February 2010 Archives

A few months ago I posted a blog about how airlines could freshen up the cabins of their current-model Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies with new twin-aisle configurations.

Well, the concept of a twin-aisle narrowbody is back in the fray, but this time, for new-design aircraft.

Airlines - particularly some European airlines - are understood to be pressing Airbus and Boeing to include lightweight, twin-aisle narrowbodies in their narrowbody replacement plans.

Of course, it might take a while for Airbus and Boeing to define their narrowbody successors, since both airframers are considering re-engining the A320 and 737, respectively.

But maybe a twin-aisle narrowbody would be a more appropriate replacement for the Boeing 757 anyways.

Still, the push for a twin-aisle narrowbody intrigues.

And the intrigue doesn't stop at airlines. Growing interest in the development of a new lightweight, twin-aisle narrowbody is among the factors driving Pratt & Whitney to ensure its PurePower geared turbofan (GTF) engine can provide as much as 40,000lb of thrust.

The GTF has already been selected by Bombardier to power the 110/130-seat CSeries and by Mitsubishi to power the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ). The CSeries will be powered with the 20,000lb-24,000lb thrust class PurePower PW1000G.
 
Yet, one of the reasons why Pratt & Whitney has "gone as high as 40,000lb of thrust is" that there are "airlines out there looking for a light twin", P&W vice-president next generation product family Bob Saia told me yesterday during an exclusive interview in Dallas, where the engine manufacturer held a customer forum to exhibit some of its GTF hardware (I do have a regional aircraft manufacturing beat you know!) .

These airlines are interested in an aircraft with an "[Airbus] A320, A321 seating capacity, so 170 to 220 seating capacity" that offers a twin-aisle configuration, says Saia.

He adds: "The reason for the twin aisle was two-fold - cabin comfort, but another is can you turn the aircraft around faster in terms of boarding and de-boarding."

To quote Pratt & Whitney's tagline for its GTF - "This changes everything." By golly, wouldn't it just?

My colleague Megan Kuhn (another MK!) has been churning out some great IFEC copy of late.

Her latest article, which describes how Alaska Airlines likely intends to use Aircell's video download service on the routes that will not have Gogo in-flight Internet, is particularly interesting.

A key par from MK's piece:

"...Alaska's Hawaiian, Mexican and Canadian operations will not have in-flight Internet so the airline is interested in Gogo Video for those markets, especially given that Hawaii is a leisure market, Alaska manager of product development and market research Chase Craig tells ATI. He notes that Alaska has not committed to Gogo Video as the product is still under development."

So Alaska has selected Gogo in-flight Internet even though some of its significant markets won't get more than the cached video content.

What gives Alaska?

Don't get me wrong. I love the bejesus out of Gogo. Heck, I just got off an American Airlines flight from Dallas to BWI, during which I pined for Gogo (in between glasses of champers. I upgraded to first class for only $135 because US domestic first class is nearly free these days...a story for another time).

And I'm sure the Aircell download service will rock in its own special way.

But my point is this - why did Alaska dump the one solution (Ku) that could give it true fleet-wide high-speed Internet connectivity and let it make each and every one of its blessed aircraft a node on its IT network? Why?

I attempted to address some of the potential whys in my prior blog post, but even my own ramblings are falling short for me.

For the record, Row 44 provided Megan with the following statement from CEO John Guidon:

"We are disappointed we could not work out a mutually agreeable business relationship. But based on information we learned during their successful passenger trial, we know passengers were extremely satisfied with our service, including coverage into Canada and the far reaches of the airline's namesake state."  

 
Is Row 44 scratching its head about Alaska's decision too?

I want to thank MK for getting the download (DL) on ALK. This whole business sure does make you think.

Or, as one industry insider says: "Alaska chooses Aircell over Row 44 when we know Row 44 is the right solution for them. Things that make you go hmmm."

(Photo above from Rod Inh00d's photostream on Flickr) 

Oh sure, there were signs that Alaska Airlines was engaged in some serious thought about its in-flight connectivity strategy.

During a recent investors call, the carrier said it had completed its test of Row 44's Ku-band solution on revenue flights and was now deciding between Row 44 and Aircell's Gogo air-to-ground (ATG)-based offering.

"We'll definitely be making a decision here in the coming weeks on which system," Alaska vice president of marketing, sales and customer experience Steve Jarvis said at the time. (If you're not reading the Flightglobal IFEC site, you should be!)

Still, this morning's announcement that Alaska will roll-out Gogo fleet-wide came as a little bit of a surprise. Hadn't Alaska originally vowed to offer Row 44 across its fleet should the trial prove successful? Indeed it had.

So what has changed?
 
Alaska cites "speed" of installation as a prime driver to its decision. And in fact Aircell has got the Gogo install down to an absolute science (accomplished in an overnight).

Cost is also mentioned in Alaska's statement. And yes, the Gogo system is a darn sight cheaper than Row 44.
 
But could something else be at play here?

US low-cost behemoth Southwest Airlines recently announced it has signed an equipment purchase agreement with Row 44, and plans to start rolling out the service ON 15 AIRCRAFT PER MONTH from the second quarter (it already offers Row 44 on a handful of 737s, as part of a prior trial).
 
Financial details of the Southwest/Row 44 deal have not been disclosed. But the devil, as they say, is in the details, and I've got a feeling the details tell the story here.
 
PURE SPECULATION FOR THE FUN OF IT

Is Southwest financing part or all of the Row installs? If it is, then that would no doubt leave Alaska in a holding pattern, waiting for equipage of the Southwest fleet to be complete. On the flip side, Aircell finances installs of its Gogo equipment.

Or, perhaps Southwest has taken a page out of the JetBlue handbook and invested in Row 44, as JetBlue did with LiveTV.

We know that Southwest doesn't like to swim with the pack. Maybe Southwest wants total control. If that's the case, I wonder when it would need to alert investors about such a move?

From what I can tell, the only mention of in-flight Internet in Southwest's recent 10K is in the following par:

Other Initiatives. During 2009, the Company also continued to work on other initiatives designed to pave the way for additional revenue opportunities, such as an enhanced Rapid Rewards® frequent flyer program, inflight Internet connectivity, increased sales distribution channels, and Business Select product enhancements. In addition, during 2009, in connection with the Company's previously announced plans to implement a codeshare relationship with Mexican carrier Volaris, the Company began offering Customers the ability to book flights to Mexico on Volaris via an online link to Volaris' booking portal on www.southwest.com. The Company has delayed implementation of its codeshare arrangements with Volaris, as well as with Canadian carrier WestJet, in order to reallocate staffing and technology resources to support nearer term revenue opportunities.

But Southwest mentions the word "Internet" in another spot, which I find very interesting.

"... the airline industry also competes with alternatives to travel such as videoconferencing and the Internet."

So, if you can't beat the Internet, offer it!

(Photo of Alaska tails from 737700's Flickr stream)

Row 44 can be a quiet bunch. So quiet, in fact, that Row 44's online press room hasn't been updated since April 2009, when the firm announced a deal to fit Norwegian's 737NGs with the firm's in-flight high-speed Internet system.

Indeed, the Row 44 site doesn't even mention the equipment purchase deal signed in January with Southwest Airlines?!?

That's why I jump up and down and sing Hallelujah when I find anything new from Row 44.
 
This morning, as I was scrolling through presentations from Airline Information's FFP-ARAC Mega Event in October 2009, I came across a nifty one given by Row 44 vice-president, business development Wendy Campanella.
 
Okay, okay, it's not entirely new (hello, October!) but it does contain some snazzy shots of what Row 44's Skytown Center may look like. You remember Skytown, the first ad-supported in-flight Wi-Fi solution, which was announced by Row 44 at the WAEA conference in Palm Springs, California last year.

Check out Campenella's entire presentation, but be sure to give the Airline Information site a look-see too, since there are a number of pressies sitting on the site, just waiting to be downloaded, including from Aircell and Arinc/SkyBuy.

The Russian State Commission of Radio Frequencies has reportedly granted permission for carriers to deploy in-flight mobile connectivity systems on their aircraft.

Reports are sketchy right now (one says Aeroflot will trial connectivity on two aircraft) but if Russia has taken this step, I congratulate the country on being more forward-thinking in this regard than the USA, where lawmakers are trying to implement a permanent federal ban on wireless voice calls (including VoIP) just in case the current FCC ban on in-flight cell phone use doesn't stay in place.

I wonder what Google CEO Eric Schmidt thinks of the USA's policy. After all, Schmidt last week told the Mobile World Congress that the firm's new guiding principle is 'Mobile First'.
 
"It is the phone that is the meeting point" or "intersection" between the three technology waves - computing power, connectivity, and cloud computing, said Schmidt.

"All of a sudden there are things you can do that were never even possible because of this convergence."

By the way, that convergence doesn't exclude voice. Quite the contrary. Listen to Schmidt's speech here:



I recently wrote a guest post for the Harrisburg International airport blog called "Ban snoring while you're at it", which is about the USA's stance on in-flight cell phone use (see link). I know I've been banging this drum for some time, but it bears re-beating in light of Google's new 'Mobile First' declaration.

Two statements released by Recaro Aircraft Seating within less than a week of each other are...very interesting to say the least!

The firm, on 18 February, announced it has opened a new sourcing center in Shanghai. The new office "enables us to purchase selected materials in Asia and to take advantage of the savings potential available in the region", says purchasing manager René Dankwerth.

"Our goal is to lower costs while maintaining our high quality and performance standards."

The opening of a new Recaro office in Shangai comes at a time when Koito Industries - a major seat supplier to the Asian airline market - is under fire and review for falsifying test data on its seats. Koito's slim seats are some of the slimmest - and cheapest - around, says a source.

And thus, Recaro's timing is impeccable.

But what about that second statement? Six days earlier, Recaro announced it has signed a contract with Airbus with the intention to offer its Comfort Line CL3620 economy class seats for A350 XWB aircraft.

According to the contract, Airbus will include the CL3620 in its A350 XWB catalog upon successful qualification. This is the first agreement reached directly between Recaro Aircraft Seating and Airbus to supply seats under ACS (Airbus Contracted Supplier).

News that the CL3620 will be offered in the A350 catalog comes as Boeing is quietly showing the seat in its Dreamliner gallery. As of a few weeks ago, the seat still wasn't, technically, offerable.

Does Airbus know how to get in front of a headline or what? Or is this announced deal with Recaro purely coincidence? Who knows. But it makes for some interiors fun on a Friday. 

Key info from Recaro on the CL3620:

The CL3620 seat design is based on the unique single-beam principle that replaces the two conventional support beams with a single beam. This gives the CL3620 a much leaner profile and significantly increases legroom. Even with a short seat pitch, passengers can enjoy unparalleled personal space. Innovations including the flexible material in the headrest, the foot net and an ultra-thin backrest add up to an  exceptionally comfortable experience for passengers.

(Graphic above from Recaro's web site)

V Australia is to start offering in-flight mobile connectivity to passengers on its Boeing 777-300ERs in the second quarter.

The carrier, which offers Panasonic's latest generation eX2 in-flight entertainment (IFE) system, is also a customer of eXPhone, Panasonic's branding for AeroMobile's mobile connectivity solution.

When eXPhone goes live in the second quarter, it will represent the first time an airline has offered IFE integrated with cellular deployment, says AeroMobile.

"There are unique benefits to eXPhone - weight savings [are achieved] through the use of existing IFE server and control panel. The economy savings [are driven] by the fact that there is less hardware needed due to IFE reuse," says AeroMobile.

Another benefit of the dual server redundant architecture for cellular is that there is "greater up time and reliability", says AeroMobile. And, with eXPhone, Panasonic part numbers and warranty are on the AeroMobile hardware.

Significantly, with this sort of truly integrated in-flight entertainment and cellular connectivity (IFEC) approach, there is major room for V Australia to offer value-added services in the future (a topic I covered extensively last year).

V Australia currently operates four 777s. All four have had full eXPhone provisions installed by Boeing from the factory (trays, wiring, cct breakers and leaky feeder cable), according to AeroMobile.

Three more aircraft will be fully type certified by Boeing from the factory. In other words, they will depart the factory fully operational. Aircraft 5 delivers in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Many approvals are required to operate cellular services on Australian registered aircraft. Indeed, while Australia is gearing up to allow mobile phone use for SMS and GPRS, it hasn't yet sanctioned in-flight voice calls. 

"AeroMobile has been working closely with the Australian authorities and its stakeholders to conclude the necessary operational frameworks. This work has resulted in some level of public consultation regarding a revised regulatory class licensing regime, as led by the ACMA," says AeroMobile, which is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Telenor.

(Photo above from Elite Choice at elitechoice.org)

UPDATE: Boeing has provided the following comment (which confirms the Business Week article): "Boeing has a team of a dozen to monitor Koito's testing, along with the JCAB. Our team has been at Koito since late fall 2009. We are making sure tests are correctly done before allowing the seats to be shipped to Boeing's factories in Puget Sound. We will continue to oversee testing as long as it is necessary. No safety of flight issues have been identified with Koito seats. As you know, our customers purchase the seats, so we are continuing to work closely with our customers on this issue."

_______________________________________________________________________________
Original Blog Post:

A few weeks ago, I flew out to Everett, Washington to visit with Boeing, check out the 787 Airplane 3 testbed (which is fitted with some interiors), and tour the Dreamliner Gallery.

While there, I asked gallery technical manager Mark Larson about the Koito seat debacle (yes, I need to come up with a better word for this atrocity), which was just starting to break (on RWG, ahem).

See what Larson said in the video below. His comments still stand, as evidenced by a new Business Week article on the subject.

Key quote from that article:

"We don't have any recommendations for change right now because it's not been determined that it's a safety-of-flight issue," and U.S. regulators haven't issued any rulings about the seats, Beverly Holland, a Boeing spokeswoman in Seattle, said in an interview today.

Of course, that might all change. EASA, which pulled POA for Koito last fall - effectively banning Airbus from delivering aircraft with Koito seats - isn't ruling out an AD.

And, I'm hearing from several sources that the Koito scandal runs much deeper than Koito admits. Some say Koito's letter to airlines is a gross understatement of the level of falsification in design and production and plays down what is going to be required by EASA/FAA. But that's just part of the problem.

Meanwhile, airlines from all over the world are facing delivery delays, not just Continental Airlines, as extra quality control is implemented. I'm told that, at one point last fall, aircraft destined for EVA Air, V Australia and Cathay Pacific were all sitting at Everett waiting for seats. Boeing has not confirmed this information. Thai is taking its new Airbus A330s empty!

Carriers that saw the writing on the wall, and looked for alternative options last year, won't be hit as badly as others.

Recaro and other seat makers are no doubt busier than ever. Indeed, one must wonder if the Koito mess is yet another reason  why Boeing is now quietly showing the Recaro Comfort Line 3620 economy class seat to 787 customers.


Meanwhile, it turns out that Koito doesn't just focus on aircraft seats. It makes everything from toilet seat covers to traffic lights.

And lookie here, I think I may have even found some video of a Koito traffic light in action. What the blazes?

(P.S. We've got much more to come from that Boeing tour, so stay tuned.)

Dr.-Ing. Wilhelm Keusgen from the Dept. BM (Broadband Mobile Communication Networks) at the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute in Berlin, says the institute has had "several projects with Airbus regarding the deployment of 60 GHz technology for wireless inflight entertainment as well as low rate WAIC [Wireless Avionics Intra-Communications] at lower frequencies for sensor and crew communication applications".

"Together with partners from Berlin and Gothenburg a 60 GHz demonstrator has been developed successfully," he adds.

Boeing also has plans for investigating 60 GHz, says Keusgen.

His comments are from a statement prepared for my colleague, Flightglobal's resident aerospace technologies expert Rob Coppinger, aka Hyperbola.

Read the entire statement here (skip to the bottom for the Airbus/Boeing juice, which is, obviously, according to Keusgen):

Wireless avionic onboard communication

Introduction

The basic idea of wireless onboard communication is to replace wired infrastructure by wireless links. The applications range from traditional incabin connections [such] as crew communication through new passenger services [and] individual inflight entertainment to novel employments as sensor networks with hundreds of sensor nodes inside the whole aircraft structure.

In consequence, the wireless deployment of all control and monitoring functions such as reading lights or smoke detectors is aimed for. The motivation for all of these developments is the saving of weight and maintenance of the harness, the higher robustness of a self organized wireless network compared to wires and connectors, the higher flexibility e.g. when changing cabin layouts during turnaround time, and the implementation of completely new functions like sensors at moving or non-accessible parts.

For [these] reasons all major aircraft manufactures have a strong interest in development and standardization of wireless communication systems for onboard use (Wireless Avionics Intra-Communications: WAIC)

Application Classes

The whole bunch of applications can be classified with respect to high- and low-rate links, required robustness, number of supported nodes, and coverage. The switch of a reading light requires a very low data whereas the display of a seat display needs 20 Mbit/s. A smoke detector has to meet higher security levels than an inflight entertainment application. There are only a few handhelds i.e. wireless nodes for crew communication, whereas hundreds of passengers are provided with wireless control panels and thousands of wireless sensors may be embeded in the cabin hull. The radio channel between the cabin ceiling and a seat display differs completely from the propagation environment inside a wing or cargo compartment.

Of course all these application classes can not be met with one wireless access technology.

Radio Interfaces

For the identification of appropriate radio interfaces and frequency bands the worldwide frequency regulation, the necessary bandwidth, and the specific propagation characteristics have to be taken into account: Wireless onboard communication must be permitted legally for a worldwide use. So the frequency bands for industrial, scientific, and medical use (ISM bands), license-free bands [such] as the 60 GHz frequency band or frequency bands which are allowed to be used under certain restrictions as the frequencies for ultra-wide band (UWB) communication may be deployed.

The drawback of these open frequency bands is the potential utilization by other wireless services e.g. WiFi within the ISM band, which may cause interference and excludes these bands from applications with a high security level. Therefore for these applications distinct licensed frequencies for exclusive utilization are essential and are proposed by the major aircraft manufactures.

The regulation of licensed services is done by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) by means of the World Radiocommunication Conference. Currently the whole process is in motion and merely some candidate frequencies have been identified.
 
The necessary bandwidth depends on the intended application. A wireless sensor provides a data rate of less than 1 kbit/s and therefore 1 MHz bandwidth might be sufficient for the whole sensor network, whereas a wireless seat display drains 20 Mbit/s which sums up to several Gbit/s for the whole passenger cabin. So for wireless displays hundreds of MHz bandwidth would be needed.
 
Since attenuation and the impact of shadowing increases with frequency, not all frequency bands are suitable for all applications. For a larger coverage lower frequencies are advantageous, whereas the range of a 60 GHz communication link is less than 10 m.
 
So one can guess that for high security applications, which have a low data rate and therefore require less bandwidth, licensed narrow frequency bands in the lower frequency range will be used, whereas for broadband applications with high data rates, high utilized bandwidth, and lower security requirements the license-free frequency bands in the higher frequency range will be utilized.

60 GHz

For the latter the 60 GHz frequency range is the most promising candidate band. It provides several GHz bandwidth for license-free worldwide use, and the high free space attenuation minimizes interferences between different aircrafts and allows a reuse of frequencies even in the same cabin.

Nevertheless this frequency band is not exclusive for use in aircrafts and interferences to passenger devices may occur since 60 GHz is going to be exploited for emerging PC and CE applications as wireless docking stations and wireless displays.

It seems that 60 GHz is ideal for wireless inflight entertainment applications were seat displays are connected to access points in the cabin ceiling. So 20-30 seats can be provided with individual data streams and a very high sum capacity of several GBit/s for the whole cabin could be realized.

The successful implementation of such systems requires a mature 60 GHz radio technology, which is driven by the PC and CE manufactures. Since the volumes in the aircraft manufacturing are comparatively small a completely proprietary design of semiconductor devices is not possible.

Aircraft manufactures do not develop such systems by there own, but rely on suppliers. So the suppliers must be able to offer these low volume products at a price.
 
Current work

In our institute we had several projects with Airbus regarding the deployment of 60 GHz technology for wireless inflight entertainment as well as low rate WAIC at lower frequencies for sensor and crew communication applications. Together with partners from Berlin and Gothenburg a 60 GHz demonstrator has been developed successfully.
 
There are also activities at Airbus concerning the use of UWB and WiFi technology.

Similar work is done at Boeing, mainly with respect to WiFi. But also 60 GHz is going to be investigated there. The main suppliers [such] as Panasonic are not involved in 60 GHz yet, since there are no 60 GHz components off-the-shelf so far. But the 60 GHz development has gained much speed during the last year, so that first components will be available soon.

Some of you have no doubt seen this video already, but for those of you who haven't, here is magician Ramana showcasing the comfort of KLM's new premium economy product at Manchester airport T2.

The new 'economy comfort' seats which, at 35in (89cm) pitch, offer around 4in greater legroom and recline twice as far as standard economy seats, are being offered in the first row of each economy class cabin across the carrier's intercontinental fleet.

Upon reading my recent article about the selection by Turkish Airlines of Panasonic Avionics' Ku-band satellite-based connectivity solution eXConnect for its new long-haul aircraft, one high-level industry executive gave me a good tongue lashing via email, saying I drew conclusions from the Panasonic press release beyond what the manufacturer said.

I assured the executive that I had indeed presented follow-up questions to Panasonic, before writing the article. But I must confess the executive's comments struck a chord. Was I relying too much on my past coverage of Panasonic's connectivity strategy in writing this latest piece? Was my article accurate, as I felt it to be?

Out of my own sense of journalistic integrity (and pride, to be honest), I decided to present further questions to Panasonic, and the good folks at that firm were happy to oblige.

Here is my Q&A with Panasonic. In addition to clearing up any question about whether the firm is offering an SBB-based Wi-Fi solution, Panasonic reveals it has secured three more customers for eXConnect.

To those who don't accept this information, all I can say is: "Don't shoot the messenger."

Question: Has Turkish signed on for Ku-band supported eXConnect from the get-go?
Answer: eXConnect is KU band satellite communications.  Panasonic is working with Turkish Airlines to achieve their installation plans. As to why they chose Panasonic and our technology, you'd be best to ask them directly.

Question: Apart from Lufthansa (and Turkish?), have any other carriers reached agreement with Panasonic for Ku-band supported eXConnect? (I'm not asking for names, but an updated figure would be helpful.)
Answer: Yes. Three more airlines have also selected eXConnect and we are in discussions with an additional ten for Global Communications suite offerings.

Question: When Panasonic says it is working with OEMs for line-fit offerability of the GCS - including eXConnect - is it referring to the Ku-band supported solution? Or is it referring to SBB-supported GCS? Or both?
Answer: eXConnect is Ku-band supported and the OEMs we work with all know that.

Question: I know Panasonic is offering SBB-supported eXPhone, and that V Australia, for example, is a customer. However, is Panasonic also offering SBB-support Wi-Fi under the name eXConnect?
Answer: No we're not.

(Graphic above from EDMO (Central) blog)

T-Mobile USA, which is launching the HTC HD2 smartphone soon, is making sure the device comes preloaded with lots of goodies, including six months of free access to Aircell's Gogo in-flight Internet.
 
The HD2 will also feature Blockbuster on Demand, a full-length movie download service, among other services.

I wonder how Blockbuster's pricing will compare to Aircell's cached video service, which is expected to go live this year. Hmmmm.
 
In any case, props to Aircell, which has come up with yet another clever way to get people to experience Gogo.

Sit me down and ask me to talk about in-flight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) and aircraft interiors, and you'll have a hard time shutting me up!

That's what the Airplane Geeks discovered after I agreed to join them in their weekly podcast.

In addition to addressing hot topics like the Koito seat mess (and how carriers are lining up for Recaro's slim seats) and the state of affairs in the world of IFEC (will connectivity kill in-flight entertainment in the near-term? I say NO!), we discussed everything from JAL's pick of American to whether Islamic law should stop the TSA from enforcing body scans for all. And much, much more!

Check out the podcast at the following link: http://www.airplanegeeks.com/2010/02/16/episode-85-sitting-with-runwaygirl/

If you want to jump straight to the interiors and IFEC chat, it starts at 41:00.

And the chatty Kathy award goes to...

Below is the text of a letter sent from Koito Industries president Takashi Kakegawa to airlines all over the world about the extent of Koito's wrong doings. It provides more specific detail about happened and what is being done. Meanwhile, airlines are experiencing not insignificant aircraft delays due to the mess. 

Just as Aircell warned, the company has no intention of permanently offering its in-flight Wi-Fi service Gogo for free to airline passengers except for promotional purposes or when companies sponsor it at various times of the year (as we saw over the Christmas holidays, for example.)

The message that Wi-Fi is not free is also starting to register with travelers. Check out the photo above. Look closely at what one passenger scrawled above the sign. Cheeky!

Despite an ongoing argument over whether or not people will pay for in-flight Wi-Fi in the long-term, Aircell's strategy of giving passengers free Gogo tasters, yet ultimately charging for the service, appears to have decidedly more clout these days, after the firm recently closed a private placement of equity securities totaling $176 million.

Indeed, both Aircell and Row 44 are showing some remarkable resilience in a down economy, the latter firm having finally inked an equipment contract with Southwest Airlines to bring Ku-band high-speed Internet to passengers. Airlines and investors, it seems, believe the product is a necessity, and to hell with whether it makes money or not in the near-term (which is great for us in-flight Wi-Fi lovers!).

A company that did focus on offering free 'Kiteline' in-flight connectivity - albeit a very basic email/messaging service - for the end customer is JetBlue Airways subsidiary LiveTV.

To date, however, only a single JetBlue aircraft - known as BetaBlue - has been installed with LiveTV's service. And roll-out on Continental Airlines is now being reported delayed. Read Wandering Aramean's blog, "Kiteline struggling to get off the ground", for all the details. But here are a few key pars:

A number of unofficial sources reported over the past few weeks that the deployment of the Kiteline product will not occur by Q2 2010 as was most recently scheduled.  There appear to be issues with the hardware that are preventing the system from performing as expected.  This is pushing the initial install date to May 2010 at the very earliest and that date is highly unlikely to stick either, according to the reports.  And now Continental is confirming the delay with the following statement from a company official:

We continue to follow the progress of LiveTV's development of Kiteline.  We don't expect that it will be available on our flights in the second quarter of 2010.

What does this mean in the long term?  Hard to say for certain.  But Continental was the only major carrier committed to the new Kiteline product and they are going to be going ahead with the gogo trial in Q2.  If that is the only functional option available to them for a wide-scale deployment it is hard to imagine that they will choose to continue waiting for the Kiteline product, especially with the number of delays it has seen thus far.

I wonder what this means for Iridium-based Kiteline World product. LiveTV's live television customer to the North, WestJet, meanwhile, continues to take a wait and see approach to connectivity. The carrier's social media guru, Greg Hounslow, told me the following last week:

"We are evaluating Wi-Fi right now, looking at it on other carriers from an experience and usage perspective. It's one of those things that would be a nice 'bell and whistle' but we are looking at it from the standpoint of, 'what is the added value perspective and what is the demand for it'?

"Wi-Fi in Canada is unique in that we don't have the sort of network coverage that exists in the USA and Europe. We are the second largest country in the world (geographically), and our population is spread out fairly significantly, so traditional ways of using Wi-Fi don't exist yet in Canada. So that is a big consideration for us as well. There would probably be a fairly significant technological investment for Wi-Fi coverage to happen. As it sits now, we are not turning on in-flight Wi-Fi right now, but it is continually being evaluated."

UPDATED to make note that Singapore Airlines' Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s are impacted too. The list will need to be revised to reflect this.

News agencies from around the world have published articles about the Koito seat scandal, including our own. But nobody has been able to come up with a definitive list of all the operators impacted by the Japanese firm's falsification of safety data on its seats, or of the equipment involved...until now.

Flightglobal's ACAS database shows that the list is longer than expected (43 operators versus the estimated 32 airlines announced by Japanese authorities earlier this week).

As you'll see below, some carriers are more exposed than others. Logically, Japanese carriers are affected, but so too is US major Continental Airlines, which has Koito seats fitted to its Boeing 737s, 757s, 767s and 777s!

If you're just joining us, please scroll down the entire RWG blog, which featured several posts on the Koito matter this week, including this morning's announcement that Airbus has issued on OIT about the situation to operators.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again - how many of these seats are also equipped with in-flight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) systems? If new tests of Koito's products prove the company's seats are not up to snuff, the implications of this event could be far-reaching indeed.

The news for Koito Industries keeps getting worse. Yesterday, EASA told me it isn't ruling out an airworthiness directive, after the Japanese firm falsified safety data on 150,000 seats in the world fleet. In advance of that, however, Airbus has just released an operators information telex (OIT) on the situation.

OPERATORS INFORMATION TELEX - OPERATORS INFORMATION TELEX

TO:  All A300, A310, A300-600, A318, A319, A320, A321, A330, A340, A340-500, A340-600 & A380 Operators

SUBJECT: ATA 25-21 - PASSENGER SEATS - KOITO INDUSTRIES LIMITED POA SUSPENSION OUR REF:  SE 999.0005/10 dated 14 JAN 2010
CLASSIFICATION: GENERAL INFORMATION
1/ PURPOSE

Airbus would like to inform Operators having aircraft equipped with Koito Industries Limited (Koito) passenger seats, that on 30 SEP 2009, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) suspended the EASA Part 21 Subpart G Production Organisation Approval (POA) for Koito; meaning that Koito cannot produce seat or seat parts for airborne use.

2/ ACTIONS TAKEN

As a first step, due to the KOITO POA suspension and to the weaknesses identified within the Koito Quality Management System, Airbus withdrew the Airbus Supplier Approval of Koito, effective 23 OCT 2009.
Airbus team is on site at Koito to support the recovery of the Koito POA and Airbus Supplier Approval.

In parallel, in relation with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), a dedicated Advisory Board, involving Airbus, Boeing, Koito, the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) and 3 operators, has been set up. This team is currently reviewing the available data, in order to determine if an issue exists on Koito seat models installed on in-service aircraft.

Airbus will keep you informed of any significant change in the situation of Koito (OEM and spare activities, status of in-service seat models) through update of this OIT.

3/ FOLLOW-UP PLAN

This OIT will be updated on or before 31 MAR 2010.

British Airways tapped actress Rachel Weisz to show off its new first class cabin, which debuts today on a Boeing 777 headed for Chicago.

The timing of the launch is, well, interesting, since many industry executives are foretelling the demise of first class. BA, itself, is mulling dropping business class on a number of short-haul flights.
 
In any case, Weisz, a frequent BA traveller, is enjoying the following features:

   A 15" in-flight entertainment screen (Thales TopSeries IFE)

   USB port, RCA jack and noise-canceling headsets

   Personal electronic blinds

   Fully integrated ambient and mood lighting

   A 60% "wider bed" at the shoulders

   Leather bound writing table

Says Weisz: "For style, stellar service and complete luxury, it doesn't get better than British Airways' new first cabin."

Here is more press stuff from BA, which has invested £100 million "to create an exclusive experience based on classic design and understated luxury". (ABTN reports that the new first class product will be rolled out onto 73 more aircraft in BA's fleet.)

God bless them and good luck.

The airline's Coat of Arms with the motto 'To fly to serve' is a core feature and the 1920s pioneering era of luxury travel is captured through motifs such as Cyril Kenneth Bird's 'Care in the Air' character.

The design of the new cabin is inspired by premium British automotive brands. At the heart of its quink blue and cream design is a redesigned suite featuring an enhanced bed - wider with a new 'intelligent' mattress and the finest 400-thread Egyptian cotton bed linen.

A new premium service style has been developed for cabin crew to ensure world-class service for customers who can eat, sleep and work whenever they want to.

With one third of Americans now considered obese, seat manufacturers are looking at ways to accommodate passengers' extra girth while satiating airlines' incessant demands for high-capacity configurations.

An NBC affiliate in North Texas has posted a great story about seat maker Recaro - which manufactures seats locally - and its efforts to make room for corpulent passengers.

Some of Recaro's ideas, like moving the seat pockets to the top of the seat, will be just dandy for us long-legged passengers too!

(Yes, it has been a bit of a seat week here on RWG. But I figure we need some good news in light of the Koito seat debacle, which looks like it's going to result in an Airbus OIT, and possibly an AD. Messy!) 


A special thanks to Flying Photog - @flyingphotog on Twitter - for giving me the heads up on this nifty video. Check out his Flickr stream here.

The scramble to find out which carriers have Koito-made aircraft seats in the wake of the Japanese firm's admission that it falsified data on 150,000 seats has officially begun. But if you think Air Canada is amongst the 32 airlines affected, think again.

"None of the aircraft in Air Canada's fleet have Koito seats," an Air Canada spokesman volunteered in an email today.

Key pars:
 

"Some media reports have mentioned that AC is among other airlines listed on Koito's  web site: We were a past client, but as you know,  Air Canada recently completed a fleet renewal and refurbishment program, using brand new seats from other manufacturers, and the last Koito seats were removed April 2008 as part of the refurbishment program."
 
Seats in AC's operating fleet since refurbishment/renewal:
 
Narrowbodies:
Embraers:  C&D Zodiac (US)
Airbus A319, A320, A321, J and Y: B/E Aerospace (UK)
 
Widebodies:
Economy: Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 : B/E Aerospace (UK)
Executive First: Airbus A330 and Boeing 777: Contour (UK)

We'll have more on this seat situation later. Boeing has Koito seats in its Dreamliner gallery, which means 787 customers - over and above ANA - are likely impacted.

I'm buried in a mound of work so pardon me for the quickie blog, but you simply must read the following article:

Japanese seat manufacturer Koito has admitted it fabricated safety data on 150,000 seats used by 32 carriers.

We've been talking about this subject here and on Flightglobal's IFEC channel.

I wonder how many of these seats have in-flight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC).

As one insider tells me: "The s#%$ is moving at full speed towards the fan! So why aren't airlines in a bigger flap about this?"

On a side note - I drive a Toyota. What the heck is going on over there!?!

(Photo of Singapore Airlines A380 biz class seat by PYONKO at this Flickr stream)

Panasonic has finally given us the name of another customer for its global communications suite (GCS), and it's a good one!

Turkish Airlines will equip its new Boeing 777-300ERs and Airbus A330-300s with the full suite, comprising Ku-band satellite-based 'eXConnect' high-speed Internet, mobile phone connectivity and live television (a proprietary broadcast TV distribution network).

The carrier is also fitting the long-haul aircraft with Panasonic's eX2 in-flight entertainment system.

The news follows an announcement late last year that Lufthansa has partnered with Panasonic to reignite its FlyNet in-flight Internet service via eXConnect. Like Turkish, Lufthansa will also offer mobile connectivity, the so-called eXPhone product offered under Panasonic's partnership with AeroMobile.

Read all about the new Turkish delight on Flightglobal's IFEC channel (including a juicy bit from Panasonic about which birds will be line-fit and retrofit with the firm's IFEC solutions).

The timeline for Turkish and Lufthansa to offer in-flight Internet seem a bit tight, in my humble opinion. Panasonic still hasn't started its trial of eXConnect on a BBJ, but that is planned for this spring, says a spokeswoman.

Turkish Airlines' announcement, meanwhile, is just part of the carrier's broader strategy to transform its product.

Last year the airline announced plans to undergo a complete rebranding effort. It contracted Priestmangoode for an interior re-design across the entire Turkish fleet as well as the airline's ground services, lounges and check-in counters.

(Photo above from Johannes Papas photo stream on Flickr)

Okay lads and lassies, you should know that this Recaro Comfort Line (CL) 3620 seat is NOT offerable on the Boeing 787 yet! Nonetheless, it is being shown in a side room off of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner seat gallery. 

For those of you following the Airbus/OnAir/Panasonic/AeroMobile saga, you're no doubt getting quite the chuckle out of this morning's back-to-back press releases from Panasonic and from OnAir about IFEC offerability on the A350 XWB.

To give you a bit of clarity, Panasonic says its IFEC offerings - including eXPhone and eXConnect - are indeed line-fit offerable on the A350 and, in light of that, it "does have to meet the architectural requirements" of the aircraft.

OnAir says it is the only company meeting Airbus' ALNA v2 requirements "as of today". So, in all technicality, they're both right.

Interestingly, Panasonic says it is still "working with the other non-A350 platforms for offerability with Airbus" so the saga, sort of, continues.

In the end, however, it looks like Panasonic and OnAir are going to have to play nicely, since, presumably, some A350 customers are going to want Panasonic IFE and OnAir connectivity.

And yes, I'm working on a story for the Flightglobal IFEC channel. But only a select group of you understand what I'm talking about right now. And you know exactly who you are! :)

(photo above from dotbenjamin's Flickr photo stream)

I've got to rush and catch a flight out of Seattle, but do you remember my post the other day about seat manufacturer Koito being in hot water for falsifying 16g test reports? Well, we're starting to see the fall-out. And it's BIG!

Apology>


Delay in Flight Commencement of the New Boeing 777-300ER Aircraft and Change of Launch Date for New Brand and Service 



Thank you for your continued loyal support of ANA.

We deeply regret to inform you that the new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft will not commence operation on Saturday, February 20, 2010 as scheduled, due to delay in development of Premium Economy seats. 

The launch date for our new brand, "Inspiration of Japan" and the new services that was scheduled to be introduced along with the flight commencement of our new aircraft has also been changed due to this reason. 

We sincerely apologize for any inconveniences this may cause and kindly ask for your understanding at this time.

Commencement of flight and seating arrangement will be changed as follows. 

1. Details

(1) Commencement of new aircraft (Narita-New York route) and launch of new ANA brand, "Inspiration of Japan" (*)
Monday, April 19, 2010 (Scheduled)
New aircraft is scheduled to operate every other day until Sunday, May 9, 2010, and is scheduled to operate daily from Monday, May 10, 2010. Click here
Schedule, aircraft, seat specifications and seat maps are subject to change without prior notice.
(2) Changes of seat configuration of new aircraft (*)

Premium Economy seats scheduled to be installed will be tentatively replaced with Economy Class seats.

·Configuration Boeing 777-300ER aircraft 

- First Class (8 seats)
- Business Class (68 seats)
- Premium Economy (24 seats⇒0 seats)
- Economy Class (112 seats⇒139 seats)
-Total: 212 seats⇒215 seats
*Reason for changes in above(1)and(2): Delay in development of Premium Economy seats (Koito Industries, Ltd.: Headquarter located in Yokohama).

2. Notes

(1) Passengers traveling on the Narita-New York route may not be able to make new seat assignments on certain sections on the aircraft due to change of aircraft configuration.
(2) An updated seat map will be provided on our website as soon as it is ready.
(3) Announcement regarding further details of our new products and services will be made on our website as soon as they are ready. 

3. Inquiry 

Please visit our website for information regarding reservations for Narita-New York flights on the new aircraft. 

<Calling from Japan>
·Inquiry Desk
0120-029-691 (*Accessible via cell phones)
Business Hours: 8:00AM-7:00PM (Until March 31, 2010 on weekdays and Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays)

＜Calling from outside of Japan>
·Please click here to find a customer service center near you.

4. Additional Information

Premium Economy seats will be gradually installed on new aircrafts upon scheduled delivery of seats in August, 2010. 




February 4, 2010 3:00PM (Japan Time)
All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd

Wow. What a day. My head is spinning after touring 787 Airplane 3 (ZA003), the Dreamliner gallery and Boeing's mock-ups for the 787, 747-8 and 737 Sky Interior. 

Just pinch me! I'm a seriously happy Runway Girl right now. Here's why:

I'm not a regular player of video games. After overcoming a slight addiction to Super Mario Bros in my late teens (God, I loved Yoshi), I must admit I have steered clear of gaming in my adult life.

But I'm increasingly becoming part of the minority. My daughter is already showing signs of serious video game interest. Many of my friends and family are well and truly hooked. And I know many of yours are too!

That is just one of the reasons why Thomson Airways' decision to rent PlayStation Portables (PSPs) to passengers makes sense. Supplied by IFE Services, the PSPs are available for rent from 14 UK airport bases at a price of £7.50.

During last year's World Airline Entertainment Association's annual conference and exhibition in Palm Springs, I had a chance to meet with the good folks of IFE Services, which distribute PSPs that are tailored with content for the airline market. The PSPs are light and compact, boast good sound quality and an array of different gaming and movie options.

A perfect distraction should you need one on your next Thomson Airways flight.