dramatic weight savings in a portable oxygen unit that offers both constant flow and pulse settings, in a package engineered for functionality and utility, without the use of batteries

Nuremberg, Germany | March 15, 2018– FAI Technik GmbH, part of the FAI Aviation Group, is pleased to have signed a dealership agreement with Rockwell Collins to become one of its accredited dealers.

Effective immediately, the agreement means FAI Technik can sell, install and maintain Rockwell Collins’ avionics and cabin electronics equipment from its headquarters at Albrecht Dürer International Airport in Nuremberg, Germany.

The announcement marks a new phase in the relationship between Rockwell Collins and the broader FAI Aviation Group, which began in July 2016 and formally launched on Jan. 5, 2018.

Rockwell Collins’ Regional Sales Manager for Germany, Robert White, commented, “Given FAI’s growth since 2016, we believe we are best placed to take advantage of the upturn within business aviation. Adding FAI Technik to our group of dealers in Europe brings an encouraging scope to both our cabin and avionics capabilities, providing our customers with targeted aftermarket solutions being carried out by a competent and qualified dealer.

“We are excited to further expand our maintenance capabilities by offering Rockwell Collins’ industry-leading products to our customers,” stated Siegfried Axtmann, Chairman and Co-Founder of FAI Aviation Group.

“FAI Technik is growing incredibly fast,” Axtmann continued. “In 2017, we inaugurated our new hangar 8 and undertook some of our most challenging maintenance projects to date. We also marked our most impressive year in terms of revenue, which increased by 40% compared to 2016.”

October 31, 2017–The avionics team of Flying Colours Corp., the North American MRO business, has completed its first installation of a Rockwell Collins, Pro Line 21™ Advanced avionics suite for the flight deck of a Bombardier Challenger 300. The fitting of the state-of-the-art cockpit upgrade was carried out in conjunction with a scheduled heavy maintenance check at the Flying Colours Corp. KSUS, St Louis, MO. The aircraft was returned to the private customer on time and on budget.

The owner also took the opportunity to maximise the aircraft downtime by having ADS-B Out integrated to meet the mandatory requirements coming into effect in January 2020. The flexible architecture of the Pro Line 21™ Advanced system enables the addition of optional features including FANS 1/A, RNP 0.3 AR, Multi-Scan Radar, and Synthetic Vision System, at a future date, with minimal effort. With the new avionics suite in place aircraft value can be maintained, situational awareness is elevated, pilot workload is reduced and the aircraft benefits from improved operational efficiency.

“Our avionics team has completed many upgrades to existing systems, as well as, installations of completely new systems. In fact, we have upgraded avionics on more than 20 different aircraft in the last year, but this was the first time working with the Pro Line 21™ Advanced package. Working with new products like this further strengthens our experience and knowledge, as we continue to broaden our avionics capabilities,” says Director of Sales for Flying Colours, Kevin Kliethermes.

Flying Colours has already confirmed more of this type of upgrade and are in advanced discussions with several operators to complete the modification for them too. “Our avionics business has dramatically increased in the last 18 months. With the NextGen mandates and the ever-increasing variety of flight deck options, we anticipate that this sector of our business will continue to expand,” adds Kliethermes.

The Flying Colours KSUS facility is a Bombardier Authorised Service Facility and regularly handles heavy checks on a variety of Bombardier aircraft including Learjet, Challengers and Global types.

BREAKING NEWS
United Technologies Corp has struck a $30 billion agreement to buy avionics and interiors maker Rockwell Collins Inc, the companies said on Monday. Further, it creates one of the world’s largest makers of civilian and defense aircraft parts. United Technologies will pay $140 per share for Rockwell Collins, split between $93.33 per in cash and $46.67 in stock, according to the companies. The price represents about a 20% percent premium to Rockwell’s $119 share price (before the talks earlier). We do understand that United Technologies was down around 5%. While the deal was announced today, we don’t expect finalization till late fall or early this winter. We do also understand that Rockwell shares have gone up around 10% or so, in the last few weeks. Interestingly, Rockwell has share values around $21 Billion, while UTC has a value of around $92 Billion, going down a bit in the last few weeks.

While the impact on Rockwell IFE is certainly unclear at this time we expect that if the deal goes through, the company will be positioned for new customer demands and may increase and enhance their integrated digital offerings (avionics) Further, it may improve and increase the looming big data issues coming along with better inflight data collection and connectivity – not to mention security increases. The areas of information, avionics, and seating will assuredly be affected, and hopefully improved – as long as aircraft manufacturers and airlines see no issues – and that could be a problem.

We do understand Boeing, according to Aviation Week, might have issues with the acquisition: “We intend to take a hard look at the proposed combination of United Technologies and Rockwell Collins. Until we receive more details, we are skeptical that it would be in the best interest of—or add value to—our customers and industry.  Our interests and those of our customers, employees, other suppliers and shareholders are in ensuring the long-term health and competitiveness of the aerospace industry supply chain.  Should we determine that this deal is inconsistent with those interests, we would intend to exercise our contractual rights and pursue the appropriate regulatory options to protect our interests.  Also, both companies are significant suppliers to Boeing and other OEMs, and at a time of record industry production, their first priority should be delivering on existing cost, schedule and quality commitments for their customers and ours.” This statement came shortly after the announcement and rightfully so. Wall Street has noted that Boeing and Airbus have concerns about their suppliers becoming too powerful.

Basically, the deal is not done and the served suppliers might have a say in the issue so readers, just Stay Tuned to this one.

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AIRBUS (re DS353 Ruling)
An Airbus Press Release notes: “ In a new round of the more than decade-long spat at the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Appellate Body (AB) has today reversed a 28 November 2016 report which found that the Washington State tax subsidies that paid for Boeing’s development and manufacture of the 777 X aircraft were “prohibited” under the Agreement Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM). However, an ongoing separate review in the DS353 case has confirmed that those subsidies are illegal and actionable causing massive harm to Airbus.  An obligation for their withdrawal or removal of their adverse effects remains applicable.

In total, combining the different WTO’s rulings addressing the illegal subsidies to Boeing, the total impact of the subsidies is estimated to add up to US$ 100 billion in lost sales to Airbus.

Airbus reiterates its long-stated view that this transatlantic spat, which lead the WTO to a huge amount of serious work and a large number of important panel reports over many years, can only finally be resolved by negotiations aimed at finding a global agreement to come to a level playing field in government support for the large civil aircraft industry.

Airbus would like to take this opportunity to thank the European Commission and the governments of France, Germany, the UK, and Spain for their continued efforts to defend the industry and fair trade practices at the WTO.

“Boeing illegal subsidies are still illegal and need to be removed. If it is a “No” or a “No No” does not make big difference in global fair trade & play”, says Rainer Ohler, Airbus Executive Vice President Communications. ‎“The “game” is far from over.”

While the legal procedures continue Airbus is providing a more playful perspective on the topic. Check out our new mobile app called “WTO Warriors” for iOS and Android devices, available in the AppStore and on GooglePlay”.

BOEING (re DS353 Ruling)
The Boeing Team responded: “The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) achieved a significant victory today in its long-running dispute with the European Union over aerospace subsidies.

The WTO Appellate Body announced a reversal of last November’s prohibited subsidy ruling against a tax incentive for the production of the Boeing 777X in Washington state. It also upheld an earlier dismissal of the EU’s claims against the remainder of the incentives. Today’s ruling confirms that the tax treatment Boeing (NYSE: BA) and others are receiving in Washington state is not a prohibited subsidy.

In addition to reversing the previous ruling on the tax incentive, the new ruling ends the most recent of two WTO cases the EU brought against the United States in retaliation for the successful U.S. challenge of the massive subsidies European governments provide to Airbus.

“The WTO has rejected yet another of the baseless claims the EU has made as it attempts to divert attention from the $22 billion of subsidies European governments have provided to Airbus and that the WTO has found to be illegal,” said Boeing General Counsel J. Michael Luttig. “No further appeal of today’s decision is available to the EU,” he added.

“The latest of the false claims Airbus and its government sponsors have made has now been rejected by the WTO. The EU and Airbus, meanwhile, continue to be in flagrant breach of WTO rulings and must eliminate the massive illegal subsidies the WTO said a full year ago had not been addressed, or risk U.S. sanctions against European exports,” Luttig said.

“Airbus has a long history of putting European taxpayer money at risk through the unsecured loans that created and continue to sustain the company. Now Airbus and its sponsor governments are putting other European exporters at risk of U.S. sanctions by blatantly ignoring WTO rulings and bringing counterclaims against the U.S. that have no basis in law or in fact,” Luttig said.

“By contrast, Boeing has supported U.S. government actions to comply with its WTO obligations. We supported and facilitated changes to Boeing contracts with NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense for R&D work that the WTO deemed inconsistent with its rules,” Luttig said.

“This was a sweeping and clean win for the United States,” he added.  “It is now up to the European Union to comply with the WTO findings against it, and end the enduring practice of launch aid, which Airbus’ government supporters have continued to provide to each and every Airbus model.”

Notes CNBC: “Monday’s decision by the World Trade Organization’s appellate body reverses a ruling by a lower WTO panel in November that said that Washington state — which is home to much of Boeing’s plane manufacturing operations — had provided prohibited subsidies through a tax incentive for production of the Boeing 777X.” They went on; “The WTO has rejected yet another of the baseless claims the EU has made as it attempts to divert attention from the $22 billion of subsidies European governments have provided to Airbus and that the WTO has found to be illegal,” Boeing general counsel Michael Luttig said in a statement. Stay Tuned!

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SITA

Airlines and airports are estimated to spend nearly US$33 billion on IT this year, according to the SITA 2017 Air Transport IT Trends Insights released today. And they are focusing their technology investments on similar priorities. Top of the agenda for CIOs at both airlines and airports, are investments in cyber security and cloud services. In addition, they are prioritizing investments in passenger self-service. SITA’s research of the world’s airlines and airports shows that IT spend remains strong. Airlines’ spend as a percentage of revenue will rise to an estimated 3.30% or US$24.3 billion[1] in 2017. For airports, the rise is to an expected 5.05% for this year or US$8.43 billion. Looking ahead to 2018 over 70% of airlines and 88% of airports are expecting IT spend to increase or remain at the same levels as today. As IT spend increases, both airlines and airports agree that the number one priority for their investments is cyber security. Nearly all of them – 95% of airlines and 96% of airports – plan to invest in major programs or R&D on cyber security initiatives over the next three years. This shows alignment across the industry on the importance of investing in this area.

Cloud services are another top investment priority with 95% of airlines and 85% of airports planning to invest over the next three years, continuing an upward trend that SITA has recorded since 2015. The third key area of investment that was highlighted by both airlines and airports is to provide extra self-service options to passengers.

Airlines are focusing on providing mobile services. Today the vast majority of airlines provide check-in (73%), boarding (70%) and flight status notifications (68%) via mobile and by 2020 more than 97% plan to do so. A key area of growth will be providing real-time flight updates over social media which will jump from 31% of airlines doing so to 92% in the next three years.

Providing a seamless experience is key to the airlines. In total, 94% rate streamlining services into a single app as a priority, with 58% rating this as a high priority. Mobile app capabilities and usability are developing quickly and an increasing number of airlines plan to use mobile as a customer service tool, including at times of disruption.

At airports, self-service processes at check-in, bag drop and boarding are increasingly popular with passengers and 89% of airports are investing in these processes. Airports operators have a keen focus on improving the journey through the terminal and are looking to new technologies such as the Internet of Things, beacons and sensors, to support their goals. SITA’s insights show that 80% are investing, or planning to invest, in these technologies over the next three years. Nearly three quarters, 74%, are investing in way-finding solutions and 68% in solutions to improve personalization for the passenger. SITA’s IT Trends are well established as the global benchmark research for the air transport industry. Senior IT executives at the top airlines and airports took part in the research earlier this year. The 2017 results once again provide a clear insight on the air transport industry’s IT strategic thinking and developments.

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SATCOM DIRECT
Following hard on the heels of LABACE, the business aviation connectivity company Satcom Direct (SD) has become the first service provider to activate the Inmarsat Jet ConneX technology for a Brazilian registered executive aircraft. The privately owned Gulfstream G650, based in São Paulo, will begin using the service in September. The activation of the Jet ConneX, Ka-band technology will enable passengers and crew to maximize high-speed data transfers to support a variety of functionality. Live video and TV streaming, WiFi internet capability across multiple personal devices, video conferencing, as well as voice and text services, will all be available, across the globe. The always-on connectivity is provided through the on-board Satcom Direct Router, SDR which maximizes the cabin’s connection to the Inmarsat Global Xpress satellite network. The SDR also facilitates the use of SD value-added technologies, providing increased control and functionality of the cabin Wi-Fi network. SD was one of the first companies to activate the Jet ConneX service for business aviation customers over the entire Global Xpress (GX) network in June 2016. Jet ConneX is the only globally available, high-speed internet solution available today for business jets.

 

 

Ontario, Canada | August 7, 2017– Flying Colours Corp. has redelivered the first Canadian registered aircraft to have the Rockwell Collins network’s Future Airspace Navigation System (FANS) 1/A upgrade installed in combination with Flying Colours ADS-B solution. The FANS 1/A system, which is available through Rockwell Collins dealers, will improve operating costs, whilst the addition of the soon to be mandatory ADS-B Out technology will help maintain asset value.

This is the first time that a Canadian registered Bombardier Challenger 604 aircraft will have had this particular FANS 1/A solution, and the Flying Colours’ ADS-B Out solution, installed during a single upgrade at the Flying Colours, Bombardier Authorized Service Facility in Peterborough. The private owner requested the system’s modernization as part of a scheduled 48-month maintenance inspection with the full range of enhancements being completed in just under two months. The aircraft was returned to the customer on 3rd August.

The ADS-B Out technology was installed under the existing Flying Colours STC which the Canadian headquartered business owns for this type of aircraft along with the STC for the Challenger 300 & 605 types. Flying Colours secured approval from the Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) department to install ADS-B OUT technology on Canadian registered Bombardier Challenger 600-2B16 (604 and 605) and 300 airframes in January of this year. Whilst the new TCCA STC covering FANS 1/A complements the existing US FAA certification. To date the Flying Colours developed ADS-B Out STC for the Challenger 605/604, and Challenger 300 models, has been installed on more than 20 aircraft.

“The combined installation was relatively straight forward as we are very familiar with the Challenger family,” says Sean Gillespie, Executive VP of Flying Colours Corp. “It made complete sense for our customer to include these enhancements in a 48-month inspection as it reduces downtime and the overall expense,” he adds. “We’ve quickly become the go-to completions center for mandatory avionics upgrades on Bombardier Challenger 300, 604 and 605 types having secured our STC early. With Flying Colours ASF status and extensive avionics experience working on these aircraft types, we are well positioned to support local and international customers.”

During this year’s Canadian Business Aviation Association’s meeting in Abbotsford, BC from 9 to 11 August – Booth 349 – the Flying Colours team will be advising visitors on the best options for avionics upgrades to support the installation of ADS- B Out, as well as showcasing their maintenance, refurbishment, completion and special mission capabilities.

Broomfield, CO & Cedar Rapids, Iowa| June 5, 2017– Moving maps are one of the most popular features of any inflight entertainment system and today Gogo Business Aviation (NASDAQ: GOGO) and Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL) bring Airshow® moving maps to customers in the business aviation market. Airshow is the aviation industry’s leading moving map application, and will now be available to Gogo’s customer base for use in business aviation cabins without the need for additional hardware.

“Understanding flight progress, geographic location and scheduled arrival time is deeply satisfying to travelers of all ages,” said Sergio Aguirre, general manager of Gogo Business Aviation. “Now, with Airshow, passengers can enjoy stunning 3D graphics with amazing geographic detail on their personal devices. It’s a fantastic addition to our lineup of inflight applications.”

For Gogo ATG customers, no additional hardware is required to add Airshow Moving Map, which makes it an easy and cost-effective product extension to further enhance the passenger experience. Simply activate an account with Rockwell Collins and download the Airshow Mobile 2 app – the most advanced 3D moving map application for business aviation.1 Airshow Moving Map fits aircraft of all types and sizes, from turboprops and light jets to the largest VVIP aircraft.

Key features of the next-generation app, which is optimized for iOS® and Android phones and tablets, include:

• Detailed, interactive high-definition satellite 3D maps
• Multi-touch, gesture-based roaming, zooming and navigation
• Customized user display settings and layers, available in portrait or landscape mode
• Points of interest pop-up panel with images and captions
• Consolidated view of maps and flight information into one display
• Multiple viewpoint options including cockpit, pilot head-up display and window seats

“This collaborative effort with Gogo provides us another avenue for bringing our industry-leading Airshow into the hands of business aircraft passengers,” said Greg Irmen, vice president and general manager, Flight Controls and Information Systems for Rockwell Collins. “Airshow is the most deployed moving map in aviation because of its advanced technology and features that keep passengers and crew interactively connected with their flight experience.”

Shanghai, China | April 11, 2017– Rockwell Collins has signed a reseller agreement with Beijing Marine Communication and Navigation Company, Limited (MCN) to provide broadband satellite connectivity services to its ARINCDirect customers in mainland China. ARINCDirect is a leading value added reseller of satellite connectivity services globally.

“This agreement with MCN provides a great foundation for giving business jet operators in China access to our full suite of satellite services,” said David Stanley, vice president, ARINCDirect Cabin Services for Rockwell Collins. “The Chinese business aviation industry is still in a relatively early stage of development. As the demand for connectivity increases, we will deliver an experience to passengers in-flight that’s as seamless as they have in their home and office environments.”

“We are committed to ensuring that China has access to the latest connectivity technology,” said Song Zhen, vice president of Sales & Marketing for MCN. “This relationship will enable our business aviation operators to have access to the fastest cabin communications available.”

ARINCDirect provides the most comprehensive flight support services for business aviation including global flight planning regional and international trip support, cabin connectivity and flight operations management.

• Rockwell Collins’ acquisition of Pulse.Aero expands the company’s strong passenger processing offerings beyond agent and self-service check-in to include new applications and services.

Annapolis, MD | January 4, 2017– Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL) has acquired Pulse.Aero Limited, a UK-based company specializing in self-service bag drop solutions and airline applications, to enhance the company’s passenger processing services for airports and airlines. This acquisition further expands Rockwell Collins’ Information Management Services strategy to enable the connected aviation ecosystem.

“As passengers seek to take more control of their travel experience, this acquisition expands our portfolio of self-service passenger processing solutions, enabling us to streamline and simplify the passenger journey through a fully connected airport”
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“As passengers seek to take more control of their travel experience, this acquisition expands our portfolio of self-service passenger processing solutions, enabling us to streamline and simplify the passenger journey through a fully connected airport,” said Dave Nieuwsma, senior vice president, Information Management Services for Rockwell Collins.

Pulse.Aero’s products and services will be integrated into the Airport Systems portfolio of Rockwell Collins’ Information Management Services business.

The self-service bag drop market is experiencing significant growth due to the benefits it provides both airports and passengers. Airports can increase passenger throughput without capital expenditure on building and facilities, and passengers can move through the airport check-in process more quickly and efficiently.

Rockwell Collins and Pulse.Aero have worked together on several successful deployments, including Dublin Airport, where new self-bag drop units were installed, reducing queue times and improving customer service.

Watch a video to see how Rockwell Collins’ self-bag drop solution has impacted Aer Lingus’ operations at Dublin Airport: https://youtu.be/OG_4zANwLXo.

• Published by JUST Capital and Forbes
• New rankings recognize companies performing best on American public’s priorities
• List is online now and will be featured on cover of
• Forbes Magazine’s Dec. 20 Impact & Philanthropy issue
• The JUST 100 list highlights top companies within 32 major industries, ranging from autos to internet to food and beverage; rankings are based on comprehensive study of Americans’ attitude toward business
• #JUST100

Cedar Rapids, Iowa | December 12, 2016– Rockwell Collins has been named America’s Most JUST Company in the Aerospace & Defense industry, according to JUST Capital and Forbes magazine’s inaugural “JUST 100 List,” which for the first time ranks the publicly traded companies in the U.S. that perform best on the things Americans care most about. The rankings are based on one of the largest surveys ever conducted on attitudes towards corporate behavior, involving 50,000 Americans over the last 18 months. This year’s list ranks U.S companies against their peers within 32 major industries. In future years, Forbes and JUST Capital will rank companies across industries.

“Trust is at the heart of how we do business and that is accomplished by doing the right thing, for the right reasons, every time,” said Kelly Ortberg, Chairman, President and CEO of Rockwell Collins. “I commend our talented employees for making this recognition possible and, as we continue to grow, we pledge to maintain our high standards.”

For the complete list, including the winners in each of 32 industries, and more feature stories, visit: www.forbes.com/just100. The inaugural JUST 100 list will appear in Forbes magazine’s Dec. 20 “Impact and Philanthropy” issue. JUST Capital will also make the rankings accessible and sortable on its website, justcapital.com. Its interactive “Explorer” tool goes inside the rankings to show how companies were scored.

JUST Capital conducted its survey in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago, an independent research institution that delivers data and rigorous analysis to guide programmatic, business, and policy decisions. JUST then evaluated the performance of over 890 publicly traded companies against the priorities that emerged in the survey and created a ranking model to develop the JUST 100. This selection of companies draws from the Russell 1000 Index, which represents over 90 percent of the U.S. stock market value.

The top six issues ranked highly by the public, in order, were: providing fair pay for industry and job level; non-discrimination in hiring, firing, and promotion practices; providing a safe workplace; following laws and regulations; respecting workers; and creating jobs in the U.S. JUST’s scoring system is weighted to reflect the relative importance of the public’s stated priorities. JUST Capital’s full methodology is available online at justcapital.com/methodology as both an interactive guide and a comprehensive report.

“The JUST 100 celebrates the best of American business,” said Martin Whittaker, CEO of JUST Capital. “These amazing companies show that in America today the best companies do right by all their stakeholders – and by listening to the voice of the American people. We salute all of the JUST 100 companies and look forward to working with them to help more companies understand that JUST behavior and commercial success can go hand-in-hand.”

“The JUST 100 List is the most authoritative, unbiased source of data about how corporations perform on the things people in the U.S. care about most. The list combines powerful insights into how Americans feel about corporate behavior with an unprecedented view of how our leading corporations stack up,” said Forbes editor Randall Lane. “We’re thrilled to partner with JUST Capital in recognizing the companies that are leading the way in exhibiting JUST corporate behavior.”

• New forecasts will be integrated into ARINCDirect flight planning tools
• Increases safety for operators in Southern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa

Dubai, UAE |December 6, 2016– Rockwell Collins is integrating regional sand and dust storm forecast information into the company’s ARINCDirectSM flight planning tools, enabling business aviation operators in those areas to improve safety and on-time performance.

“Over the past 15 years, a number of factors have resulted in an increase in the frequency, intensity and operational impact of sand and dust storms in the Middle East and surrounding areas,” said

Bob Richard, senior director, ARINCDirect for Rockwell Collins. “Integrating high-resolution forecast information into our flight and international trip support services will provide safety and performance benefits for business aviation operators in the region.”

The data used by ARINCDirect is sourced and exclusively licensed from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, host of the first World Meteorological Organization’s Regional Specialized Meteorological Center with activity specialization on Atmospheric Sand and Dust Forecast, the Barcelona Dust Forecast Center for the EuMEA region. The data has been used by government authorities for air quality monitoring, as well as industrial and aviation interests.

The integration is currently in beta testing and is available for demonstration in the Rockwell Collins booth, #421, at the Middle East and North Africa Business Aviation Association Show (MEBAA 2016), Jebel Ali, Dubai, December 6-8, 2016.

ARINCDirect provides business aviation operators with the single most comprehensive portfolio of flight support solutions in the industry including cabin connectivity services, flight planning, regional and international trip support and flight operations management.

As the weeks pass after a show like the recent APEX in Singapore, it is easy to start thinking about the next one; however, IFExpress will try to continue to cover some of the more important show participants and their new products, accomplishments, and sales. Importantly, a post show head cold and a recent election has caused focus issues in the past few weeks, but we are now in better control and we will start off with one show item that keeps coming back to haunt us – the concept of aircraft and Big Data. While IFEC is not the whole story, it is part of the issue, and over the last few weeks we have been doing our homework a bit on the subject. The folks at companies like Panasonic, SITA, Thales and many others have been chanting the “data” subject into our ears at each meeting – we really have been trying to understand the problems and potential solutions – and believe us, it is no easy subject, with few easy answers. A number of years back, Mark Thompson of Thompson Aerospace warned us of the impending data monster we were about to see but we had little idea at the time of its value and challenges. This data thing is not new but it is getting bigger!

Looking back to the late eighties, we saw a document developed about the importance of airplane data, in general, and how McDonnell Douglas was looking at the future of its importance in tying an airline together by connecting the “movable asset” back to the airline itself with the one connectivity-based solution available at the time – live, real-time data. Back in the day, the connectivity links were minimal but the requirement was still there.

Today, it is a cry that still is the important connecting piece of the airline business, but it is getting louder. However, we note, now it entails better connectivity, more information, passenger involvement, better worldwide connections, and generally more need for planning and action throughout the airline and passenger environment. Perhaps a computer programmer said it better than we could: “You can have data without information, but you cannot have information without data.” – Daniel Keys Moran, an American computer programmer. Further, when you have 30 $250 million dollar assets buzzing around the world, data is the only way to see at any point in time, how your assets are delivering profits or losses. Further, it is a way to see what your customers are needing, in real-time.

We understand that we will not cover the issue in one IFExpress, and to that end, we have a few future interviews planned with IFEC companies and you will have the opportunity to see a bigger picture from them in the coming months. And speaking of ‘seeing the data’ issue, we really owe the folks at SITA a pat on the back for they have been trying to educate us on the value and need of standardized data.

Furthermore, not only satcom companies are part of the data solutions, as an example, the folks at SmartSky are developing a ground-to-air solution that may deliver the cheapest, and possibly the fastest over tera firma, data solution when it is up and running in the US. The point here is that data will be the driving factor when an airline executive or inflight passenger, or flight crew person, or a box on the plane needs to connect to a listener or data taker from the ground, and thus, it will be one of the next big things in our industry. Check out this Next Gen aviation connected electronic flight bag story;

With the growth of passenger data needs, the subject of data will become even a more important technology as time goes on. In SITAONAIR’s white paper published during the show, they noted that passenger connectivity is still the key motivating factor with airlines for adopting the service. Some 48% of their list of airlines in their study see it as the main passenger experience benefit. However, now some 20% of the airlines involved saw connectivity as a pilot and cabin crew enhancement driver, with some 15% seeing value in maintenance and ops monitoring. While a low number of planes today are outfitted with connectivity solutions, SITA expects three quarters will have some connectivity by 2017, and the big solution will happen by 2020 and some 12,500 planes will be so modified.

One big issue, notes SITA, is the lack of commonality or common standards in the aircraft data itself. Why is this important? We see it as a way to allow more entrants in the IFEC industry, more participants in the data business, more uses of the data itself, and a solution that becomes a standard where and when more people use it. Lest we forget, big data probably also means big bucks! If you want to see an example the application of common airport standards you might want to check out SITA’s AirportConnect Open.

Another area is the type of data from the various sources and its utility and application. The folks at Panasonic can see the data future and they call it “Big Data”. They envision the application of ground and inflight data as well as a lot more data applications from many sources – but we will have more on this subject in the future. We should also note that Thales has their version of big data and they are using their InFlyt Cloud for similar data solution for airplane data, metadata and big analytics. However, the message to folks in this business is perhaps, just perhaps, that the IFEC world might just be a smaller part of a bigger aviation world that uses data. It is a solution for bigger problems and future analysis – all way beyond IFE companies just selling hardware. Just possibly it may be the next generation of understanding about airplanes and passengers and the world of flying assets that are moving thousands of miles away from the home offices with hundreds of passengers all going to different places for many different reasons. Big Data has a future value that we don’t even understand today!

To make our point about where this is all heading, here is a very recent news release from Panasonic Avionics about their next generation of data connectivity solutions and it points out the widening of the acquisition of data sources sets the wider data picture being viewed by IFEC vendors. Said the release: ”The technology will enable the next generation of connectivity services to the aviation industry and multiple other markets.” The release went on: “Panasonic Avionics will implement Ericsson’s 5G-ready core solution through its subsidiary AeroMobile, a global inflight connectivity provider and registered mobile network operator. The contract is the first step of a long-term strategic collaboration between the two companies, which will focus on areas like 5G and the Internet of Things.” It went on: ”Panasonic Avionics can apply the 5G-ready core across a wide and ever-expanding range of markets, enabling connectivity for users not only onboard aircraft and ships, but also for the huge Internet of Things communication.” IFExpress notes the 5G is touted as the next generation of mobile technology because it “has the capability to radically lessen latency, accelerate download and upload speeds, enhance network reliability and spectral efficiency.” With this data, they also have the potential to support IoT development, by considerably escalating the number of devices that can connect to the network simultaneously.” Get the data picture? Stay Tuned on this one, soon we will talk more about data standardization and future data applications.

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digEcor & IFPL

We like it when two companies in our industry combine their thoughts to develop a better product offering. We saw this during APEX Singapore this year when digEcor, in conjunction with partner IFPL, unveiled their GLIDE inseat power solution on AirAsia’s A320neos. The development effort was a collaborative one between digEcor, IFPL and Miras Aircraft Seating. The deal with AirAsia totals 55K seats and because AirAsia is a low-cost carrier they required a low-cost solution. This makes sense since inseat power is more and more significant as passengers are bringing their own devices onboard and the system is Wi-Fi driven by the onboard inflight connectivity. In fact, many LCCs are now looking to Wi-Fi for their IFE solution. From a hardware perspective, IFPL’s USB outlet is backlit and we understand that when power is available the unit is lit, making it easier for the passenger to find on the seat arm. If you are interested, we’ve attached images of the seat arm with the IFPL USB outlet and digEcor’s SEB!

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NEWS

ViaSat/Arconics
Qatar Airways has implemented AeroDocs software from Arconics, a ViaSat company, to provide a single centralized repository to revise and track all operational and non-operational company manuals and documentation for operational readiness. The ability to create, author, edit and mark all changes in a visible manner over the web enables team members to easily keep abreast of, and be alerted to, relevant procedural modifications as and when they happen.

Boeing
The Seattle Times wrote: “In a surprise move, Boeing announced Monday that Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief executive Ray Conner will step down from that position and be replaced by General Electric senior executive Kevin McAllister. In 2015, the Boeing board granted Conner a special award of 50,000 shares ‘to encourage him to forgo an opportunity to retire in the near future.’ With that award vesting on Dec. 1, 2017 provided he stayed at Boeing, it was expected that he would retire about then. Those shares are worth $7.35 million.” (Editor’s Note: Not a bad deal – $7 million & change for staying at Boeing for 2 years!)

Media Box
Heard about Media Box? The Media Box, which Media Carrier offers as an exclusive service to tourism companies in particular, operates as a web-based service and can be easily and conveniently used with any web-enabled device. To download their preferred business magazine or their usual morning paper, guests connect to the Media Box of the airline or hotel and gain access to their own personal reading material. Newspapers and magazines are presented unabridged and in the same layout used in the print versions, and can be browsed through easily and intuitively – check out this image. Even after downloading, the downloaded publications remain available to the reader for an unlimited time.  Established in 2011, the company is a subsidiary of the Munich-based MELO Group, whose central divisions are built on the two pillars: media and logistics. Media Carrier specializes in marketing and distributing digital content. It supplies the travel industry with e-papers through the Media Box. The digital media library is now successfully deployed with e.g. Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Eurowings as well as in more than 1,000 luxury and five-star hotels worldwide.

Annapolis, MD | November 21, 2016– Aegean Airlines is now experiencing the operational benefits of air-to-ground data link communications using Rockwell Collins’ ARINC GLOBALink℠.

The new GLOBALink implementation is enabling the airline to become more efficient by using data link messages to improve departure control and turnaround, send and receive real-time aircraft and engine data to improve maintenance operations and upload gate connection information to aircraft inflight entertainment displays to enhance the passenger experience.

“Adding data link capability to our fleet will further enhance the effectiveness of our operation and help to improve service to our customers,” said Nikos Panagiotopoulos, Operations Manager, at Aegean. “Our crews and passengers will highly benefit from the options that data link offers. Rockwell Collins is a valuable partner that was able to provide complete end-to-end support including avionics configuration, air-ground routing and integration with our back office systems in a very short implementation time.”

“Aegean Airlines has been highly successful even in the face of very challenging global economic conditions,” said Alexis Hickox, head of global sales, Commercial Aviation for Rockwell Collins. “It’s clear that their investment in services like ARINC GLOBALink is enhancing operations today and for the future.”

Before we get into more Singapore IFEC stuff we wanted to mention that next year’s APEX EXPO 2017 will be held on September 25 – 28 in Long Beach, CA USA. Check out the APEX website for more info. Now, on to APEX in Singapore:

Panasonic
While this year’s Panasonic booth was a blend of the “Cool Room” and the regular product displays, they were showing new products and solutions for the IFEC crowd. And finally, we got a communication focus on the application of advertising with the launch of Captify Inflight Marketing and advertising services. Captify, which is an advanced inflight marketing platform delivers all the key features needed by airlines, their external partners and paying advertisers. Since the platform comprises the software tools and support teams that power the largest inflight marketing solution in the world – reaching 1.3 billion travelers a year! Here is the big deal – Captify enables airlines to target by seat class, route, device, language, and passenger data. With no changes to on-board media, it can increase or decrease ad loads, cap the frequency of marketing campaigns, and deliver detailed usage data in real-time. This allows airlines to optimize promotions for a wide range of optional services, partnerships, loyalty programs, and paid advertising all within a compelling passenger experience.
The platform delivers video, native display, and sponsorship options for high-impact, fraud-free marketing with best-in-class targeting and results. Using this information, Captify helps airlines and their marketing and sales partners learn more about their customers by bringing together all the passenger and behavioral data, so airlines can gain intelligence and inform business or service strategies. Captify is built to fit any airline’s business model, with access for internal marketers, external sales teams, and ongoing trafficking and testing support from Panasonic. The full-service platform includes ground-side tools for scheduling and analytics of marketing campaigns; air-side servers and APIs to integrate with any aircraft’s inflight entertainment or connectivity systems; plus Panasonic’s dedicated service teams working hand-in-hand with airlines partners, media agencies, and content providers.
Next, Panasonic Global Communications (Panasonic), A Division of Panasonic Avionics Corporation, and Newtec – a specialist in designing, developing and manufacturing equipment and technologies for satellite communications – unveiled a new, high bandwidth satellite modem, which offers Panasonic customers twenty times the bandwidth of Panasonic’s current solution. Versions of this new modem will be available across Panasonic’s mobility markets including air transport, business aviation, maritime, cruise ships, mega yachts, and river cruises. Developed in partnership, the new modem is capable of exceeding 400 Mbps, and it can scale to meet the evolving needs of airlines and their passengers by facilitating the increasing bandwidth coming on stream over the next two years as High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) and Extreme-Throughput Satellite (XTSTM) services continue to be layered over Panasonic’s existing global network. This will expand network capacity from 2,300 MHz today to 15,000+ MHz by 2017.
The next-generation modem includes three demodulators for seamless beam switching and simultaneous data and video reception and is also part of the Newtec Dialog® multiservice platform, which supports a wide range of verticals, including aviation and maritime. Featuring the award-winning dynamic bandwidth allocation Mx-DMA®, it combines the efficiency of SCPC with the dynamic bandwidth allocation capabilities of TDMA to deliver up to 300 percent more data than legacy Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems. Here’s the deal: By making a satcom beam narrower, Newtec delivers more power, and thus, use the full 150 MHz carrier. You remember Shannons theorem, right? This way they use a full 150MHz carrier – three times wider than Panasonic’s existing Ku-band systems. Very cool and speedy solution.
Lastly, we found Panasonic’s ZeroTouch service – it’s a unique and innovative service that simultaneously gives airlines real-time visibility into performance, improves the efficiency of its maintenance operations and also enables data transfer of passenger-facing content to an aircraft to improve the passenger experience. Panasonic’s ZeroTouch service will reduce an airline’s need to physically touch the aircraft because all interactions are managed through a virtual dashboard. By providing access to real-time passenger data, software, media and content updates can be data-driven, helping to deliver a relevant and personalized passenger experience. Updates will be sent to an aircraft via three high-speed pipes – Wi-Fi at the gate, aircraft cell modem, or even in flight using Panasonic’s global broadband eXConnect service. Paul Margis, CEO of Panasonic Avionics, said: “As an industry leader and trusted partner for over 35 years, Panasonic understands the infrastructure and support airlines require. Our data-driven, real-time ZeroTouch service combines all areas of our in-house expertise to help airlines maximize the efficiencies of their business and reduce their operational expenses.”

Rockwell Collins
An announcement at the show caught us a little off guard – “Rockwell Collins to acquire B/E Aerospace for $8.3 billion in total consideration”, so we asked the RC Team about the deal but because it was so new it was a bit too early to get reliable report answers for our readers. The release went on to say, “Expected to generate run-rate pre-tax cost synergies of approximately $160 million. Transformative transaction accelerates growth and strengthens Rockwell Collins’ position as a leading supplier of cockpit and cabin solutions. “Double-digit accretive to earnings per share in first full fiscal year with expected combined five-year free cash flow generation in excess of $6 billion”, and “Diversifies and balances portfolio across OEM, airline and aftermarket.” Further it went on: “The transaction combines Rockwell Collins’ capabilities in flight deck avionics, cabin electronics, mission communications, simulation and training, and information management systems with B/E Aerospace’s range of cabin interior products, which include seating, food and beverage preparation and storage equipment, lighting and oxygen systems, and modular galley and lavatory systems for commercial airliners and business jets. The acquisition significantly increases Rockwell Collins’ scale and diversifies its product portfolio, customer mix and geographic presence. On a pro forma basis, Rockwell Collins would have nearly 30,000 employees, $8.1 billion in revenues and $1.9 billion in EBITDA for the twelve months ending September 30, 2016.”
The story is probably like this: A lot of Rockwell Collins aviation earnings, including IFEC, vary greatly through the year and in many cases, IFEC may be down, while seating may be a hot item. This solution gives Rockwell a very well respected company to deliver another set of aviation products that they did not have. It also makes them a ‘nose-to-tail’ provider within that giant metal tube. And who knows, the integration of BEA into RC, may just further provide individual and combined sales products and events!

INMARSAT
One of the “big deals” in Singapore was Inmarsat, as they launched their GX Aviation inflight connectivity solution while there. GX operates at Ka-band, and unlike other solutions available today GX for Aviation is uniquely engineered to meet the needs of airlines and their passengers. Generally speaking, the higher the frequency the more bandwidth you can get out of the system, and the more bandwidth, the more users and the larger the data rates – bigger is definitely better in connectivity! The highly efficient Ka-band spot beams provide a foundation layer of global coverage designed specifically to serve high-speed users. But global coverage is only part of the story. GX offers the flexibility to add and redirect bandwidth where airlines need it most, across hub and traffic hotspots. And as demand inevitably grows, so will GX capacity, future-proofing airlines choice today. Imagine a cell network and since each satellite has 80 cells, the flexible cell approach allows the satcom receivers to hand over signals from one to another if one cell is overloaded (done today with L-band too). This is a big deal.
As we noted earlier, the GX Ka-band service is now live and Inmarsat will provide its advanced new GX for Aviation in-flight broadband solution to Austrian Airlines’ continental aircraft fleet under a new, recently announced contract. The Ka-band spot beams are extremely efficient and provide a foundation layer of global coverage specifically designed to serve a high-speed mobile audience. More than 30 Airbus A320 family aircraft from Austrian Airlines’ fleet will be equipped with GX for Aviation. We understand that the new service will allow the airline’s passengers to browse the internet, stream videos, check social media and more, with service levels on par with broadband connectivity available on the ground. We should note that the first installation and testing onboard Austrian Airlines aircraft is currently underway.
Also in the GX world, Honeywell and Boeing have recently signed a technical services agreement to develop technologies for the next generation of high-speed, in-flight wireless connectivity. The two companies will jointly research, test and develop the avionics hardware, software and potential aviation services that will utilize Inmarsat’s GX Ka-band satellites. The move addresses passengers’ increasing demands for faster, more reliable in-flight connectivity on smartphones, tablets and laptops.
(Editor’s Note: We can’t leave the Inmarsat story without reporting on their incredible booth in Singapore. It basically used virtual reality to tell visitors about 10 – 15 potential applications for the GX service from Inmarsat via VR headsets. First you are fitted with the headset and told that once in the viewing room, users could focus their headsets on the logo of one of the 10 – 15 potential areas of interest: ground connectivity, inflight operation, destination information and so on. Once a connection was established with the VR headset; the viewer was presented with a short audio/video scenario. Very clever and hopefully it will be at a future show!)

RUMORS/PREDICTIONS

• We expect to see more consolidation from mid-level vendors before AIX and it is happening NOW!

INTERESTING NEWS
Here’s a new one, or at least one we have not seen: Latitude Aero is having a Warehouse Liquidation Sale on A319 seating…  “All reasonable offers accepted” – Check it out!

Orlando, FL NBAA | November 1, 2016– Rockwell Collins and Gogo® have entered into an agreement to expand the availability of Rockwell Collins’ industry-leading Airshow® Moving Map into the business aviation market segment. Rockwell Collins will license its Airshow Mobile application to Gogo for business aviation cabin solutions.

“Airshow continues to spread its wings across the aviation industry as the No. 1-used moving map application, and since making it a mobile application that personalizes the passenger experience, its popularity is exponentially increasing,” said Greg Irmen, vice president and general manager, Flight Controls and Information Systems for Rockwell Collins. “Working with Gogo gives us another great channel to market for Airshow, and an opportunity for us to help Gogo provide its customers with more options to deliver the information they want.”

“Gogo is focused on meeting the needs of our customers and continues to expand the breadth of third-party applications it offers on business aviation aircraft to provide a suite of services for business travelers,” said Sergio Aguirre, general manager of Gogo Business Aviation. “Airshow is one of the most popular apps in the market and is a nice addition to our lineup of applications.”

Rockwell Collins’ Airshow Mobile solution has been optimized for iOS® and Android devices to deliver real-time flight information to passengers, including these features:

• Interactive roaming, zooming and navigation of the globe
• High-resolution Landsat satellite imagery map set
• Unique, interactive panoramic and pilot heads-up display views

Airshow Mobile will be offered by Gogo in the second quarter of 2017.

Singapore | October 26, 2016– Inmarsat (ISAT.L), the world’s leading provider of global mobile satellite communications, today announced that its Value Added Reseller, Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL), has been awarded a significant contract by a leading short and long-haul European airline for Inmarsat’s new ‘GX for Aviation’ service.

The agreement, which builds on and extends Inmarsat’s 20-plus-year partnership with Rockwell Collins, is currently expected to be for in excess of 125 aircraft. It will see the aerospace solutions provider’s PAVES™ wireless in-flight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) solution being installed onboard the airline’s new fleet.

Leo Mondale, President of Inmarsat Aviation, said: “GX for Aviation is the only in-flight broadband solution that is fast, reliable and truly consistent, with seamless coverage across the world provided by a single operator. We are delighted that our partner Rockwell Collins has secured this significant commitment by a major European airline and look forward to working together on the service rollout.”

Ken Schreder, Vice President, Strategic Programs at Rockwell Collins, said: “We are redefining the connected aviation ecosystem by enabling world-class passenger connectivity and enhanced airline operations in partnership with Inmarsat Aviation. Our vision is of connectivity-enabled aircraft operating as secure nodes on an airline’s enterprise IT infrastructure.”

GX for Aviation is the world’s first in-flight connectivity solution with reliable, seamless high-speed global coverage provided through a single operator. It allows airline passengers to browse the internet, stream videos, check social media and more during flights, with an onboard connectivity experience on par with broadband services available on the ground.

Other airline customers of the game-changing solution include Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines.

• First airport in Myanmar to implement ARINC vMUSE common use passenger processing solution

Singapore | October 25, 2016– Mandalay International Airport (MDL) passengers will realize an enhanced check-in experience with the implementation of a new passenger processing system from Rockwell Collins.

Under the terms of the agreement with MC-Jalux Airport Services Co., Ltd. (MJAS), the group that operates MDL, Rockwell Collins is providing its ARINC vMUSETM Common Use Passenger Processing System (CUPPS) solutions at the airport, the second largest in Myanmar.

“Myanmar is a growing tourist and business destination with a variety of attractions and opportunities,” said Futoshi Hiroi, vice president, COO and CFO of MJAS. “By using the latest airport technology from Rockwell Collins, we are better able to attract airlines and travelers to the northern part of our country. This implementation of ARINC vMUSE makes it easier for travelers to reach the destinations they want to experience, helping develop our tourism industry.”

The new contract also includes the use of Rockwell Collins’ ARINC AviNet® network and message solution which provides a secure, fast and efficient way to communicate flight operation, aircraft maintenance and other critical messages that have a direct impact on airline operational efficiency.

“Being able to improve the passenger experience while also enabling MDL to support multiple airline check-in applications running concurrently on the same workstation makes ARINC vMUSE a powerful technology for airports looking to provide the best service to their passengers and airlines,” said Paul Hickox, head of Airport Systems Sales for Rockwell Collins.

Singapore | October 25, 2016– Rockwell Collins’ today announced that its industry-leading Airshow® Moving Map for airlines is available for web browsers on smartphones, tablets and laptop computers as part of PAVES™ Wireless in-flight entertainment system. All major operating systems with HTML5-based browsers will run the real-time flight data application, keeping airline passengers informed and entertained on their own devices.

With Airshow Mobile for Browsers, airlines will be able to customize the look of the Airshow application to match their company brand while delivering these key features:

• Interactive, photo-realistic worldwide high-resolution map imagery
• High-focus maps for cities and ultra-high-focus maps for airports
• Intuitive and seamless user interface that incorporates gesture-based navigation
• Support for six default languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Arabic and simplified Chinese, with the ability to configure additional languages.

The addition of Airshow for browsers expands its footprint in the commercial aviation market as the moving map standard, continuing its proven performance of keeping airline and business aircraft passengers aware of their journeys for more than 30 years.

● Rockwell Collins will distribute Inmarsat SwiftBroadband-Safety to aviation industry
● Agreement lays foundation for smooth transition to IP-based aviation safety services

London, UK | October 18, 2016– Inmarsat (ISAT.L), the world’s leading provider of global mobile satellite communications, and Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL), a leading provider of aviation electronics and communications, have announced plans to expand their strategic relationship to include the new SwiftBroadband-Safety service for cockpit and aircraft operations.

Rockwell Collins is a long-time provider of Inmarsat’s Classic Aero safety service as part of its information management solutions portfolio. Under a Letter of Intent (LoI) signed this week, it is now set to provide Inmarsat’s next-generation SwiftBroadband-Safety service to both existing and new customers from across the aviation industry.

The agreement outlines the companies’ mutual interest and plans to work with airlines to develop and introduce a smooth and cost effective migration path from traditional flight deck connectivity solutions to new, higher bandwidth secure IP connections available through SwiftBroadband-Safety services.

SwiftBroadband-Safety represents a paradigm shift in the advancement of aviation safety services. It utilises secure internet protocol (IP) based broadband connectivity that exceeds the capabilities of other IP alternatives currently available in the market. The ‘always on and always secure’ solution enables a range of breakthrough aviation applications, including flight data streaming (‘Black Box in the Cloud’) and real-time Electronic Flight Bag applications, such as networked graphical weather.

It also enables air traffic management modernisation programmes throughout the world and fulfils the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)’s Global Aeronautical Distress Safety System (GADSS), including global flight tracking, by offering reliable and secure satellite surveillance and communications (FANS/ACARS).

Frederik van Essen, Inmarsat Aviation’s Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development, said: “Satellite communications has driven a significant expansion of air traffic over the world’s oceans, promoting global economic growth and expansion. Now, SwiftBroadband-Safety brings secure IP to the cockpit and its host of unparalleled capabilities for the aviation industry will drive even more expansion through greater efficiency, reliability and capacity at a lower cost per bit for the information exchanged.

“We are delighted to extend our successful relationship with Rockwell Collins to include this transformative new generation of aviation safety services. Rockwell Collins has the global market strength and capability to deliver these benefits to the aviation industry. Our confidence is further reinforced by Inmarsat’s current evaluation of SwiftBroadband-Safety with Hawaiian Airlines, which is being conducted with Rockwell Collins and continues to be extremely successful.”

Michael DiGeorge, Rockwell Collins Vice President of Commercial Aviation and Network Services, said: “The aviation community depends on safe, secure and affordable flight deck connectivity for critical operations that are vital to their business. The move to this advanced technology platform ushers in a new era of information and connectivity solutions for the global aviation industry. We anticipate strong demand from our existing and new ARINC GLOBALinkTM customers for SwiftBroadband-Safety services.”

The agreement will provide attractive incentives for upgrading to SwiftBroadband-Safety, together with price assurances for Inmarsat Classic Aero customers served by Rockwell Collins. New enterprise agreement options and shared corporate allowance packages are envisioned to offer additional new benefits, including simplified pricing models, increased flexibility, predictability and highly-competitive packaged data and services.

SwiftBroadband-Safety hardware is currently available for initial retrofit installation on existing aircraft and will become a standard option on new aircraft deliveries starting in 2018. This capability builds on Inmarsat’s reputation as a provider of high-quality voice and data services to 95% of the world’s transoceanic aircraft fleet and Rockwell Collins’ high reliability, secure ARINC Global Network.

San Francisco, CA | October 12, 2016– Stellar Labs Inc. (”Stellar”), the first complete digital marketplace for private aviation, has announced the acquisition of the full-service aviation-technology firm FlightApps. The acquisition accelerates Stellar’s ability to deliver its advanced commercial operations management technology to Part 135 charter operators. The FlightApps team will also drive implementation and support for Stellar and Rockwell Collins’ next generation flight operations management platform for both Part 135 charter operators and corporate flight departments.

The acquisition follows the recent announcement that Stellar has partnered with Rockwell Collins to co-develop the platform which will combine ARINCDirect® FOS (Flight Operations System) with Stellar’s solutions for revenue management, optimization, marketplace charter and collaboration into one easy-to-use, fully integrated system in the cloud.

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“The FlightApps team’s expertise with FOS aligns with our long-term plans to co-develop a next generation flight operations management system with Rockwell Collins.”
— David Fox, Stellar Labs President

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FlightApps is the leading provider of private aviation technology and application service support. The company has significant expertise with flight operations management software and is the largest third-party implementation and hosting service provider for FOS. FlightApps supports over 200 operators including 50 of the nation’s largest flight departments.

“FlightApps has been a powerful implementation partner over the past year and we are very excited they have now joined our team,” said Stellar President David Fox. “The team brings both highly-experienced technical resources and valuable knowledge of operators’ systems and practices. Their expertise with FOS aligns with our long-term plans to co-develop a next generation flight operations management system with Rockwell Collins.”

Corporate flight departments will benefit from the transition to a cloud-based flight operations management platform that will be instantly accessible from web browsers and mobile devices with improved features including automated itineraries, dynamic scheduling and fleet optimization. They will also be able to seamlessly source and pay for charter aircraft in minutes with no phone calls or emails required.

“I believe Stellar is poised to fundamentally change business aviation for both Part 135 charter operators and flight departments,” said FlightApps CEO Brent Moldowan. “The industry has been asking for a step-change from what’s currently available for a long time and this is it. Stellar has the vision, team, technology and financial resources to make it a reality in a very short time. This will be a win for both commercial operators and flight departments. We are proud help bring the industry we love into the digital economy.”

Museum of Flight at Boeing Field:

I recently had a meeting at the Seattle Museum of Flight on Boeing Field. While my visit was business… I left the meeting… and lost my sense of time and history – because once you see an old aircraft that fought in a war, or provided the transportation for a historical event, or was the first of it’s kind, you just get lost… lost in time, and possibly lost in space. Interestingly, you become part of the event that the person, plane or spacecraft was famous for… or you become immersed in the art background and signage describing the history and achievement of the craft. One visitor told us that he and his kids were fascinated by the description and experiences of the museum’s individual plane tour guides, who in many cases had flown that aircraft. It is also easy to get wrapped-up in the in mood lighting surrounding the planes in the halls, especially in the periods like those in the WW1 Hall and WW2 Halls. While it has been a long time, as a child, I would have given anything to see what I saw last week at the Museum of Flight. One suggestion, however, don’t let your children say the same thing.

OK, if you want a fast tour of the Museum here it goes: Museum Galleries, Airpark, Great Gallery, Lear Gallery, Personal Courage Wing, Red Barn, & Space Gallery. That’s 7 galleries, many halls, 29 exhibits + a museum store, 140 real aircraft, 12 spacecraft, pre-1900s to 2010s types, from 73 manufacturers… and some 40 of 140 shown planes in the air and on the ground in the Great Gallery. Founded in 1965, the Museum of flight has been growing since it’s inception, but we think the real hero was T. Wilson… he made “The” museum building on Boeing Field happen.

As a bit of museum background, here is what the website says:
“Museum of Flight is devoted to the preservation and sharing of aviation and aerospace history and technology.
Founded as the Pacific Northwest Aviation Historical Foundation in 1965 by a group of local Boeing engineers and aviation enthusiasts, the Museum’s collection was established out of a desire by the group to preserve artifacts and materials representing the entire evolution of flight and to prevent them from being lost, destroyed and forgotten with time. Since 1965, The Museum of Flight’s collection has come to be regarded as one of the best air and space museum collections in the world. The Museum’s collection contains over 150 aircraft, over 25,000 small objects (classified as anything smaller than an aircraft), over 90,000 books and periodicals, over 15,000 aircraft manuals and technical reports and nearly 5,000 cubic feet of archival materials including an estimated four million images. As a Smithsonian Affiliate institution and an accredited American Alliance of Museums institution, we continuously endeavor to meet their standards and best practices in all aspects of our operations, especially in regards to caring for and preserving our collection.”

The Pavilion (across the street form the main Museum building) is incredibly large and hosts an many big planes in a covered outdoor building. One writer said it is larger than two football fields! The new “hanger” effectively doubles the museum foot print, in fact it adds 3 acres of aviation history floor space! It is home for some 19 iconic planes like the world’s first Boeing 747 Jumbo, the 787 Dreamliner, the British Airways Concorde (SST – the last to fly in revenue service), B-17, B29, and B-47 bombers. The site has a convenient “air” bridge to get you there. This inclined walkway is defiantly a better way to reach the Pavilion, not to mention, listening to Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” playing on the loudspeakers there topped the experience. As with all airplanes, pictures never do them justice but here are a few shots we took that should give you a better idea of the flight scene there are here.

You can fly in on your own plane or in a commercial airline to Boeing Field or Sea-Tac, and if you have a child that likes aviation, you MUST take her or him to see the real planes. You might ask why is this trip worth the effort? The answer is simple: because they can climb in and touch and feel what aviation is all about… and it is about more than planes. It is about flying, it’s about education, and it’s about history… but it is also about fun!

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Panasonic:

OmniAccess, a leading supplier of integrated communications solutions to super yachts and cruise-ships, and Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic), today unveiled a tailored XTS “extremely high throughput” satellite network for multiple mobility markets. Details on this new communications service are available to key customers that visit the OmniAccess booth at the Monaco Yacht Show. OmniAccess and Panasonic began collaborating on XTS high-throughput satellite designs in September 2015 in order to bring unprecedented levels of capacity and performance to OmniAcess’ existing Super yacht and cruise customers. Through this agreement OmniAccess has secured access to Panasonic’s existing HTS capacity, currently contracted capacity and the future XTS satellite network, bringing industry-leading capacity and performance to its yachting and cruise ship markets. Leveraging Panasonic’s existing global high-speed satellite network, OmniAccess is already providing industry-leading connection speeds of over 200 Mbps to select individual customers.

Paul Margis, CEO of Panasonic Avionics Corporation, said: “We announced our partnership with OmniAccess at the Monaco Yacht Show last year, and since then, we’ve been able to develop solutions that have improved our operational efficiencies and also delivered higher performance and better service to OmniAccess’ super yacht customers. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with OmniAccess to establish a new standard in high-bandwidth services for the mobility market.”

(Editor’s Note: Normally we wouldn’t place a news release that predominately refers to maritime in our publication. However, in this instance we believe it to have relevance as the relationship between Panasonic Avionics and OmniAccess refers to “multiple mobility markets”,  “XTS high-throughput satellite” and “Leveraging Panasonic’s existing global high-speed satellite network”. After all, a revenue stream is a revenue stream whether it is initiated from an ocean or the air! And we wouldn’t be surprised to see more of these relationships in our industry.)

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IFPL:

APEX 2016 will see the very latest in connectivity, payment and power solutions from IFEC specialists IFPL, on Booth 1745 at the Singapore based show.

IFPL leads the way when it comes to deploying contactless payment systems NFC (Near Field Communication) on-board aircraft, with global OEM’s and airlines using this technology for seat back in-flight retail and customer personalization. APEX 2016 will see IFPL demonstrate its new NFC ‘Pin-On-Screen’ solution that enables high value off line transactions by removing the current low value payment barrier. This step change will allow airlines to expand and sell high value items thus increasing ancillary revenues.

With portable and wearable tech now widespread, visitors to APEX can also see IFPL’s USB- C and USB-A units, both providing hi-speed data and power.

As always, innovation from IFPL will be on display with the company demonstrating its new integrated seat arm concept. This will reflect its ability to customize peripherals to support the design language, aesthetics and ergonomics required for true IFE and seat integration.

IFPL will be demonstrating their ‘Charge-2-Charge’ solution for both inductive and USB charging – this will enable airlines to generate additional revenue from passengers wishing to charge their portable devices during flights. Demonstrations will also be available for their popular 110V A/C power outlet and its combination 110V and USB-A & C.

Solving the problem of broken headphone sockets are IFPL’s MagSignal Audio units. Cost neutral when compared with traditional sockets, MagSignal Technology allows the headset cable to be pulled and detached from any angle without detriment; reducing customer induced damage (CID) and maintenance disruption to aircraft.

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Gogo Partnering:

Gogo recently announced that it will partner with Air France-KLM to connect its existing long-haul fleet representing 124 aircraft, with an airline option to install the technology on additional aircraft in the future. The fleet of aircraft receiving Gogo’s 2Ku technology will include numerous aircraft types, including the Boeing 777 and Airbus A330s. “We are delighted to bring Gogo’s industry leading 2Ku technology to one of the largest airlines in the world and two of the most iconic brands in commercial aviation,” said Michael Small, Gogo’s president and CEO. “2Ku delivers a ground-like performance to aircraft flying around the world today, including the ability to stream video. One of the many benefits of 2Ku is that it’s built on an open architecture and can leverage new technology advancements in the future, which means the technology will get even better over time and will provide passengers with a superior connectivity experience now and in the future.” The first aircraft is expected to be in service end of next year, with the bulk of the installations taking place during 2018-2019.

Gogo Next-Gen:
The company also announced that it is developing its next generation ground-based technology to better serve the connectivity needs of business and commercial aviation in North America. This technology will offer a ground-like performance, including the ability to stream videos, for business aviation aircraft, commercial regional jets and select narrow-body aircraft operating within the United States and Canada. The new network will use unlicensed spectrum, a proprietary modem and a new beam-forming antenna to produce peak network speeds of more than 100 Mbps. This next generation ground-based network for the aero market will utilize LTE technology and leverage Gogo’s existing first generation North American network and infrastructure of more than 250 towers.

“Leveraging our first generation network is key to making this next generation network highly reliable and economical to deploy,” said Anand Chari, Gogo’s CTO. “Gogo’s next generation network will also be backward-compatible with Gogo’s first generation network, which means an aircraft will be able to seamlessly switch between Gogo’s fthe two networks networks similar to how a cell phone on the ground connects to the fastest available network.”

The benefits of this new network for commercial aircraft operating within the United States and Canada include: low equipment cost and weight, overnight installation, and low drag on the aircraft due to the small size of the antennas. It also has big advantages in terms of latency compared to satellite solutions.

Aircraft outfitted with one of Gogo’s earlier generation air-to-ground technologies will simply need to be outfitted with a new modem and blade antenna to take advantage of the new service.

The service is expected to be available in 2018. Great article this morning. Separately, we have got big news this morning from Gogo as we announce our next generation ground network to support IFC in North America. We now have upgrade paths to more than 100 Mbps for both our North American ground-based and our global satellite networks. This will enable passengers to do everything they can do on the ground, in-flight. The network will use unlicensed spectrum and will require minimal updates for an aircraft.

(Editor’s Note: You should probably read this as well.)

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SmartSky:

SmartSky Networks’ patented SmartSky 4G radio system completed the major milestone of receiving FCC certification, clearing the way for deployment of the ultra-fast SmartSky 4G air-to-ground network later this year, with nationwide service launching in mid-2017. Haynes Griffin, SmartSky Chairman and CEO, stated, “After investing tens of millions of dollars and over five years of research and development effort, SmartSky’s now certified technology has unlocked enough spectrum to be able to offer, for the first time, the reliable use of a sophisticated, custom-designed 4G system that can deliver an office-like internet experience in the air for both business aviation and commercial aviation customers.”FCC certification is the culmination of work to develop and patent protect the multiple bodies of technology that uniquely enable SmartSky to make use of the unlicensed 2.4 GHz spectrum band, all without causing harmful interference to or receiving interference from the operation of the same band on the ground. Despite the widespread assertion that aviation-related spectrum reuse in the unlicensed band would not be feasible, SmartSky has successfully solved the challenge by implementing new technical methods that are broadly covered by its robust and growing portfolio of 20 granted patents. Additional patents are pending.

Reed Hundt, SmartSky’s Vice Chairman of the Board and former Chairman of the FCC, remarked, “Long ago, the FCC authorized the allocation of large blocks of unlicensed spectrum to foster innovation and encourage competition. Today, we see the amazing results of that prescient regulation, which has resulted in ubiquitous Wi-Fi on the ground. By application of novel technologies using 2.4 GHz unlicensed spectrum, SmartSky’s breakthrough will finally give the aviation industry the superior connectivity now taken for granted terrestrially.”

Roberson and Associates, a highly regarded independent wireless industry consulting firm, investigated the ability of SmartSky’s radio technology to seamlessly coexist with terrestrial Wi-Fi. CEO Dennis Roberson, who is also Chairman of the FCC’s Technical Advisory Council, commented, “SmartSky’s technology solution is transparent to Wi-Fi users on the ground, enabling the air-to-ground sharing of the 2.4 GHz unlicensed band.”

SmartSky’s technology and patent portfolio is not limited to the unlicensed band. Most of the patents apply to any frequency and any waveform in any high speed air-to-ground network. Because these are broad patents, SmartSky enables underlying technical advances to be incorporated into its conceptual solution. “Over time, this will allow SmartSky to keep pace with the latest advances in computing, antennas, radios and networking while still being protected by our foundational patents,” said Griffin.

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Rockwell Collins:

Continuing a relationship that has lasted over 70 years, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has renewed its Aeronautical Mobile Communications Service (AMCS) agreement with Rockwell Collins. Under the agreement, the company will continue to provide Air Traffic Control (ATC) communications, including position reports, aircraft requests and ATC clearances, between the FAA and aircraft flying in U.S. oceanic airspace.

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Uber Transportation in Singapore!

Lastly, here is a Singapore treat from the nice folks at Uber, the transportation app company. It’s easy to use: In the app, choose your ride and set your location. Once you get matched, you’ll see your driver’s picture and vehicle details, at the same time, you can easily track their estimated time of arrival on the map. No phone calls to make, no pick-ups to schedule. With 24/7 availability, request a ride any time of day. Here is how you can get started: Download the Uber app and register for an account. You’ll have the option to input your credit card or opt for cash payment. To enjoy a $15 FREE ride, simply enter the code IFEXPRESS into the Promotions tab! Hurry – the code is valid until 31 October 2016.

IFExpress: John, we assume you will be moving to the Chicago area… any expectations? Any trepidations?
J.W.: “Yes, I have relocated to the Chicago area and am thrilled to be joining my colleagues here to start launching the 2Ku era. As for trepidations, having spent the last eight winters in Colorado, I’m not quite sure what Chicago winters will bring, less skiing I’m sure.”

IFExpress: Regarding your new areas of responsibility (operations, quality control, commercial airline account management and commercial sales) which do you think will give you the most challenges and which the most enjoyment?
J.W.: “The role in itself will present many challenges as well as enjoyment across all departments as we begin the journey of rolling out 2Ku to our airline partners. Making sure that deployment goes as smoothly as possible is a large part of my new role as COO.

Over the years, I have discovered I have a natural love for optimizing operations within organizations and am really looking forward to leading those functions within Gogo’s commercial aviation business.

For one of my challenges, I’d say learning to manage the folks in sales, as I used to be one myself.

Putting in place the foundation of 2Ku for our airline partners that have clearly recognized 2Ku’s operational excellence is certainly the most exciting challenge. More than 1,200 aircraft across 12 airlines have made commitments to this technology that will change the face of air travel on a global scale. To be leading that innovation is not only a huge milestone at Gogo, but in aviation as well.”

IFEXpress: From a bigger perspective, can you: A. give our readers the today view of Gogo, B. tomorrow’s view under your new leadership, and C. the product view of the next 5 years at Gogo.

J.W.: “Right now is really a very exciting time for Gogo. As the summer travel season comes to an end for the airlines, we are truly stepping into full 2Ku production mode. By the end of the year, we have committed to having 75+ 2Ku aircraft installed and into 2017 and 2018, we’ll be ramping up production quite a bit to get through our backlog of 1,200 aircraft. Given how quickly the airline industry has taken to 2Ku and recognized its technological advantages, I expect in the next five years that we will announce many global partnerships for 2Ku. Additionally, we will continue to expand our product offerings, focus on bringing the connected aircraft to life and develop our next generation regional ATG network that will be a big benefit to both CA (commercial aviation) and BA (business aviation).”

IFExpress: We understand that is some markets (biz jet?), Gogo offers a text/data service (low speed), why is that not offered for a low cost solution for the many users who want minimum service on a commercial service airplane?

J.W.: “We actually do have a messaging pass for commercial aviation (CA) passengers. For CA, this messaging application enables passengers to stay in touch with the ground with popular messaging applications including iMessage, WhatsApp, Viber, etc. If passengers are T-Mobile customers, they can also take advantage of free in-flight texting on all Gogo equipped flights.

For BA and CA both, the service actually works on high speed networks. In general, we think that low speed networks will become increasingly more focused on the cockpit v. passenger services.”

IFExpress: Can you tell our readers a little about how the business aviation market differs from the commercial airline market and do you envision entering other markets like military, etc.?

J. W.: “If there is one major differentiator between BA and CA it’s in the size of the fuselage hence the antenna technologies which are applicable. With Gogo’s range of products for both BA and CA, Gogo is extremely well positioned to service both markets.

In terms of BA vs CA, from an operations perspective, there are striking similarities with the big difference being access to aircraft. Commercial airlines are not keen on taking planes down to change technologies, which creates challenges when you are delivering new technologies. But there are definitely more similarities than differences.”

In closing, John told IFExpress; “While I’ve had a lot of fun over the last eight years managing the BA group, I’m realizing my real passion is in the big airplane world. It’s truly great to be back in the airline world once again and I’m looking forward to seeing all my old friends in Singapore.”

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digEcor:
With over 30 years in the aviation industry, Jorge Mompo has joined the digEcor team as the new Director North, Latin America and Caribbean Sales. Mompo will be based in the America’s office in Springville, Utah and will be handling all Sales and Marketing activities in the Americas’ region. Jorge began his aviation career in the areas of Business Aviation Technical and Support, subsequently moving into IFE where he held diverse Engineering and Sales & Marketing positions in companies including Sony Trans Com, Panasonic and Lumexis, serving mainly the Americas. Mompo commented, “There are numerous growth opportunities in the Region where digEcor’s comprehensive integrated flight experience suite of products for IFE and cabin will be a perfect fit for current and future needs. I’m looking forward to continuing my close working relationships with all the customers in the Americas Region encompassing Airlines, OEMs and MROs.” Jorge will be at Singapore at the digEcor booth and you can contact him here: +1 (305) 781-9798 Mobile – +1 (801) 691-7257 Office

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Thales/SES:
Thales, a global leader in space, avionics, and connected inflight entertainment, announces two milestone agreements with SES, the world’s leading satellite operator. With these agreements, Thales will offer airlines and their passengers FlytLIVE, the most efficient inflight connectivity experience over the Americas. FlytLIVE by Thales will start operating mid 2017 using in-orbit satellites. Thales signed an agreement with SES for tailor made connectivity services over the Americas optimized for commercial aviation.
With FlytLIVE, inflight connectivity solution, airlines will receive the best connection speeds for passengers and passenger entertainment using Ka-band HTS, they claim.
Two currently in-orbit satellites comprise the initial network for the Americas; a third satellite provided by Thales Alenia Space – will be launched in 2020 to meet anticipated market growth over the Americas.
(Editor’s Note: IFExpress will have more on this deal soon.)

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Other Aviation:

• ARINC, AEEC, Rockwell Collins are putting on their big show in Toulouse France this year (Oct. 13 – 14) and a couple meetings caught our eye – specifically 7E Next Generation Cabin Data Bus and New ARINC Global Aeronautical Distress Safety System. Here is more info – ARINC Industry Activities | AEEC | Upcoming Mid-Term | Meeting Material | Drafts for Adoption Consideration
• The FAA says don’t turn on or charge your Samsung’s new Note 7 on an airplane! FAA Warns Airline Passengers Not To Use Samsung Smartphone The Wireless Week reported: “There have been dozens of aircraft fires caused by lithium batteries, so many that the batteries are no longer welcome as cargo on passenger flights. In one of the most recent incidents, a Fiji Airways Boeing 737 was preparing for takeoff from Melbourne, Australia, when smoke was discovered coming from the cargo bay. The plane was evacuated and the cargo unloaded. The source of the fire turned out to be lithium-ion batteries in a passenger’s checked bags. Hoverboards and e-cigarettes are banned from flights for the same reason.” Here is another article on the subject.
  
• If you get a new iPhone (7) but you have earphones with a jack… no worries on board. Just get a Lightening Dock… or, here are four other solutions 5 Ways To Use Headphones With iPhone 7 And iPhone 7 Plus | Redmond Pie and use those jacked earphones!

 

• First “touchless” bag drop already significantly reducing passenger check-in times

Annapolis, MD | July 20, 2016– Rockwell Collins, working in conjunction with Pulse.aero, has recently deployed two major self-service bag drop zones in Terminals One and Two at Dublin Airport through an agreement with daa. The multimillion dollar project streamlines and simplifies the baggage check-in process.

The new systems are already having a significant impact including increased check-in capacity and shorter lines. Comparing statistics from this year’s June bank holiday weekend to 2015, the use of the kiosks has reduced check-in times considerably.

Terminal One, home to Ryanair, now has 15 self-service bag drop units. The units use a one-step approach, allowing passengers who have checked in online to take their bags directly to a bag drop unit where they can print and tag their luggage. The bag is then dispatched straight into the baggage system.

In Terminal Two, the airport now has 32 self-service kiosks and 12 bag drop units in the Aer Lingus check-in area. The bag drop units in Terminal Two are the world’s first touchless bag drops, employing a two-step approach. Passengers first use their reference number to print a boarding card and/or weigh their bag and print a tag. Once tagged, the luggage is taken to the self-service kiosk and the bag is automatically dispatched.

“Touchless bag drop means that passengers can drop their bag at a self-service machine that requires only minor user interaction, eliminating many of the steps they have to deal with today,” said Liz Walshe, project manager at daa. “This solution from Rockwell Collins and Pulse.aero is providing passengers with the services they need to make their travel as easy and seamless as possible. Beyond providing a better check-in experience, the solution is reducing costs by enabling us to use our existing infrastructure to check in more passengers.”

“Different airlines often have different passenger processing models, which means that there isn’t a ‘one-size fits all’ solution for baggage handling,” said Chris Forrest, vice president of Airport Systems for Rockwell Collins. “This, combined with the requirement to work with the existing infrastructure and systems at the Dublin Airport, enabled us to create the right approach for each terminal—and it’s having a real impact on daa’s passengers’ travel experience.”

The self-service solutions will be expanded to additional airlines in the near future and more features, such as baggage payment, will be added over the summer.

• Successful test flight completed using end-to-end UAS integrated avionics solution

Cedar Rapids, Iowa | July 7, 2016– Rockwell Collins, in collaboration with The University of Iowa’s Operator Performance Lab (OPL), successfully controlled an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) using its end-to-end UAS integrated avionics solution. The test flight was a key milestone toward the successful operation of UAS beyond an operator’s visual line of sight in the National Airspace System (NAS).

Key elements of Rockwell Collins’ UAS integrated avionics solution, which is optimized for safe and secure integration of UAS into civil airspace, include:

• A Ground Control Station based on Rockwell Collins’ Pro Line Fusion®—a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certified integrated avionics solution
• A Command and Control Network that utilizes Rockwell Collins’ CNPC-1000 command and control data link, which is the first UAS data link to implement the recommended Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) Special Committee (SC)-228 UAS Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) for UAS Command and Control (C2)
• Rockwell Collins’ Athena® UAS avionics with integrated navigation and flight controls that have over a million hours of safe and reliable operation.

“A number of industries are very eager to use commercial UAS to make their operations much more efficient, especially those that need to monitor and inspect critical infrastructure such as railroads, pipelines and powerlines,” said John Borghese, vice president, Advanced Technology Center for Rockwell Collins. “In order to do that beyond line of sight in the NAS, safe and secure avionics must be implemented. We have now proven that it can be done and we are one step closer to making it a reality for this market.”

“Collaboration between private and public sectors is critical to ensuring the success of commercial UAS in the NAS,” said Dr. Thomas Schnell, director, The University of Iowa’s OPL, which provided two TBM-3M, aka “Ferox”, UAS for the flight testing.

In the coming weeks, Rockwell Collins plans to conduct its next UAS test flight, continuing to extend the range of safe beyond visual line of sight operations.

Rockwell Collins’ end-to-end UAS integrated avionics solution is optimized to scale from small to large UAS.