Runway Girl

What will commercial aircraft look like in the future? To answer this question, a revisit to the past might be necessary. This includes studying a possible return to seaplanes for cities within 30 miles of coastal waters, Airbus VP strategic marketing Philippe Jarry said in mid-March at the ISTAT conference in Orlando. Jarry makes a good point. People are flocking to coastlines around the world "in one of the greatest human migrations of modern times", writes John Tibbetts in his excellent November 2002 article Coastal cities - living on the Edge. "Many experts argue that cities will have to cope with almost all of the population growth to come in the next two decades, and much of this increase will occur in coastal urban centers."

Mindful of this, and the fact that at some point in the future flying boats might replace a lot of the work performed by container ships and cargo-configured aircraft, a Vancouver-based aviation enthusiast has laid out a design for a widebody twin hull flying boat. Richard Benbaruj is not an engineer or even a pilot. He's a self-taught designer who is "trying to turn a real passion into a career". He says he proposed the design to Canada's National Defence department, which says it's not interested at this time, and gave Bombardier a look-see a few years ago.

Bombardier already holds a presence in the amphibious sector with the Bombardier 415 or Superscooper as it is marketed in the USA. Bombardier sees "expanding the role beyond fire fighting", says the manufacturer's director, program management office and director of marketing, Benjamin Boehm. While the company is not currently looking at a commercial amphibious aircraft, he says: "The good thing is that Bombardier is positioned well. We have a foot in that water per say."

So, where does Benbaruj go from here with his design? Well that's where you come in. Here are some photos of static models and sketches of Benbaruj's mid-size version, which he estimates could hold 200 passengers. The configuration calls for a twin hull, high wing, with an integral elevator mounted on the trailing edge of the bridge, and a single vertical stabilizer. Two turbofan engines would be mounted on top of the wing. So, do you think this bird will fly?

R - Rudder

V - Vertical Stabilizer

W - Wing

T - Turbofan

C - Cockpit

H - Hull

B - Bridge

E - Elevator

As mentioned here last week, Panasonic Avionics is finalizing contracts with suppliers for its eXConnect system, and could announce launch customers in about two months.

For those of you waiting with bated breath for the launch of in-flight broadband connectivity, I've got some interesting news to report. Panasonic Avionics has revealed it is in the process of finalizing contracts with key partners for its eXConnect broadband system, and will shortly announce "a supplier or suppliers" for the ever-important antenna. Launch customers for the Ku-band offering could be unveiled in about 60 days.

Panasonic previously picked Israel's Starling as a non-exclusive antenna partner in its satellite-based connectivity system, but requested performance improvements to the firm's fuselage-mounted Mijet antenna as well as from other would-be suppliers. Starling later entered a partnership with EMS Technologies to produce a new ultra-fast, ultra-lightweight (45lb/20kg) Ku-band airborne antenna system that will be targeted at the US commercial airline market. It is not yet clear if the EMS/Starling antenna being now touted has remedied Panasonic's concerns.

Panasonic Avionics director of strategic product marketing David Bruner says: "The aircraft antenna is a really big challenge. A lot of them [suppliers] thought they had a pretty good mousetrap, but all needed redesigned." Selecting the best antenna is a key step before customers are willing to move forward, he adds.

Separately, Aircell is quickly making headway to bring its air-to-ground connectivity solution to market. This blog recently reported that WiFi hotspot aggregator Boingo, which previously listed now-defunct Connexion by Boeing as one of its roaming partners, sees Aircell et al "as another major hotspot provider to work to expand the Boingo network".

One week lalter, iPass announced a roaming partner agreement with Aircell that will allow iPass enterprise users or individual subscribers to connect over Aircell hotspots on commercial aircraft in flight. The news marked Aircell's first roaming partner agreement.

Asked whether Boingo will be next, Aircell says it is in discussions with numerous partners, and is open to the idea of beginning additional discussions. To date, Aircell has formally announced the following partnerships around the commercial ATG Gogo system: Aricent; Formation; generationE Technologies; and Martin Dawes Systems.

(Photo above from Panasonic's eXConnect web page)

Singapore Airlines today became the third carrier to publicly discuss its decision to allow passengers to play music and video content from their own Apple iPod players over installed Panasonic in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems. You'll recall that late last year United Airlines started touting iPod integration, when it revealed details about a $165 million, multi-tiered program to revamp its business travel offering. It looks like Singapore has actually beaten United to the punch, becoming the first carrier to officially offer the iPod - and iPhone - connectivity (starting today on the first of five Airbus A340-500s). It is understood, however, that United is qucikly readying to go live on its international widebody fleet.

Also, just this week Panasonic revealed that Air New Zealand has opted to retrofit 13 Airbus A320s and five Boeing 767s with Panasonic's X Series IFE systems, which features iPod integration. Folks, this is just the beginning. And boy is Panasonic in a sweet spot. The company says its IFE solution is the only one that can natively support Apple's authentication technology.

"Based on my involvement with our sales and marketing team, I can tell you that just about every airline we speak with has asked us to demonstrate this feature," Panasonic Avionics director, product line management Marshal Perlman tells Runway Girl.

"Just as in the PC world, device integration and system expandability are hot topics. And if you break it down, iPod integration is a simple and cost effective solution that helps bridge the gap between the IFE and PMP (personal media player) markets."

So how does all this work? Here are some visuals for your pleasure, and some facts from Panasonic about the the world's biggest and highest flying iPod accessory (as someone from Apple put it).

1) The two main parts of the solution (besides the iPod) are Panasonic's eXport jack (installed in the seat) and Panasonic's eXport cable (which will be available on the aircraft).

2) How the passenger gets the cable is 100% up to the airline. Some will loan-out or give them away for free, some will sell them to PAX for a nominal charge, and some will have the cable permanently fixed to the seat).

3) The solution we'll be rolling out will be the "first" in a number of areas: first Apple approved "Made for iPod" and "Made for iPhone" solution designed specifically for commercial airliner market; first implementation of Panasonic's "eXport" jack technology, which builds into the airline seat a dedicated easy to use "single-point connection" for iPods and iPhones; and rirst solution for commercial airliner market that fully integrates Apple's authentication technology.

4) In order to rent movies from iTunes (via your home computer) and play said movies back on your TV (or IFE system) your device (iPod) and iPod accessory (Panasonic's eXport solution) must support Apple's authentication technology.

5) Panasonic's IFE solution is the only one that can natively support Apple's authentication technology.

6) The eXport jack will allow audio and video to be sent from the iPod (to the IFE system) - as well as power to be sent to the iPod (from the IFE system). This means you can not only watch your iPod or iPhone during the flight, but you can charge the battery so that when you land, you'll have full use of your iPod or iPhone.

7) Passengers will be able to watch (and hear) movies (and music) on the IFE system.

8) The biggest benefit here is the fact that you don't have to hold the iPod in your hand for 12 hours - and the fact that you can watch them on a large in-seat display.

9) In the near future Panasonic will be introducing additional functionality that allows for two way communication between the iPod and IFE system.

10) Panasonic's goal was to make using the iPod on the aircraft as simple as docking your iPod (or plugging in a lamp as one customer said).

11) Both iPod and iPhone (in "airplane mode") are supported.

Northwest Airlines has been a busy bee of late. Sure, there is that little merger deal it thrashed out with Delta Air Lines. But the SkyTeam member has also been quietly replacing its entire public relations team.

Fellow journalists, especially those on newswire-tight deadlines, may share my frustration at how Northwest press contacts seemingly disappeared overnight. So what the heck happened?

I went to Northwest VP - corporate communications Tammy Lee for the answer. She says: "We don't comment on specific personnel issues but, at a high-level, unique business environments require unique talent. We needed to assemble a media relations team that was prepared to handle a complex merger situation.

"This environment is fast-paced, frenetic and stressful. It's not everyone who wants to work in this kind of environment and it's not everyone who is suited to it.  In a merger situation, you need the dream communications team of those who can do the job and those who want to be here."

As Northwest pushes to merge with Delta under the Delta brand, it is safe to say that further changes will take place. Just ask Neal Cohen - essentially Northwest's second in command, who is leaving the firm in June.

However, the new Northwest PR team appears ensconced for now, and includes media relations managers Michelle Aguayo Shannon, Kristin Baur and Robert Laughlin. All three report to Lee, who joined the carrier in October 2007.