● 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.

Annapolis, MD. | June 9, 2015– Rockwell Collins announced that its ARINC aviation communications network is playing a central role in enabling Hawaiian Airlines’ operational evaluation of the Future Air Navigation Systems (FANS) using Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband (SBB) service.

SBB enables voice and ACARS/FANS data transmissions when aircraft are flying over oceans, improving safety and efficiency in oceanic airspace.

“Rockwell Collins is proud to be involved in enabling another aviation first for flight safety as well as helping our vision of the connected aircraft become a reality,” said David Poltorak, vice president, Aviation and Network Services for Rockwell Collins. “Beyond enhancing safety, the growth of broadband connectivity for the flight deck will provide exciting opportunities to bring new flight-enhancing operations and cockpit services to airlines. Many of these services will require significant amounts of data to be delivered to and from the aircraft, which we are well positioned to handle now and in the future.”

“SwiftBroadband Safety will have a significant impact on our flight operations,” said Ken Rewick, vice president of flight operations for Hawaiian Airlines. “In addition to gaining an upgraded path to FANS, we’re also in a position to implement Electronic Flight Bag and Airline Operational Communication applications such as timely weather updates, reroutes and fuel planning over a broadband channel. As a long time Rockwell Collins customer, we are pleased to be using the ARINC aviation communications network to enable this important evaluation.”

“This will be the first time the industry, and particularly the air navigation service providers, will be able to experience the performance of the Rockwell Collins service via the Cobham terminal utilizing our leading satellite communications offering,” said Mary McMillan, vice president of Safety and Operational Services at Inmarsat. “We’re very pleased to be partnering with these leaders in the aviation technology and service business to bring this revolutionary new service to airlines.”

The trial is being conducted for the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Performance-based operations Aviation Rulemaking Committee (PARC) Communications Working Group (CWG).

Rockwell Collins is the Inmarsat SBB service provider for the evaluation. The Rockwell Collins ARINC aviation communications network establishes the links and provides a managed service between the Inmarsat ground stations that enable the aircraft to seamlessly communicate and exchange ACARS, CPDLC and IP connectivity with Hawaiian Airlines’ host systems, ground crews and regulatory agencies anywhere in the world without interruption.