August 2009 Archives

Continental Airlines expects to make a decision on whether to bring in-flight broadband to passengers sometime next year, but the carrier would like LiveTV to play a role in making that happen, company CEO Larry Kellner told aviation journa-blogger extraordinaire Dan Webb last week at the NBTA conference.

Well, well, well. Isn't that interesting? Could LiveTV be seriously studying a broadband solution (and will it be Ka-based, as previously suggested?)

Continental, which is equipping its domestic Boeing fleet with LiveTV's 80-channel live television system, will dip its baby toe into in-flight connectivity early next year when it begins testing the JetBlue Airways subsidiary's basic Kiteline product.

But one thing Continental won't ever do is enable in-flight voice calls. Kellner says: "We won't install phone capability. On the Continental side, we will not do that."

His comment prompted a round of applause from the audience!?! In-flight voice calls are apparently the devil in the USA, don't ya know?

You can check out Kellner's full response at the 37.40 minute mark on the "Airline CEO Panel" video over at the NBTA web site or read it in its entirety below.

Says Kellner:

We'll continue to study the Wi-Fi area and look at kind of the customer reaction. It's clear that the trend is going in the direction of Wi-Fi. It's unclear how heavy that usage is. Our is goal has been to get LiveTV on our domestic fleet and to get BlackBerrys to work so basically you could get Blackberrys or iPhones that have wireless capabilities and get those messages, that's what Kiteline is. Our hope is we do that at no charge. If we need a broader-band solution, and we'll watch and listen to our customers, we'll put one on. We'd like to do that in concert with LiveTV if that's the decision on where we need to go. I think we want to watch the market evolve a little more. Our strategy has been to go after portable devices which is we watch what our customers carry - if we could get those to work for everybody for free that would obviously be a very good solution. But we need to see how that works out as we roll it out. We're going to do a test early next year on Kiteline across a number of our planes as we roll out LiveTV. But we'll also have the capability on the aircraft to do wireless networks as we put in LiveTV so that will give us the flexibility to add broadband if that's ultimately where we need to go. I would expect we would make the decision sometime next year.

Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly also had some interesting comments about in-flight Wi-Fi (as reported, the carrier intends to go fleet-wide with Row 44's Ku-band solution).

Says Kelly:

Well I think we're very excited about Wi-Fi onboard. Just in terms of our brand...our devotion to low cost, our commitment to low fares, it just helps to offer new customer services and experiences that fit that brand. So we felt like Wi-Fi was the cleanest next step for us. It requires minimal installation on the aircraft, as an example, looking to our customers to bring onboard their devices that many people are carrying in their pockets now. I agree with Larry, I think the take rates right now are pretty modest but I think the issue is what's the future. Where are we going to be three, five, ten years from now? So we've tried to make a decision that is taking a little bit longer to explore and evaluate and then install but I think we're going to be very well positioned for the future there. The other thing that is exciting to us about this opportunity that it is not restricted. We control the product and the offering and so we'll be able to explorer partnerships in the future with the Row 44 commitment we're pursuing.

Let me urge you to watch the entire video of Kellner and Kelly. There is lots of great info in there.

Now I know what you may be asking - who is Dan Webb?

Webb is an aviation geek at a period in time when aviation geekdom is considered very cool indeed (that would be now).

When Webb's dad brought home a US Airways Attache magazine in the late 90s, Dan started drawing the future route map for "Dan Airways," and a passion was born.

As Webb finished high school, he began blogging about the industry over at Things in the Sky and became a co-host of the Airplane Geeks Podcast.

Now entering his sophomore year at Bryant University, Webb has been making some mighty insightful air transport comments as @danwebbage on Twitter.

I just heard from my colleage, David Kaminski-Morrow, who is on a test flight of British Airways' new transatlantic A318 right now. He sent me the following:

Mary

I thought it fitting that you be the first ATI recipient of an email from BA's first A318, (courtesy of OnAir!).

DKM

(At 38,000ft, somewhere over the Netherlands)

So I guess you could say that the system is working just fine :)

(Photo is copyright of R. Hesse)

What is the Alliance for Passenger Connectivity, which boasts several members, including Arinc, AeroMobile, Panasonic, ViaSat, Rockwell Collins and others?

The alliance's web site says it is a "coalition of companies dedicated to enabling passengers and crew on board aircraft to stay connected while in flight" and that it will "also serve to aid regulators in understanding existing regional and international precedent for facilitating introduction of passenger connectivity solutions".

That's a bit vague. Surely there is more to it than that? I put my question to a number of very clued in IFE&C folks, and here is what I've been able to come up with by way of a response. I've paraphrased the comments for your reading ease.

The Alliance for Passenger Connectivity hopes to provide a one-stop-shop to countries that are not yet knowledgeable about Ku-band-based connectivity. If, for example, you are a regulator in Kenya and an airline is planning to offer Ku-band-based connectivity in your airspace or directly in your country, you may not have any idea there is an ITU-R recommendation - M.1643 - that describes some baseline requirements for FSS aircraft earth stations in the 14-14.6 GHz band (that's the Ku-band for the few non-nerdlingers reading this blog).

So the various service providers applying for that could tell the regulator: 'You can check out this site and it has all the information'. Rather than going to the ITU web site and looking for the specific recommendations, you can go to the Alliance for Passenger Connectivity and look at how other regulatory bodies have treated such requests.

The Kenyan regulator could look and see what everyone else has done, and decide if it is reasonable to permit such a service in its own country. If the alliance wasn't there, Kenya and other nations in Africa, South America and other parts of the third world would have to do a lot more digging.

Any of the more active countries in the regulatory process probably already have this information closer to their fingertips (especially if they had active Connexion by Boeing-equipped planes flying from or in their airspace in years past).

During the recent WAEA connectivity workshop in Everett, Panasonic said it has secured licenses for its Ku-band solution, eXConnect, in over 150 countries. There are around 200 countries in the world, give or take, so Panasonic is saying it has approvals in a big ole chunk.

But one of the things that some of these little countries do, because they don't have all the rules and regulations in place, or manpower to support putting the rules in place, is to simply not respond to service providers' requests to operate in the Ku band. If a service provider doesn't hear back from the country in 90 days, it sends out another letter, and if it still doesn't get a response, it assumes it is 'good to go' in that country. (I'm told that this practice isn't sneaky or out of the ordinary, and that it was a path paved by CBB.) 

There are plenty of countries where one does need to get an approval, however. That includes the USA. Row 44 recently received permanent authority from the regulator, for example.

So what is the Alliance for Passenger Connectivity? It appears to be a tool to promote regulatory approval for global Ku-band service. Doesn't it?   

Brazilian operator TAM is a Super Trouper, and not simply because it offers Abba's greatest hits on its excellent in-flight entertainment systems (see pic). The carrier, which is readying to join the Star Alliance in April, today announced a heaping big deal with Amadeus to replace scads of legacy systems with the IT giant's Altea customer management solution. Read all the details here.

I had the chance to sit down with TAM and Amadeus executives this morning in Sao Paolo, and the conversation was interesting, to say the very least.

First of all, let me tell you that TAM is serious about in-flight connectivity. The carrier already offers satellite telephone functionality plus basic text messaging and email through its IFE systems on international aircraft (I tried the former and got through to Bedford, Pennsylvania without a bother - a price of $6/min might force one to keep such calls short, however). Side note: Isn't it ludicrous that wired - and wireless - calls are happening throughout the world, but the USA continues to hold some sort of baseless, anti-phone attitude?

Anyhoo, TAM doesn't roll like that (thank goodness). The carrier is getting ready to bring OnAir's mobile connectivity solution to Airbus A320 narrowbodies. "The first aircraft is coming this year with the system," says TAM vice-president commercial and planning Paulo Castello Branco. As such, TAM will become the first company on the continent to offer the Airbus/SITA joint venture's offering.

TAM tells me that the system is expected to be operational by the second half of 2009, "but it depends on the approval of ANAC and Anatel (National Agency of Telecommunications), as well as the legislation that authorizes cell phones use only when the airplane is landed and with its doors opened".

Okay, RWG, you jump from Amadeus to integrated IFE to OnAir, what gives? Well, despite the fact that these things seem mutually exclusive (to some), they don't have to be. The Altea solution keeps passengers' flight histories and individual preferences referenced, and so it is just the sort of IT platform that will help usher in THE CABIN OF THE FUTURE (cue Star Trek soundtrack).

So, let's lay out the scenario. You're an airline and you've got vital customer profiles - care of Altea - at your fingertips. And, lookie here, you've also got a robust in-flight connectivity link (care of OnAir or AeroMobile or Aircell or Row 44 or Panasonic, etc). Maybe now you can customize the passengers' in-flight experience in real time. And the passengers can feel like you (the airline) really care about them and all their interests and pastimes (perhaps a carrier should try to flog Mamma Mia tickets to Runway Girl, for example).

What if you're a passenger on a delayed flight and you need to rebook a connecting flight? Well maybe you'll be able to do that through your IFE system, which might know the carrier's inventory (and be pulling it from Altea's inventory tool).

"The scenario you described is very feasible using Altea," says Amadeus director global airline IT Jean-Philippe Mesure, noting that certain data "can be fed to individual seats".

He adds: "The ease of integration [with Altea] allows a lot of new business opportunities for the airline."

Knowing me, knowing you, it is then...

Bombardier's very first CSeries test aircraft is poised to start taking shape after the first fuselage test barrel was delivered to the airframer's St Laurent facility outside of Montreal. Check out Bombardier's video (hey, those are some nice multi-media skills you've got going there, Bombardier!).

>

Bombardier is being very forward-thinking with this aircraft. Indeed, the narrowbody game is well and truly on due in no small part to the CSeries.

For instance, Bombardier is seriously studying wireless IFE - or at least elements of wireless - for the CSeries, which is expected to enter into service in 2013. One thing the airframer is NOT interested in, however, is stand-up seats. Yes, I know, this has been one of my favourite interiors topics of late and I've now harassed every major airframer, but one, about it (Hmmm, I'm in Sao Paolo right now so I wonder if that could be remedied.)

In any case, here is a quote from my recent interview with Bombardier vice president commercial aircraft programmes Ben Boehm:

"We have not had any customer approach us on that [vertical seating] so that's the first part, and second of all, knowing the requirements for certification of seats on airplanes, the fact that seats have to withstand a 16g impact, I find it very difficult to understand how you're going to deal with that.

"I suppose the other question really becomes 'are we going a little too far in terms of what we're going to put our passengers through'. If anything we're seeing trends that airlines are starting to maybe compete a little bit again on passenger comfort, with customers talking about new configurations. It will be awfully hard to work on your laptop standing up."

Southwest Airlines and Row 44 are continuing plans to roll out wi-fi beginning in the first quarter of 2010. Beginning this fall, Southwest will be moving to the next step of certifying Southwest's full fleet with plans to begin fleetwide rollout of the Row 44 satellite service in the first quarter of 2010. The airline has been testing the service on four aircraft since Feb. 2009 and has received fantastic Customer feedback on the product.

"We have concluded our testing for inflight wi-fi and are very happy with both the technical performance of the system and the response of Customers who have used it," said Dave Ridley, Southwest Airlines Senior Vice President of Marketing and Revenue Management. "We are pleased to be continuing with our plans to offer satellite-enabled broadband access through California-based Row 44."

"Row 44 is thrilled to be the in-flight wi-fi service of choice for one of the most Customer-focused airlines in the world," said John Guidon, Row 44 Chief Executive Officer. "We are excited about moving forward and delivering Southwest's Customers a rich menu of in-flight connectivity and entertainment options."

During the testing phase, Customers have been utilizing the service for anything from e-mail to streaming video. Those interested in using the service during the test period have had the opportunity to log on to the service via their own personal wi-fi enabled device (laptops, iPhones, wi-fi enabled smart phones, etc). Additionally, the airline has been testing a variety of price points for the service and will continue testing price points through the end of 2009.

Southwest Airlines is the most productive airline in the sky and offers Customers a comfortable traveling experience. Southwest offers a very comfortable ride with all premium leather seats and plenty of legroom with a young all-Boeing 737 fleet. Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), the nation's largest carrier in terms of domestic passengers enplaned, currently serves 67 cities (with service to Milwaukee starting Nov. 1, 2009) in 34 states. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,200 flights a day and has more than 35,000 Employees systemwide.

www.southwest.com

A source tells me that Southwest is going to announce plans for equipping its fleet with Row 44's Ku-band-based in-flight connectivity solution - TODAY!

I'm waiting for confirmation, which could come in about 15min. However, I'm being told that Southwest employees got the news this morning! And that rollout begins in the first quarter.

Hold on to your hats!!!

This, of course, changes everything.

More to follow....

The lads and ladies of IFE&C are keeping me well on my toes these days. In addition to the RWG blog, I'm spearheading Flight Global's new IFE&C news channel, where we're making every effort to run fresh content daily, like the latest news on digEcor's move to become a total IFE solutions provider.

If you've got news (confidential or otherwise), feel free to contact me by the usual means or at my Yahoo address at mary_b_kirby@yahoo.com 

One firm that is also staying very busy is OnAir, the Airbus/SITA joint venture that scored its first African customer this week with the announcement that Libyan is equipping its newest A320s with in-flight connectivity.

So far, OnAir's mobile connectivity solution has been installed on well over 50 aircraft, including - but not limited to - 48 at Ryanair, two at Royal Jordanian, three at Wataniya and one at TAP.

Royal Jordanian's A320s were linefit with OnAir, as were Wataniya's. British Airways' transatlantic Airbus A318, which will be delivered later this month, will be linefit with the system, enabling Internet access and transmission of email and text messages. Voice calls will not be initially permitted. (On an aside, the WAEA reported last month that IMS is supplying the portable IFE players to BA).

Meanwhile, the new A330 that will be delivered to Oman Air in mid-November will be linefit with 'Mobile OnAir' and 'Internet OnAir'.

"Oman Air will be delivered with the service integrated with their Thales IFE," says OnAir's spokesman Walter Bruderer, noting: "We work with both Thales and Panasonic and can integrate with the IFE systems should the customer request it."

Asked to address Qatar chief Akbar Al Baker's comments about a "pissing match" between Qatar and OnAir, as well as his comments about passengers' cell phone complaints, Bruderer says:

"There's nothing to it and OnAir is not aware of any complaints about the voice call portion; needless to say, OnAir is surprised as well. Also, please note that OnAir is not aware of any mobile phone system that is turned on during night flights. Can you let us know who does it?"

Hah! Fair point! No I don't know any carriers that turn this on in-flight but I also don't see why it would be such a huge problem since more and more travellers are knocking themselves out on overnight flights.

Oh go on, admit it. Ambien, Lunesta and their kind have become travellers' best friends (especially travellers who are increasingly finding themselves in economy class when once they enjoyed business class). A blog for another time, perhaps. :)

Now you can fly and call! That's the tagline for the new promotion being run by Malaysian Airlines, AeroMobile and DiGi, a leading mobile communications company in Malaysia.

DiGi subscribers who roam abroad are offered a fixed rate for text. So AeroMobile worked with DiGi to make sure that passengers on aircraft equipped with the system have that rate.

The cost works out basically to 25 cents a message. Well now, that's some el cheapo in-flight texting!

Malaysian Airlines has been trialling AeroMobile's system on Boeing 777 aircraft. Passengers have been able to use their own BlackBerry-type devices and mobile phones to send/receive emails and text messages, and to make and receive voice calls. Real-time, in-flight credit card authentication is also forthcoming.

As part of the DiGi promo, a costumed man, sporting DiGi's signature yellow, has been helping to get the word out about the promotion to people at the airport.

AeroMobile has been learning a lot about region-specific marketing through its work with Malaysian.

It's a good thing too since sources tell me that the company's system, branded as eXPhone by partner Panasonic, is about to roll out onto brand new Boeing 777s operated by three carriers based in and around Southeast Asia.

That's right, fair reader, eXPhone, line-fit on new widebodies (Boeing widebodies, not Airbus), is coming very soon. This will be a first for AeroMobile, which has been installed on widebodies via retrofit...until now.

Ya see? Ya gotta read these babies all the way to the end.

Congratulations AeroMobile and Panasonic. I'm looking forward to your next trick (wild guess - it involves Lufthansa).

Here's more of that DiGi promo and info about the company:

 

Is Oman Air going to launch a brand new first class product with a seat that could fit basketball superstar Shaquille O'Neal?

That is the carrier's plan for its newest Airbus A330s, according to Shashank Nigam, CEO of global airline marketing and branding consultancy SimpliFlying.

"Oman Air is certainly differentiating itself from other airlines, especially its larger Middle Eastern cousins. A business class in which Kobe Bryant can sleep comfortably, and a soon to be launched first class that fits Shaquille O'Neal is quite a revelation. Oman Air is certainly looking to make a big splash, especially in the premium cabins. If they can match this with superior service, then it would make for a compelling offering," says Nigam.

Business Traveler reports that Oman will only feature six of these mammoth seats in first class. The seat could be unveiled any day now.

Oman Air's new business class seat, shown below, was unveiled earlier this year during the ITB Berlin 2009 by Oman Air CEO Peter Hill. Key par from Oman statement:

"Oman Air has just 20 seats fitted in its business class cabin, featuring a four abreast 1-2-1 layout which together with 17" video monitors gives an ambience and spaciousness that exceeds most of our competitor's first class offerings.

"To deliver the last word in in-flight entertainment, Oman Air has selected the Thales i5000, which combined with the Rockwell Collins Tailwind 560 platform will provide Live TV, featuring news, sports and movie options to every seat on the aircraft."

What else will the A330s have going for them?  They will eventually be equipped to allow passengers to use their mobile phones during flight. Oman has a deal with OnAir to bring the Airbus/SITA joint venture's SwiftBroadband-supported 'Mobile OnAir' and 'Internet OnAir' solutions onboard the widebodies. I'm not sure if the aircraft will offer OnAir from the get-go (but I'm thinking not, since Airbus said recently that the ALNA V2 platform wouldn't be ready until 4Q). In any case, it will be cool to see if passengers use OnAir to access Oman's newly updated SMS service.

So what challenges might Oman Air face?

"The challenge for Oman Air will be to fill up these cabins. Turkish Airlines has announced that it will not have a first class, but a premium economy cabin," says Nigam.

"Premium demand is declining, and Oman Air will have to be innovative in its go-to-market approach. Either by using new mediums such as Web 2.0 to connect with customers, or by having multiple codeshares to drive traffic. Maybe joining a leading alliance like OneWorld or Star Alliance can be considered. After all, the in-flight products are good only if they're filled up with passengers, isn't it?"

(Pic of Shaquille O'Neal can be found here: http://www.geneticarchaeology.com/Images/Shaq_at_the_white_house.jpg)

Remember that in-flight Wi-Fi survey that I've been bugging you to take? Well the results are in, and they are very interesting. Read the entire update here: IAG Wi-Fi report.doc

Innovation Analysis Group (IAG), which undertook the survey, states that while the data has changed only marginally over the last three years, there has been strong movement in one area - travelers are willing to pay a lot less for in-flight connectivity than they once were prepared to.

IAG head honcho Addison Schnoland today spoke about the results with Richard Owen, an IFE&C consultant and former executive director of the World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA).

They had a great chat and you can access it at the following link:

http://iagblog.podomatic.com/entry/2009-08-17T11_35_57-07_00

But here is just one key exchange between Schonland and Owen:

Addison - Question: When one looks at... the fact that you need to be able to offer this thing domestically and beyond the borders, the two big options right now are the Ku-band from Row 44 and the...terrestrial technology with Aircell Gogo. Do you think those two will start cooperating on long-haul flights and then quietly cooperate across the board because each one is dependent on a channel?

Owen - Answer: Yeah they are [dependent on a channel]. I have no doubt that those conversations are probably already happening not only between those two major players in the marketplace, but also among other players who kind of operate in this area who may offer some other solutions that could make the Internet access as seamless as possible across the water, across other countries.

And I'm sure there is direct competition between those two that you named where necessary but also certainly cooperation where it makes sense for them to be able to team up and offer the best solution for airlines or a particular airline where necessary. So yes, I think there are a number of players out there in the marketplace that can provide different solutions and I'm sure they're already talking to position themselves for success as to however this might shake out."

Swiss International Air Lines is very much like its parent Lufthansa in one key area - it is high-end and knows how to treat its customers during flight. The carrier was kind enough to let me join a group of travel and aviation journalists in experiencing its new business class offering on a big, beautiful new Airbus A330-300, which was introduced in late April on the carrier's popular Zurich-New York route. I documented some of my experience on video. Check it out.

Aircell has surpassed the 500 mark - that's 500 aircraft equipped with the firm's Gogo broadband system. How shall we mark this milestone?

Let me tell you a story about Patrick Wendlandt of Conferencing Advisors. Patrick recently flew on a Gogo-equipped American Airlines flight and tried out the wireless Internet "and was amazed with the speed of it". He then pulled out his webcam and fired up a video conference and, voila, it worked!

Patrick was able to speak with the marketing director of Vidyo, a company that has also tried video conferencing on a Gogo-equipped aircraft (the pic above is a screenshot of a Vidyo employee talking back to one of the head honchos of the company).

Patrick says he was using Vidyo's new h.264SVC solution, "which means it can work up 30% data packet loss/disruption while all the other stuff can only go up to 2 or 3%". Learn more about the solution at the following link: whitepaper_personaltlepresence (2).pdf

While Patrick was disconnected a couple times, he was "very pleased" with the result. "I feel like I was talking from the top of the world. I understand the bandwidth upload limitations and so I'm prepared to get disconnected."

He adds: "I know that the carriers do not realize that video conferencing can be done as most folks aren't aware of this new technology that can run on such a high frame drop rate. Nothing is even mentioned in any of the advertising for GogoInflight.com or anywhere else I can find.

"I then went to Aircell, the parent company of GogoInflight.com and one of their VPs was nice enough to correspond. He basically says to check out this Hang-Up Act and good luck. So from what I can tell it looks like Congress is going to disallow VOIP and therefore probably video conferencing up in the sky."

Not so fast, Patrick. The Hang-Up Act is not a done deal. In fact, while the House of Representatives did include the legislation in its FAA reauthorization bill, the Senate did not. The two bills have yet to be reconciled, but mobile connectivity providers, like AeroMobile and OnAir, have high hopes that Congress will hang up on the Hang-Up Act.

But do we need video conferencing capabilities during flight?

"If you think about it, when is the only time a business person is not available? During a flight. So now the business traveler can make about every meeting via video conferencing. What is really funny to think about is video conferencing is really being used more and more to avoid traveling at all," says Patrick, who is happy for you to reach him at patrick@conferencingadvisors.com.

Aircell hasn't specifically addressed my upload bandwidth query - if you don't count the friendly note I received this week - but the company has directed me to a very interesting blog post by Yankee Group analyst Vince Vittore, a self-proclaimed "general doubter of the ability of wireless technologies to replicate and replace the wireline experience".

The entire blog is worth a read, but here's a key par:

...I approach this expecting significant limitations in speed and application usage. I was wrong.
So what works? Just about everything.
The first speed test somewhere over northern California shows 2.4 Mbps down; 264 kbps up. That's comparable to a mid-tier DSL connection on the downstream side. The second test somewhere around Salt Lake City when I notice a few more laptops open comes up at 1.46 Mbps down and 286 kbps up. Still not bad.
So let's run this puppy through its paces, making it progressively more demanding on the connection at each step.
• Launch a VPN session to access corporate e-mail? Check.
• Tweet the fact that I'm 36,000 in the air? Check. Get immediate response? Check
• Launch multiple IM sessions? Check.
• Stream music from Pandora? Check.
• Check out a few random videos on YouTube? Check, sort of. There were a few buffering delays but nothing more than I occasionally get on other Wi-Fi connections
• And finally, a Skype video call to Yankee Group's Wally Swain in Colombia? Yes, it works save for the bad background noise and the fact that I don't want to be "that guy making the loud phone call." Not much I can do about that.

So what have we learned from this exercise, apart from the fact that RWG should take a chill pill and take a ride on another Gogo-equipped flight in the near-term?

VOIP and video conferencing is alive and well on Gogo-equipped aircraft in the USA! And, SHOCK, we're not seeing any moaning, groaning or air-raging from the general public about it.

Let the Hang-Up Act die the death it deserves.

And let me congratulate Aircell on achieving the 500-aircraft milestone. Now THAT was fast!

I really must have too many balls in the air (easy) or perhaps I'm going slightly bonkers (I prefer the term "eccentric"), because I just took a good hard look at my desktop and found the two hottest IFE&C presentations of late just sitting there, begging to be posted to Runway Girl.

Now then, if you're a WAEA member, you need read no further. You've got access to these two presentations (as well as a treasure trove of others, yee lucky ducks). But, if you're not a WAEA member, then do read on.

The first presentation, given by Airbus connectivity programme director Antoine Francois at the recent WAEA single-focus connectivity workshop in Everett, Washington, spells out Airbus' exact connectivity strategy, a strategy that has come under fire of late.

You likey the leaky line? Well maybe you'd like one satcom antenna to take care of all your connectivity needs (cockpit and cabin). The following two slides from Francois' WAEA speech say A LOT - and gives you a visual indication of what all the controversy is about - but you can view the entire presentation here: WAEA single focus workshop.pdf

   

John Craig, of Boeing cabin and network systems, also gave a great presentation at the WAEA workshop. It was, in fact, very similar (if not identical) to the one he gave at the Inmarsat aeronautical conference in Vancouver. Here is a telling slide, but Craig's entire presentation can be read here: Wed_AM-Boeing_Craig.pdf

   

Are you an air traveler with an opinion? Then you might want to think about participating in Eezeer, a social networking service that enables users to engage in conversation with other travelers and airlines, and share their on-the-spot real-time review - be it good, bad, or ugly.

So why are you telling us this, RWG? Aren't we up to our eyeballs in so-called "social networking" sites?

Here's why. In recent months, Eezeer users have been rating in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems the world over (in addition to rating everything else about airlines). And, in so doing, they are dominating the in-flight entertainment headlines on mammoth social networking site Twitter.

I'm sure all this data - once it reaches critical mass - will make for some useful marketing tools (Eezeer parent Air Valid knows a thing or two about that).
 
See for yourself how IFE is a very hot topic. (Beware, you are now entering a tiny window into my daily Twitter world - go there at your own risk and remember why RWG needs the odd drink.)

Boeing Commercial Airplanes manager, media relations Jim Proulx read my standing-seats blog from yesterday and was kind enough to weigh in on the subject for my feature.

Here is Boeing's on-record stance:

"We are not contemplating standing-only accommodations on Boeing jetliners, nor do we have any plans to do so. Among other things, stringent regulatory requirements - including seats capable of withstanding a force of 16g, would essentially preclude such an arrangement."

For the record, here too is Airbus' official comment on the matter, care of the company's spokesman Martin Fendt:

"We do appreciate your interest, and stacked/standing seating is subject that does seem to crop up from time to time in the media, but I'm afraid that Airbus is not developing such an interior."

Thanks guys!

This doesn't close the book, of course, as interiors and seating experts try to find the right mousetrap - or the right trap? - to pass those 16g requirements, which formally go into effect in the USA in October, and are expected to go into effect in Europe next year, although many new aircraft have been delivered to this spec for years.

But Airbus might want to think again about stacked sleepers for its widebodies. Why? Because Malaysian low-cost, long-haul carrier AirAsia X says it is open to exploring stacked sleeper seats for its newly-ordered Airbus A350s!

"The timing of the requirements and specifications [that we will] have to lay down for those [A350] deliveries I think is going to coincide with further developments in the interiors market and give us the opportunity with that aircraft to explore some of these new options," says Tim Claydon, a director and consultant for the carrier.

Claydon also revealed that AirAsia X is exploring equipping its A350 cabins with Wi-Fi instead of installed IFE. Those in-seat power guys must be loving this.

But back to stacked sleepers. What do these babies look like? We've taken a gander at MmilleniumM Group's proposed Air Sleeper, which is largely targeted at the premium economy crowd (a growing crowd, BTW). 

A competing product, known as the Airborne Hotel (Abh), made its mock-up debut this year at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg. And the response was largely positive.

Click on the following documents for loads of detail about the Abh, care of inventor Carlos Martinez, and feedback from the show. abh_info.doc  abh_quotes.doc  

And then check out the pics below (can you see yourself lounging back and watching that big screen TV?).

Flight Global's new IFE&C channel yesterday reported that former Aircell head of sales and marketing Bill Peltola has moved to AeroMechanical Services and that AMS is making progress in streaming FDR data to the ground. And lo, here today is a hefty press release that has the in-flight communications veteran's mark on it (literally - see his contact details at the bottom). There is some good info in here.

New Data Streaming Technology Developed For Aviation Industry

AeroMechanical Services Ltd. (AMS) Upgrades System for Continuous Aircraft-to-Ground Data; Communication

Calgary, Alberta, August 11, 2009 - Pre-deployment testing has been completed on new communication technology that has the ability to stream data from aircraft to ground anywhere, anytime, in real-time. AMS and an unnamed customer will perform an aircraft-in-service evaluation of the Automated Flight Information Reporting System (afirs™) Emergency Mode data streaming within the next few weeks.

Under the brand FLYHT™, AMS manufactures the patented afirs™ 220.  In certain conditions, this "smart box" can trigger a streaming mode to begin transmission of essential position and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) information. The system provides a continuous automated link between onboard avionics (including GPS and FDR), the Iridium global satellite network and a ground-based web-server that automatically routes messages to any number of designated recipients, all within seconds.

AMS president Richard Hayden, said, "We at AMS are excited to offer this important capability to the entire aviation community. This capability is not only valuable in improving responses to in-flight issues, but in the rare case where an aircraft is lost, this data stream can provide immediate insight into the exact flight path, location, and the possible cause of the accident."

Following the June 1, 2009 Air France (AF 447) tragedy, whose FDRs are yet to be recovered, calls were made by industry and airlines to develop a "live black box" capable of streaming critical flight information in real time.  Doing this can provide insight into in-flight incidents and aid in rescue missions and accident reconstructions in the event that an aircraft's black box cannot be recovered.  Although AF 447 was well equipped with satellite communication technology and ACARS, not having the ability to automatically stream position and flight data in real-time meant that the messages were limited in available diagnostic information.

The afirs™ system solves this dilemma through a combination of normal transmissions using short burst data, and emergency streaming of critical position and FDR information. The use of Iridium means that there are no coverage gaps in the afirs data streaming anywhere on the globe. This development is a significant contribution to aircraft safety and operational efficiency, especially for aircraft flying outside of radar and terrestrial-based communication coverage areas.

A common complaint with data-streaming technology is that it isn't economically viable due to the massive bandwidth and infrastructure requirements. But AMS's technology compresses flight data to fully use available bandwidth, allowing it to send many times more information than an aircraft with a standard satellite communications system. The emergency mode data streaming enhancement to the afirs 220 system is the subject of a new patent application filed by AMS.

Currently, more than 30 operators on six continents have contracted AMS for the afirs 220 system and these operators will be immediate beneficiaries of this new application of the existing technology.

The system also has a 2-way voice capability so crews can contact ground personnel, and also an event button that can be manually initiated in the case of a hijacking or other non-system related emergency. 
-30-

For more information on AMS and the afirs™ 220 system contact:                   
Bill Peltola, Director, Business Development
Direct: 403.441.2953 | Office Main: 866.250.9956
bpeltola@flyht.com     www.amscanada.com
Media contact: Jamie@RomeoOscar.com

The IFE&C channel is also running a sweet piece on AirAsia X's studies into a Wi-Fi-equipped widebody cabin, so check it out.

I'm working on an aircraft interiors feature for Flight that will look at whether standing-seat and stacked sleeper seat concepts have any hope of seeing the light of day. Spring Airlines recently made known its interest in the former, and Ryanair followed this announcement by saying it too was looking at such concepts (in an apparent publicity stunt).

Ryanair ran this graphic on its site; it appears to have originated in the 2006 New York Times piece about Airbus' interest in standing-seats for the Asian market - a piece that was later corrected and largely overhauled by the newspaper after Airbus cried foul.

But while this graphic might not provide the answer, Hans Weber, president and owner of Tecop International, says we shouldn't count out possible - and yes viable - standing-seat solutions making an entrance in the future. Indeed, he suggests the Asian market might get the ball rolling.

Key quote from Weber:

"If you look at the conditions that many people in Asia are used to when they travel by bus or train, they are certainly used to being squeezed into a standing up position. Look at the Toyko subway, for instance.

"Culturally, an idea like that [aircraft standing-seats] would seem less outlandish in Asia than it would seem here. Anybody who has ever travelled in Asia, including highly developed Japan, has personally experienced how much standing up you do and how squeezed in you are, and how must be prepared for that."

Weber's comment rang familiar to me. Noted interiors consultant Vern Alg said something similar during my interview with him over the weekend.

Key quote from Alg:

"You have customers who are not bothered being seated close to one another. People in the United States have a great deal of difficulty getting into a Tokyo subway but it's not a problem for the Japanese. The Asian people tend to be smaller in stature so you have opportunities to put more seats in there without compromising comfort. You're seeing some Asian carriers going 10-abreast on Boeing 777s, for instance."

This, of course, begs a demonstration of the Tokyo subway.

 

I'll take five Xanax for this ride please and thank you (although I've been informed that my head and shoulders would be floating above the majority of passengers due to what could, at least in this instance, be considered a little height advantage).

An aircraft stand-up seat would be seriously more comfortable than this, I'm sure. Important question - could I still use my iPhone while standing up and presumably harnessed in?  

(Graphic above ran on Ryanair web site but appears to have originated in 2006 by a New York Times staffer as seen here)  

I awoke to fnd the following email in my inbox this morning. It's from Aircell in response to yesterday's blog "Are bandwidth limiations serious?" While I feel I provided balance by mentioning my own positive Gogo user experience - and highlighted Gadling's positive review - I want to make clear that I do not take sides on these issues. And so here is Aircell's comment in full. To say the firm discounts the claim - and takes me to task - would be an understatement.

I was working to line up an executive to speak to your questions but I have to say that I was a little shocked and disappointed that you published such a negative post about our supposed bandwidth limitations without talking to us first (why the rush?). In addition, I'm surprised that you published hearsay without checking your facts first:

The blog you link to for the speed test is a blog with only two posts in total (from June) and whose purpose as a blog is dubious at best. They also conveniently leave off any references to the airline they're on, the date of their experience or anything that could be used to verify their claims. I'm truly surprised that you would use them as a source.

Secondly, the unnamed source in your post states that "a simple MP3 song takes over 30 minutes to download" and that it takes "over half an hour to download a few MB of set up programming." Since the mid-1990s, standard dial-up modems (56.0 Kbps) have been able to download a few MB of data in less than 10 minutes. Your source is claiming that their experience of Gogo is worse than dial-up modems from the 1980s!  Mary, that's such a ridiculous claim, I'm surprised you dignified it with a post. If Gogo was that slow, don't you think one of the many people blogging about using our service would have mentioned it at some point?

In the future, please give us the time to respond to the misinformation that you are being fed before you post something worthy of a retraction.

Are we already seeing evidence of bandwidth limitations on today's Wi-Fi-enabled flights? Some users say "yes".

Check out the following iTunes preview: http://inflightmusic.blogspot.com

It was recorded in-flight using video screen capture software. Then go to the iTunes site on your home or office computer and listen to a free song preview yourself. You will see quite a difference.

But what are other examples of the current data rate on aircraft? One industry executive claims the following:

1)    A simple MP3 song takes over 30 minutes to download
2)    Preview an HD movie trailer in flight and it will buffer (transmit) data for 41 seconds and then play for 6 seconds, buffer 41, play for 6, etc.
3)    If you want to play online poker in flight (choose ANY poker site you want), it will take over half an hour to download a few MB of setup programming

Is said industry insider right? When I tried Gogo on Virgin America's initial launch, the service worked wonderfully. During that flight the good folks over at Gadling put Gogo through some rigorous testing - with a plane-load of Gogo users - and were quite satisfied.

With that said - will the novelty factor of in-flight Wi-Fi in the USA wear off? If it does, will people get PO'd if the bandwidth isn't fully akin to what they are accustomed to on the ground?

Aircell could not be immediately reached for comment.

Received the following delicious nugget. Happy Saturday, folks!

If the self-proclaimed "World's Largest Airline" releases an RFI on Friday afternoon to put 350+ non-imbedded, handheld IFE devices on each of their sixteen recently inherited 747 aircraft, you can assume that:

A. The carrier considers handheld devices the ultimate IFE solution for their international passengers traveling up to 14 hours on their largest and most recognized aircraft in the world. (Consider the fanfare the carrier made when they painted these aircraft in the new livery.)

B. The carrier wants to increase the amount of time their most senior and friendliest flight attendants spend with the passengers by having them push heavy carts up and down the aisle as they graciously hand out the devices.

C. The carrier has determined that flight attendants will not suffer the effects from Deep Vein Thrombosis if they are getting regular exercise throughout the flight.

D. The carrier has learned that passengers really don't even want IFE during: a) the never-ending international boarding process for a 350 seat aircraft; b) push-back and taxi-out; c) take-off and climb-out; d) turbulence; e) descent and approach; f) landing and taxi-in, and; g) the never-ending international deplaning process for a 350 seat aircraft.

E. The carrier realizes it was wrong in getting rid of their previous 747 fleet in the late '70s.

F. The 747 fleet has a big "For Sale" sign painted on it.

I've returned from my holiday to find a mountain of stuff just begging for a blogging outlet. And when that happens, we need a News and Rumour roundup. So let's get this party started.

For those who have not been clicking onto Flight Global's new IFE&C channel, let me urge you to start doing so. Last week you would have learned that while Qatar Airways has opted to allow the in-flight use of mobile phones via OnAir it demanded the Airbus/SITA joint venture give it the capability to switch off part or all of the Mobile OnAir system being installed on its aircraft. (I get the sense there is more to this story, however, since OnAir already offers a clear ON/OFF sign on Ryanair aircraft, as seen to the right).

But here is the key quote from the ever-quotable Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker:

"There was a very big pissing match between us and OnAir because they want to make revenue on all of this. We told them we also want to make revenue. But the comfort of our passengers will take precedence over any revenue we will generate. Losing a passenger is far more revenue than we would make from their cell phone."

Perhaps more interesting than that, however, is Al Baker's claim that some of the carrier's competitors are getting negative feedback from the in-flight usage of cell phones, especially at night, and that, in addition to shutting down the voice portion of the system, flight attendants may also turn off the email and Internet functions if it is irritating passengers "We will not allow people to receive email with a very large sound," he says.

Email with a very large sound? Egads! Those are some highly-sensitive passengers. Or perhaps I have simply developed a higher threshold for noise irritants (caring for a colicky baby will do that for a gal). I'm guessing my chirpy Tweet Deck won't pass muster on Qatar.

While in-flight mobile phone usage is banned in the USA (for loads of nonsensical reasons), in-flight Wi-Fi is not. And it seems folks are Skyping away on some aircraft, as seen here.

 

Delta Air Lines, which is equipping its entire mainline domestic fleet with Aircell's Gogo broadband system, recently responded to my queries about its new strategy to make each aircraft a node on its network as part of a Future Operations Communications Information System (FOCIS).

Delta says it is still early days in the programme and that I should not expect an update in the very near term (So essentially Delta gave you a non-response, RWG? That is correct.) However, the story has helped to spawn a very interesting discussion over at LinkedIn. Key pars from thread starter Aviation Wikinomics principal Michael Denis:

"Aircraft Operators & MRO's are beginning to invest in technology to drive up productivity, efficiency, customer services effectiveness as well as address long standing regulatory compliance issues.

"Mary Kirby's exclusive scoop on Delta Air Lines "FOCIS" IT strategy, American's project Motega, and Continental & United's recent announcement to co-develop IT capabilities got me thinking - is the eight year recession in IT "capital" spending and the pent up demand of aviation operators & maintainers finally over?"

Tis something to think about for sure. And indeed Bombardier vice-president, commercial aircraft programmes Ben Boehm helps us to conceptualize why robust connectivity makes very good sense from an operational standpoint:

"The airlines are really, especially in this day and age, doing 20 minute turnarounds. Airlines see the value in knowing what that airplane is doing to have the right people, the right tools, and the right parts sitting on the ground waiting for that aircraft when it lands. Previously, to do a brake change on an airplane, you're talking probably a delay if not a cancelled flight. On the CSeries, which will have electric brakes, the system can tell you how far the brakes are worn... If airlines can get the data off the airplane and get advance warning, this could help the passengers (because the carrier wouldn't have to delay or cancel the flight) and help the airline in the long-term. The earlier you get the data, the better off you are. That's without a doubt," says Boehm.

The Bombardier executive, in detailing the airframer's plan to make its CSeries compatible with different connectivity solutions, also made an interesting prediction:

"Right now all the customers are watching both ends [L-band and Ku-band] and waiting to see where it goes. Half the world will try the Ku and half the world will try the L-band. One will survive. One will have the better volume. We're keeping our eyes on both. That's the privilege we have right now and don't need to lock into one or the other. I think [airlines] are hoping for a third competitor to come out there," says Boehm.

One carrier that has not yet detailed its connectivity strategy is Continental Airlines. The carrier, which is equipping its domestic fleet with LiveTV's 80-channel live television system, originally planned to offer LiveTV's basic Kiteline service, but in recent months has not re-confirmed that plan.

Enter blogger Wandering Aramean, who appears to have the inside track at Continental. Wandering left the following juicy titbits on my "Does Continental have big cojones blog". File this under "Rumour" since I haven't had it confirmed from Continental.

I've talked to some of the higher ups at CO about this specific topic several times over the past several months, most recently with soon-to-be CEO Jeff Smisek in June during the party celebrating the 75th Anniversary Livery plane (which is beautiful, BTW).

He repeated their oft-stated line which is that he understands that some people like the concept and the technology, but they are still waiting for someone to show that there are actual profits to be had (or revenue to be lost) on the basis of having IFI available or not.

They are still planning on moving forward with the KiteLine install in Q1 (assuming that LiveTV is actually ready with the service in mid-November - a HUGE assumption to make). They're going to put it on ~30 planes and fly them around for a month and see how many people use it and how well it is received.

Lots of folks want the internet to be there but most of them still aren't willing to pay a sufficient price to actually cover the costs of having the service on all the planes. It really becomes a question of whether people want free crap, expensive good stuff or neither; the free/cheap good stuff just doesn't seem to be there yet, at least not in broad distribution.

Plus, there are a lot more folks willing to pay for the TV than the internet service, despite the fact that those of us talking/blogging about it really would like to think otherwise. ;)

That last statement is rather profound, especially in light of the fact that Southwest Airlines plans to bid on Frontier Airlines, which offers live television to passengers for a fee.

Will LiveTV - a subsidiary of low-cost carrier JetBlue - look to secure a meeting with low-cost giant Southwest to discuss the value of offering such a service to Southwest passengers (if the Frontier deal goes through)? That would make sense. The LiveTV stats from Frontier are pretty impressive, although it is clear that IFE ancillary revenue alone cannot save a carrier from bankruptcy.

Southwest is trialling Row 44's Ku-band connectivity service right now. That arrangement received a major boost this week with the FCC's approval of an operating license for Row 44.

Key par from the FCC's ruling:

1. With this Order, we grant blanket authority to Row 44, Inc. (Row 44) for domestic operation of up to 1,000 technically identical transmit/receive aircraft earth stations in the Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Service (AMSS). The aircraft earth stations will operate in the conventional Ku-band, transmitting in 14.05-14.47 GHz and receiving in 11.7-12.2 GHz. We also grant Row 44 a waiver of the U.S. Table of Frequency Allocations (Table of Allocations) to permit its operations in the 11.7-12.2 GHz band. These earth stations will be used to communicate via leased transponders on three geostationary satellites: Horizon 1 at 127º W.L., operated by Intelsat LLC; and AMC-2 at 101º W.L. and AMC-9 at 83º W.L., operated by SES Americom, Inc. Today's grant will allow Row 44 to provide two-way, in-flight broadband services to passengers and flight crews aboard commercial airliners and private aircraft. We believe that implementation of Row 44's AMSS system, pursuant to this authorization, will enhance competition in an important sector of the mobile telecommunications market in the United States.

You can read the entire ruling at the following link - DA-09-1752A1.pdf - but do read the FCC's responses to all ViaSat's claims, which were many and varied.

So now the big question is - will Southwest go fleet-wide with Row 44? The carrier has said it will announce its strategy this month. Some interesting comments are being made over at the Airliners.net web site.

Rumour has it that Row 44 is in the market for some capital (who isn't). But let's not forget that Row 44's broadband solution is supported by the global infrastructure of Hughes, which says it has shipped more than 1.9 million broadband satellite terminals to customers in over 100 countries.

Chris Quilty in his latest Raymond James report on Hughes says the following:

Hughes reported excellent 2Q09 financial results that reflected better-than-expected
growth in service revenues, EBITDA, orders, consumer activations, and ARPU. On the
whole, revenues declined 4% to $256 million (in-line with consensus), while adjusted
EBITDA increased 7.6% to $40.4 million, exceeding the consensus estimate by 5%. These results exclude a one-time charge of $45.4 million relating to Sea Launch's bankruptcy.  

If and when Southwest does decide a course of IFE&C action, perhaps it should do like the lovely folks at Thai Airways and anoint its aircraft. A little divine intervention can't hurt.

 

For the record, the IFE on Thai's new A330s entails the following:

"In-flight entertainment on the Airbus 330-300 aircrafts features personal screen with on-demand system in every seat, with 15-inch screen in Royal Silk Class and 9-inch in Economy Class. The in-flight entertainment system in this aircraft offers 40 entertaining movies, 30 hours of brand documentaries, 600 songs from 80 albums and 30 single and multiplayer games for passengers," says the airline.

I gotta jump out of my jolly holiday to tell you this - Row 44 has won permanent authority from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to offer its Ku-band-based connectivity service to airlines.

Here is the text of the Row 44 statement that is about to be released:

Row 44 Receives FCC License for its In-Flight Broadband System

Westlake Village, CA (August 6, 2009)--Row 44 Inc., a provider of satellite-based in-flight Wi-Fi for commercial aircraft, received a permanent operating license from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

This license, along with the license already granted to Row 44 in Canada and right to operate agreement in Mexico, allows the company to provide uninterrupted airborne Internet service throughout the North American continent. Already holding dozens of licenses for operations throughout the world, Row 44 is well on its way to providing global coverage for in-flight broadband.

"Today's announcement of the FCC's ruling signals a major victory for Row 44 and our airline customers in our vision of bringing affordable broadband to the skies," said John Guidon, CEO. "Ours is the first solution offering true broadband to airline passengers, both domestically and overseas, delivering an experience comparable to the high Internet speeds they enjoy at home and work. No longer will an airline be forced to accept an unattractive compromise between the performance it can offer and the service price it must charge. Achieving this critical regulatory milestone took us longer than we'd anticipated, but we believe our North American airline partners and their passengers will find this in-flight service well worth the wait."

While North American regulators do not currently permit in-flight mobile phone calls or SMS text messaging, the Row 44 system will support these services. The company intends to offer these services to their airline customers throughout the world, wherever such activities are permitted and requested by airlines.

Readers of RWG know what this means, but let's do a quick run-down of some key points nonetheless:

1) Row 44 is now the only Ku-band connectivity provider fully locked and loaded for business in the United States.

2) The company, which has been trialling its system on Alaska and Southwest 737s can now offer the service fleet-wide (if/when it gets the full green-light from these carriers).

3) The US in-flight Wi-Fi market, currently dominated by Aircell, now has some competition.

4) Ku-band satellites can support connectivity on overseas flights (they did it for Connexion by Boeing). Row 44 is primed to offer US operators a solution for those heavily travelled transatlantic routes, filling the void left by Connexion's commercial demise. 
 
Let the games begin!