I've been meaning to get this video blog out for weeks. It covers my trip to Vancouver for the Inmarsat aeronautical conference, which was highly informative and, well, loads of fun. But some very unfortunate events occurred to prevent the video from making a timely entrance, including but not limited to - a complete crash of a hard drive, the temporary loss of my camera and a little thing called the Paris Air Show. But enough excuses. Here is the vlog for your edification (okay, okay, it might not improve you spiritually or morally, in fact I know it won't, but I like that word).

What happened to Air France flight AF447? The answers aren't coming easily or quickly, with the latest reports saying the Airbus A330 did not break up in mid-air. But one firm, aviation consultancy Innovation Analysis Group (IAG), has been talking with experts about the tragedy since 5 June.

In less than a month IAG has compiled what must be one of the most comprehensive series of recorded interviews concerning the tragic event - and what could have been done differently - than any other organization.

IAG's Addision Schonland has talked to everyone from former NTSB VP Robert Francis to AeroMechanical Services president Richard Hayden, who explains the possibility of moving up to 88 data points off an aircraft and where the data could be sent - even to a CEO's cell phone!

Hayden believes, and I'm sure many will agree, that the world would benefit from greater data flows off aircraft, especially in a crisis.

I know this is a delicate subject but don't you think it might be time to start talking seriously about the role connectivity can play? Airbus is already thinking outside the box.

Schonland tells me that, after some internal debate, the decision was taken to make the AF447 information free as a public service, which is why I'm urging you to check out this site. 

"The idea of creating the AF447 content was driven by the highly unusual circumstances - a relatively new plane, with a great safety record, from a tier one airline and what appears to be an experienced crew and in odd circumstances," says Addison.

"For instance, AF459 out of Rio came 20 minutes after AF447 and diverted 70NM around the same storm - why? There has been scant news about this. There is little we know about the crash - there appears to be clogged pitots. The pitot problem on the A330/340 is old news, but can we fault AF? There are a host of questions and we have tried to avoid speculation. "

But what has been the most interesting item discovered so far?

Says Schonland:

"The most interesting item we discovered so far is that the missing CVR and FDR problems might have been made less of a problem had the plane been equipped with an ability to send out masses of data via satellite. Apparently such an ability would add significantly to the missing information. Not the least of which is the last location of the plane.

"An FDR stores up to 88 data points - with high bandwidth capacity all these and more could have been "squirted" off the flight not only in an emergency but even on a regular basis, like every 5 minutes. Imagine how much more the investigation team would have to work with? Could this event be a good time for IATA to take the lead in coming up with a solution for the industry on the basis of safety? There are so many redundant system in planes for safety - as we move to ever more sophisticated equipment, perhaps such a data service would be appropriate. Unfortunately we learn from crashes to avoid them in future. A dearth of data is not appropriate in the 21st Century."

Good God almighty, it seems I mixed up my FCC filings the other day (I can't imagine how that happened. That site is a walk in the park). But I digress. Here is the appropriate filing - you'll see it has a rather similar thrust to the 2008 document.

But much more importantly, here is the link to Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines' 1 July 2009 - yes, 2009 - request to the FCC to approve Row 44's application.

Three key quotes:

"...competing airlines are moving forward with their own in-flight broadband services, and Southwest and Alaska Airlines need to move forward promptly with their own in-flight broadband offerings."

"ViaSat, a competing satellite provider that has been unable to gain a contract with any of the major airlines, has been doing everything it can to slow down or stop approval of Row 44's system, but the commission should not reward these anti-competitive efforts by further delaying a grant of Row 44's application."

"...Southwest and Alaska Airlines urge that the commission should move expeditiously to a grant of this application."

Though they don't come right out and say it, Alaska and Southwest clearly see that they will be at a competitive disadvantage if they can't go fleet-wide with Row 44 in the near-term. Here's hoping this whole mess is resolved soon.

Gulf Air today announced that CEO Bjorn Naf is to step down and be replaced by current Royal Jordanian Airlines chief Samer Majali.

But yesterday, while Naf was still head of the Middle Eastern carrier, he gave a speech at the Aviation club in London.

In what could be the Swiss exec's last public appearance as Gulf's CEO, Naf spoke lovingly about the iPhone.

More to the point, he said he wants to use it for every aspect of his travelling experience - EVERY aspect, including his own health monitoring (but of course, connectivity could be used to help monitor aircraft health as well).

Welcome to the new world, folks. It's just around the corner.

Here is the key quote from Naf's speech:

"I want to use an iPhone for every aspect of my travelling experience:- to book my flight, check-in, pass through security, buy my Duty Free, board the aircraft, let my taxi know whilst in-flight that I am delayed or - you never know - arriving early. I even want a device on my phone that checks my temperature to indicate that I am fit and healthy to travel across borders!!

"And this technology should and must transcend borders! Governments, airport operators, airlines and service providers need to collaborate and support each other in bringing new, innovative and creative initiatives to the fore."

If you haven't done so already, head on over to SITA's web site and check out CEO Francesco Violante's speech today at the Air Transport IT summit.

He has loads of interesting things to say, but for the IFE&C crowd, here is the big news:  Some 68% of airlines plan to invest in IP broadband connectivity both to and from aircraft over the next three years, according to a joint survey conducted by Airline Business and SITA.

Says Violante:

The mobile passenger is connected onboard via the technology already available - for example, by OnAir - as we will hear later today.

The aircraft will become another 'NODE ON THE NETWORK'. A FLYING DATA CENTRE linked through wireless broadband to an airline's ground-based network.

High-speed upload capabilities will produce time-savings and operational efficiencies in areas such as software loading and in-flight entertainment loading.

The huge volumes of data generated by e-enabled aircraft will be used to improve aircraft turnaround - and give us the CO2 data necessary to measure our environmental performance.
These are not distant scenarios!

So, if you are an airline and you haven't thought about your connectivity strategy yet, don't you think it's time?

UAE's national airline Etihad Airways has launched an advanced new online 'micro-site' to showcase its in-flight and ground experience. The carrier previously showed us pics of its new Airbus A340-600 first-class suites (which are sweet). Now it doing one better and offering "Experience Etihad", a fully interactive 3D tour available at etihadairways.com.

But here are key pars from Etihad's latest PR:

"Experience Etihad"...offers visitors to the site a unique insight into the airline's services across all three aircraft cabins, as well as the luxurious airport lounges and limo and coach services.

Among the highlights is a detailed demonstration of Etihad's recently launched first-class suite which will include facilities such as a 23-inch television screen; personal wardrobe; an extra-large seat that extends to a fully-flat, 80.5 inch, bed; and screen doors which slide shut for total privacy.

The micro-site also features video interviews with Etihad Airways' onboard food and beverage managers, an award-winning service that delivers a five star hospitality experience.

The micro-site can be viewed directly from the etihadairways.com home page. Just click on the "interactive tour" link.

A new digEplayer - dubbed the digEplayer XLP for "extra long play" - has hit the market.

Manufacturer digEcor says the digEplayer XLP offers six more hours of battery life than the current digEplayer XT model. It also boasts an LED backlit screen.

This compares to the 10-hour battery life of the digEplayer XT (although digEcor has a version of the XT with an LED backlit screen that offers 12 hours).

I've posted an article here. No public word yet on the launch customer.

But check out my follow-up Q&A with digEcor. Can you dig it?

1) How many years did it take to develop the XLP?

This is a tricky question to answer. Since much of the architecture is based on the digEplayer XT, one could say it has taken years. Though, the actual time devoted to turning the XT into the XLP is probably much shorter. 
 
2) Had you wanted to bring this to market sooner?

Who wouldn't say yes to this question? We devote a lot of time, money, and resources to asking the industry (which includes passengers) what they want and what they need. Instead of trying to compete today, our focus is to provide what you need tomorrow and beyond. The advantage is that we are able to create high value products and services that the market can use for a long time. The downside is that it prolongs the decision and implementation process. Personally, I believe that we and more importantly, the industry are better for it though. 
 
3) Have you shown the prototype of this model before (was this the prototype model at WAEA last year)?

This was not the player that we prototyped last Fall. Though that prototype was important in that it helped us better understand the market's requirements. The digEplayer XLP was shown to a number of individuals at the Aircraft Interiors Expo as well as a number of airlines to gather feedback and arrive at the final production model which is now available to airlines worldwide.