September 2010 Archives

The Airline Passenger Experience Association's (APEX) conference and exhibition (formerly known as the WAEA conference and expo) is long over. Can you believe it has been nearly two weeks since Long Beach? But that doesn't mean there isn't more news to report from the event.

Keep an eye on this space in the coming weeks, as I will be rolling out interviews that I didn't get a chance to post during the heat of the show.

For now, let's take a glance back at some of the action in Long Beach (yes, it was every inch as much fun as it looks).

I'm glad I got a little taste of sunny California. I'm headed to London tomorrow to chair the Airline Business/Simpliflying Social Media for the Aviation Industry Conference. I'm looking forward to seeing some of my regular airline/aviation/IFEC/avgeek tweeps at the event, including @eurocontrol @nonnyjorris @simpliflying and @paulaberg! Follow hashtag #SMairlines if you care about social media (which you know you should :0)

Unless you live in a cave you've no doubt already heard about Southwest Airlines' plan to buy Atlanta-hubbed AirTran Airways.

Questions about what this deal means for passengers are manifold, and Southwest endeavors to answer some of them here.

A lot of people are asking: "Will Southwest keep AirTran's Gogo in-flight Internet offering and XM Satellite Radio?" The former air-to-ground (ATG)-based solution is offered through Aircell, while the latter is offered through JetBlue subsidiary LiveTV.

As you'll see from Southwest's answer below, AirTran's existing commitments to Aircell and LiveTV may very well be hang in the balance right now. Southwest, meanwhile, is pushing ahead with installation of Row 44's Ku-band satellite system across its entire fleet.

Q: Will AirTran's WiFi (AirCell/GoGo) and XM Radio products remain on their aircraft?

A: Until closing, each carrier will operate independently, including any offerings onboard the respective aircraft. The Integration Team will evaluate the existing commitments of AirTran. We have a contract with Row 44 and remain committed to the installation of WiFi onboard the Southwest fleet.

My colleague Jon Ostrower has discovered a Boeing patent that could herald the dawn of a new age - twin-aisle replacements for today's narrowbody work horses.

Can we have our seat with room to move (to the bathroom)? In other words, can we have our cake and eat it too? Iteration below is, of course, five-abreast, not seven-abreast as proposed by Boeing. But two aisles are better than one, no?

Photo courtesy Morten Muller.

EASA and FAA have each issued proposed airworthiness directives concerning the massive Koito debacle.

But the two ADs ARE NOT the same.

Here is a link to the FAA proposed AD that will formally hit the agency's web site tomorrow. Cut and paste the URL or click on the photo above. Moveable Type is acting quirky for me.

http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2010-23936_PI.pdf

Here is a link to EASA's proposed AD.

http://ad.easa.europa.eu/ad/10-101

A far larger percentage of Boeing aircraft than Airbus aircraft are impacted in the world fleet.

You can draw your own conclusions.

Related links:

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway-girl/2010/02/video-boeing-still-offering-ko.html

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway-girl/2010/02/airbus-releases-oit-on-koito-s.html

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway-girl/2010/03/koito-aircraft-seat-mess-could.html

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway-girl/2010/02/exclusive-the-list-of-operator.html

And remember this one from the archives? The revelation that Koito rubber stamped JCAB approval on its seats?

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway-girl/2010/04/shock-koito-rubber-stamped-app.html

(Photo above from Jeffrey Beall's Flickr photo stream)

We've got some fast podcast turnaround action from IAG's Addison Schonland this morning, as he interviews JetBlue SVP marketing and commercial strategy Martin St. George about that massive announcement that the carrier is bringing Ka-band satellite-based connectivity to its entire fleet. Still need more details, though. Check it!

http://iagblog.podomatic.com/entry/2010-09-22T08_20_45-07_00

Tomorrow morning JetBlue Airways will announce a groundbreaking new deal with ViaSat to bring Ka-band satellite-based connectivity - yes Ka - to its entire fleet of aircraft. You can read the story here first.

If you've been following the saga of JetBlue connectivity you know this is a big deal.

If you have been following the saga of ViaSat's fight to get into the commercial sector, then this will ring as big news to you too.

And if you've been following the saga of JetBlue subsidiary LiveTV's march towards connectivity, then this will be interesting to you too.

Either way, this is big!

RELATED LINKS (please take note of blog dates):

www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway-girl/2010/06/jetblue-unit-pumped-and-taking.html

www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway-girl/2008/10/and-viasat-makes-threelet-the.html

www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway-girl/2009/06/viasats-bill-sullivan-on-lufth.html

www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway-girl/2010/09/boys-of-broadband-get-lively.html

www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway-girl/2009/04/livetv-now-sees-ka-band-as-the.html

And remember this bad boy from the archives? Exhibit One! :0)
 
www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway-girl/2008/12/runway-girl-is-exhibit-one-in.html

(Photo above from C-Ali's Flickr photo stream)

Last week Thales took home the Avion Award for Best Achievement in Technology and for good reason - the in-flight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) manufacturer is doing some serious innovating inside the aircraft cabin.

For example, the company plans to be the first in the world to bring Android to IFEC. Specifically, Thales will launch a new touch passenger media unit (TouchPMU) that is designed to act as a stand-alone media access device as well as a controller for Thales' TopSeries i8000 IFEC system and its new, as-yet-unnamed fourth generation IFEC system (Thales had hoped to have the name ready for release at the APEX conference and exhibition).

News of Thales' Android exploits broke shortly after Panasonic revealed it is eyeing Android for its next IFEC system.

Three, two, one...let the race begin!

Okay, so I didn't do the reviewing, but this blog, Need2Know Travel, did try the Row 44 in-flight Wi-Fi system being fitted to Southwest Airlines' entire Boeing 737 fleet (some 60 aircraft are expected to be equipped by year-end).

Row 44 runs over Ku-band satellites (versus Aircell's air-to-ground (ATG)-based Gogo). I'm highlighting this review as it is the first I've seen since the change-out in antennas and it contains some interesting info.

Here is what Need2Know says about the speed and price of Southwest Wi-Fi (click through to the original post for more info) :

SPEED: The speed definitely exceeded my expectations. 2.89MBS would be faster than your Internet if you had for example a QWEST 1.5MBS connection.

PRICE: I thought it was more than reasonable to charge $3.00 to use my laptop from Phoenix to Albuquerque. I also noticed that I wanted to only use the Wi-Fi for my iPhone it would have only been $1.00 an extremely reasonable price.

It is important to note that Southwest told attendees at last week's APEX convention that it is still testing price points for in-flight Wi-Fi (wouldn't things get very interesting if Southwest offered Wi-Fi for free, as it does for luggage)?

Separately, for the in-flight Avgeeks among us (you know who you are), Row 44 divulged some very interesting news at APEX about its plans for Ka-band-based connectivity. Read all about it in APEX's latest WIN newsletter, which is now available to non-members!

(Photo above from Brent Payne's Flickr photostream)

I arrived home on Thursday night, after spending five days covering the co-located Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) and Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas (AIX) exhibitions in Long Beach, California.

My cat - justifiably angry that I was away for so long - peed all over my laundry, but thankfully she spared the furniture (forgoing her usual routine).

During both shows, I wore a number of different hats - moderator, emcee for the first annual Passenger Choice Awards (a truly amazing experience), show daily reporter, blogger, videographer and tweeter. The trip was equal parts exhilarating, exhausting and instructive.

I am incredibly excited for the in-flight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) and aircraft interiors industry, as there now appears to be a vast ocean of opportunities available to innovative, honest, hardworking firms. And thankfully a wealth of IFEC and interiors companies fit those descriptions.

At the same time, however, I am worried about what appears to be a growing trend by certain companies to forgo credibility in return for 'here today, gone tomorrow' news headlines. Torture chamber advocate Aviointerior's apparent stand-up seat stunt at AIX comes immediately to mind (lose weight Americans!?!), but I also wonder what "iPad as IFE" prophet BlueBox was prattling on about at the recent AIX show in Hamburg in light of evident challenges in the content arena.

In any case, shouldn't companies' proverbial feet be held to the fire to back up their claims or even - dare we dream - to simply tell the truth? I'm gonna go out on a not-too-distant limb here and say yes!

IFEC and aircraft interiors have enjoyed soft-core media coverage for far too long. It's little wonder that even the biggest manufacturers and service providers employ minimal public relations staff. They don't need a lot of flacks. In some instances, we journalists are doing the PR job for them.

When a journalist dares to ask a hard question, some companies act like children by putting their fingers in their ears and chanting "lalalalalalala" until the nasty person goes away. Others get defensive, and immediately assume the journalist has some sort of agenda or an axe to grind. And then there are the firms that appear so stunned to be fielding a not-so-soft question that they serve up an inaccurate statement (either accidentally or purposefully) that lands them squarely in a PR nightmare and in trouble with their partners.

Airbus/SITA joint venture OnAir found itself in just such a nightmare late last week, after the firm's new CEO Ian Dawkins told me - on video - that no Airbus connectivity hardware would be fitted to Qatar Airways' Boeing 787s as required by the airline and Boeing. Sources with knowledge of the situation say Ian's comment is untrue.
 
They say Qatar's IFEC provider for the 787, Thales - not Boeing or Qatar - ultimately decided not to use Airbus' ALNA hardware because the European airframer would not be able to meet the time-line for equipage.

Boeing has little interest in letting anything else delay its 787 deliveries, least of all connectivity. Equally, Airbus is busy with its own knitting right now (hello A350 XWB). Why would it race to help knit a sweater for Boeing?  

Consequently, Thales - which had originally engineered its fourth generation IFEC platform for the A350 - made the decision to bring in other hardware suppliers and adjusted its system accordingly for the 787, say sources.

Qatar's initial 787s will feature Thales' i8000 platform, but the firm is working to introduce the 4G platform - with Android operating system - on the airline's later 787 deliveries, in the 2013 time-frame (yep, around the same time-frame the A350 is scheduled for EIS).

Mobile connectivity provider OnAir, meanwhile, is now in the market for new hardware partners, while maintaining its relationship with Airbus. The company clearly knows it needs to be available on multiple platforms and those platforms need to compete on schedule, features and price and win business in the open market.

Thales will bring the 'connected' IFEC to Qatar, while OnAir will bring the mobile connectivity. Inmarsat's SwiftBroadband aeronautical service will support the solutions.

Boeing, meanwhile, has given no indication at this juncture that it is not open to Airbus ALNA but the company expects any would-be partner to meet spec and schedule requirements. That's the really important bit. Boeing has not declined to have Airbus connectivity hardware on the 787.

I believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt (and I hope others do the same for me). So, in this particular instance involving OnAir I'll assume Ian's comment was merely borne out of surprise at my question. But had he simply said: "I am bound by a non-disclosure agreement and cannot say anything further", the ball would be back in my court to find out the real story.

Whether Thales or Airbus would have coughed up the answers in light of the non-disclosure agreement is another matter entirely and beside the point. In any case, we could have avoided all this.

NOTE: I am also aware that, having not seen the nondisclosure agreement, there could be more factors involved than reported here.

But as I said before, my week in Long Beach was quite instructive. IFEC and interiors specialists have a new-found bounce in their step and deservedly so - they are doing great things to improve the passenger experience. It is out of respect for their accomplishments that I and other journalists in this field are trying to cover the industry as it deserves to be covered, by digging deeper than the press statements when time allows or the story warrants.

There are certainly instances where a product piece is suitable (lord knows we should highlight the bold and brave innovators among us, and I will continue to do so on this blog).

But a serious industry also deserves to be taken seriously by media. Anything less will enervate rather than invigorate the industry.

Now where is my cat? We've got some serious business to attend to.

(Photo above from Kudumono's Flickr photo stream) 

Innovation Analysis Group's (IAG) Addison Schonland asked Jon Ostrower and me to break down the most important news from the #APEX in-flight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) show in Long Beach. One word - Android. Here is our wrap of the show. Be sure to check out IAG's YouTube channel, which features interviews with Panasonic and Airbus. Who is that tired girl?


 

UPDATE 2: Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell RWG that Ian Dawkin's comment about why Airbus connectivity kit is not being installed on Qatar's 787s is wrong. This, in turn, makes my article inaccurate (by default).

I will post a follow-up blog shortly to explain the real story. But I must say that this entire debacle could have been avoided had OnAir simply stated fact, which is that all parties are bound by a confidentiality agreement.

Qatar Airways recently tapped Thales to provide in-flight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) systems for its 787s, and turned to Airbus/SITA joint venture OnAir for onboard mobile connectivity.

When the deal was announced at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, I opined I found it interesting that a connectivity solution in which Airbus is intricately involved would find its way onto Boeing aircraft.

It turns out that Boeing will not have Airbus connectivity kit on Qatar's 787s, according to OnAir's new CEO Ian Dawkins. However, despite what Ian says in the video below, the reason why Airbus kit will not be brought to Qatar's 787s is NOT a result of requirements from Qatar or Boeing but a scheduling issue.

OnAir is still very much the service provider for Qatar's mobile connectivity, but it is seeking to broaden its partnerships to include other connectivity hardware suppliers.

Here is my first interview with Ian.

Panasonic Avionics is readying to shake up the in-flight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) industry by developing next generation platforms around Android, Google's mobile operating system.

The move, revealed to RWG at the APEX show in Long Beach, comes on the heels of Panasonic's announcement that it will open a dedicated App Store, and challenge designers from around world to develop apps for airline customers of its IFEC hardware.

Panasonic's current generation systems operate over the Linux open source operating system. "The reason for going down this road [and using Android] is the same reason we were in Linux instead of Windows. This stuff is open and relatively easy to get to and do your own drivers," says Panasonic Avionics CEO Paul Margis.

Android apps can already be downloaded to Panasonic's current eX2 and smart monitor systems. This discovery "was pretty cool", says Margis.

Pretty cool is right. But Panasonic is not alone in its 'Android for IFE' exploits. Stay tuned for some amazing news from Thales!

On Sunday night, just in advance of the APEX show in Long Beach, Thales hosted a swank reception, complete with projected underwater branding. Panasonic made a similar statement at a party last year in Palm Springs (where the WAEA - now APEX - show was held).

Sadly, while both firms' branding was under water (in the best possible sense) nobody jumped into either pool (although I saw a few people come precariously close at the Thales event). Hopefully next time!

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is heralding its recent ICSSC 2010 Aeronautical Broadband Panel as a great success with "better-than-expected" attendance despite the concurrent sessions including the Space 2010 plenary session. Apparently, the panel was quite "lively" and gave thought-provoking presentations. But what about the audience?
 
"The feedback from the audience was invaluable as this audience widely represented the satellite broadband industry. It was well worth our effort. The consensus was that the demand for aeronautical mobile bandwidth would grow exponentially over the next several years driven by the same trend on the ground. We must deliver increasingly large bandwidth cost-effectively," says Nubron general manager Brian B.K. Min, who moderated the panel

Here is what went down care of Brian (I've bolded the stuff I find somewhat interesting, definitely interesting or very interesting):

Brian, as moderator, stated the synopsis and introduced the panelists. He outlined the current status of commercial aeronautical broadband, namely, the Ku-band, L-band, and upcoming Ka-band systems vs. the terrestrial network systems. He then proposed the topics for the session to cover both the business and technical aspects of the satellite aeronautical broadband, challenging the panel: is it time and is there a path to system convergence?

Bruce R. Elbert, Application Technology Strategy Inc. discussed the results of his In-Flight Broadband Survey of Systems and Applications. He discussed the key technical issues, characteristic connection speeds, and the advertised pricing of Boeing CbB (now defunct), Aircell GoGo®, Inmarsat SwiftBroadband, Row44, and Panasonic eXConnect.  He concluded that GoGo® is achieving brand recognition and a degree of acceptance while satellite-based services face more challenges as both become viable businesses.

John Craig, Boeing, described how Boeing is looking at a common on-board network that leverages all the communication channels for all the users on the airplane. The classic avionics paradigm separating the flight operations, airline operations, and passenger connectivity must evolve to integrated network connectivity. He then discussed some of the challenges with Network Security and enabling the airline to leverage different service providers to utilize the service.

Greg Montevideo, Panasonic Avionics, described Panasonic's bold efforts to advance aeronautical broadband service: the Global Communications Suite that includes eXConnect high speed in-flight Internet access system, eXPhone GSM phone for voice, SMS, and data services, and eXTV a global television network. By the fourth quarter of 2010, a Ku-band quasi-global coverage is expected. What matters to Panasonic are the big pipes available globally and priced right. Panasonic is closely monitoring the development of Ka-band technology and its business model.

William F. Sullivan, ViaSat, described ViaSat's YonderSM mobile broadband service/offering. With 200+ aircraft and 700+ vessels, and 55+ high speed rails, that is the largest Ku-band service today with expanding coverage, quasi-global coverage being expected in the second quarter of 2011.  He then moved to a more focused look at ViaSat's emerging Ka-band aeronautical service offering that is expected to fundamentally alter the economics for aeronautical broadband, to meet the exponential growth in demand for mobile broadband driven by the new generation of user terminals such as iPhones, Droid phones, and iPads.

Mike Moeller, LiveTVTM, was absent because of a family emergency but Brian Min read Mike's presentation. Mike described the Iridium OpenPort® solution featuring 128 Kbps IP connection "always on" and 3 voice channels, "hat" size antenna that fits under small radome or collocated with  Ku-band antenna, and standard terminal weighing less than 25lbs.  First flight is expected in the 4th quarter 2010 on commercial aircraft.  It boasts true global coverage and lowest cost hardware although the bandwidth is limited.  IridiumNext will provide the path to an increased bandwidth.

Thus the panel did describe various current and upcoming services delivering increased bandwidth at more affordable prices. In particular, the emerging Ku/Ka-band systems were described to fundamentally alter the economics of aeronautical broadband delivery.  An intense and lively interaction with the audience then followed.

With time running out, Brian briefly summarized the session and concluded that the increasingly important bandwidth growth requirement and the terrestrial network competition are the two big pictures that emerged from this session. We are in an exciting period for the aeronautical broadband, which warrants our meeting again in the near future to review the progress.

Is there a holy grail?  We have not answered this question yet but indicated that the path to the holy grail, if any, is to meet both the exponentially growing bandwidth demand and the airlines business expectations. The terrestrial network has already made strong inroads in the U.S. continent, albeit with a limited bandwidth.  Thus satellite technology and terrestrial network will coexist by dividing the business sectors, at least for now.  It remains to be seen whether any satellite systems, particularly the emerging Ku/Ka-band systems, will be able to overcome the terrestrial network advantages.

Thanks for the breakdown Brian! Boeing, don't you think it's time to refresh that presentation?

(Satellites beware picture above from Joe Hasting's Flickr photo stream)
 

Italian firm Aviointeriors has revealed a high-density seating concept called Sky Rider that will no doubt prove to be right up O'Leary's alley. The term "stand-up seat" sounds like an oxymoron so let's call this what it is, a butt shelf. I'm sure pregnant women, anyone with small children, the elderly and the disabled will welcome this news.

Now, USA Today is reporting that the seat, to be unveiled at #AIX10, offers a whopping 23in pitch. I've got to see this baby next week in Long Beach!

The Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas (AIX) and co-located Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) exhibitions in Long Beach are fast approaching and, true to form, I feel like a chicken with its head cut off (here is how chill I looked before the beheading).

I've taped a quick and dirty video to talk about just a few of the themes emerging in advance of the two shows, and to highlight the fact that Flightglobal's crack team of journalists (who do not use illicit drugs), will be in Long Beach en force to generate show daily magazines, and to bring you all the latest news, blogs, images, video and tweets via this special online landing page. (UPDATE: The page has been temporarily disabled. Check back later.)

Here is my quick and dirty (complete with dog barking):




When one is relegated to a "less than two minute" video time slot, one can't possibly list all the exciting things that are happening in the world of in-flight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) and aircraft interiors. So, for your edification, here is a list of the stuff that this chicken is stuffing her head with right now.

Southwest Airlines is getting vocal about its equipage of Row 44 in-flight connectivity systems, saying in a recent blog post that 13 aircraft have been fitted with broadband and 60 will be equipped by year-end. The carrier even gives a little dig to Gogo airline customers. Naughty! Row 44's latest injection of cash from Kellner and friends is no doubt helping to speed Southwest's equipage schedule along.

Speaking of in-flight connectivity, GuestLogix - which supplies point of sale (POS) devices and in-flight advertising services to carriers - has issued a new white paper on how airlines can maintain control over the dynamics of in-flight retail. GuestLogix believes in-flight Wi-Fi would be more widely used by consumers if it were integrated into a full-fledged onboard store offering (presumably they'd benefit too).

British Airways, meanwhile, has rolled out its new economy and premium economy products on a Boeing 777-300ER. This is great news for Thales, which is providing the in-flight entertainment as part of a mammoth deal announced in November 2008 covering installations on BA's 777-300ERs, as well as its new Airbus A380s and Boeing 787s. Thales' win of the BA deal frustrated the hell out of Panasonic Avionics.

But don't cry for Panasonic, Argentina. The truth is the firm is busy as ever. Delta Air Lines has confirmed it is launching Panasonic's Integrated Smart Monitor with Weber Aircraft's slimline seat on the 747s formerly operated by merger partner Northwest Airlines (but we already knew that). I'm now hearing that the proposed LAN-TAM tie-up in Latin America is going to bode really well for Panasonic.

One piece of news that really caught my eye today is Air Berlin's decision to branch out into the entertainment industry under a new joint venture with German media firm kick media. The content created through this endeavour will be shown over Air Berlin's in-flight entertainment systems.
 
Key quote from Air Berlin CEO Joachim Hunold:

"80% of our 167 aircraft have video equipment on board and almost all our planes have audio connections. We have been paying high licence fees for the film and music programmes that we have used in the past. Together with [JV partner] kick media, we now want to produce music and video programmes to which we ourselves own the rights."

Responding to the news, one of my work colleagues said: "Is Air Berlin going to use 'the Hoff' as the main star of their new media company? He can sing and act, the perfect combination."


Too true. But on a more serious note, Air Berlin's announcement must be giving content service providers even more pause about their ever-changing role in the industry, not that they haven't been considering it for a while. Check out Spafax's blog post: "The death of the content service provider?"

BMIbaby's "enterplanement" campaign is also redefining in-flight entertainment content. Here is a video from that campaign:

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That's a pretty high octave! Speaking of things that are high (up), let's return to the Ka-band connectivity issue and Inmarsat's decision to jump into the market with its Global Xpress service. Oh not again, Mary. Yes again.
 
Chris Quilty in a Raymond James research report pours some cold water on the idea that customers (yeah, that includes airlines) will adjust their current connectivity strategies to wait for Ka, saying:

While the industry surely took notice of Inmarsat's announcement, end-users are unlikely to adjust their near-term purchasing decisions based upon the promise of a better service four years hence. In addition, Inmarsat is likely to encounter initial skepticism regarding its Global Xpress service due to a historical perception that Ka-band satellites are less reliable due to the effects of weather attenuation.

If Inmarsat is unable to achieve sufficient network reliability, customers may well choose to stick with existing Ku-band services that have proven quite capable of handling extreme weather environments.

The final challenge for Inmarsat is to construct a pricing model that is both attractive to end-users and yields a sufficient return on investment - a task perhaps easier said than done. One major risk that Inmarsat faces is that, if the Global Xpress service is priced too low, it will likely cannibalize Inmarsat's existing L-band service and thereby destroy the company's
return on its I-4 constellation.

Responding to this concern, management indicated that the loss of "high value" customers on the I-4 satellites would free up capacity that could then be used to target other applications such as M2M and voice services. However, it is highly unlikely that Inmarsat will ever be able to attract enough of these subscribers (monthly ARPUs of about $50 and $10, respectively) to make up for the loss of high value maritime customers billing $2,000 to $5,000 per month.

This might sound like music to Panasonic's ears, but company director of corporate sales and marketing Neil James says if and when Ka becomes available, "we will offer an upgrade that will optimize our existing [Ku-band-based] eXConnect solution for Ka".

So it seems we can't drum up a little bit of controversy even when we try. Not so fast RWG! There may be a little bit of controversy a-brewen and it has nothing to do with satellites.

It seems that airline survey specialist SkyTrax isn't the biggest fan of APEX's moniker for the new Passenger Choice Awards (which I will be emceeing). I spotted the following not-so-subtle message on SkyTrax's FaceBook page. The update is dated 28 July so perhaps this fence is already mended?

 

Just in time for the Airline Passenger Experience Association's (APEX) annual conference and exhibition in Long Beach, California, the organization formerly known as the WAEA has joined Twitter. The move is yet another indicator that APEX is moving on up.

Follow APEX on Twitter here.

Separately, if you plan on tweeting your own news and views from the show floor, remember to use the hashtag #APEX10 so that we can all see and participate in the action.

(Photo above from Aaron Geller's Flickr photo stream)

In-flight entertainment and connectivity vendors don't do well with deadlines. Like major airframers, they often agree to overly ambitious delivery schedules, only to end up missing the mark by many months or even years.

Such delays are not always the fault of IFE&C suppliers. Airlines play their part as well, opting sometimes to keep aircraft in revenue service rather than allow downtime for lengthy retrofits. But more often than not, the IFE&C industry is the stumbling block.

Now is the time for the industry to change its track record of tardiness and rebuild - or just build - its credibility. Passengers' expectations have increased to the point where airlines are finally ready to offer superfast in-flight internet and state-of-the-art entertainment to mimic the home theatre experience. Airlines know that robust IFE&C in-seat platforms have become the cost of doing long-haul business, and that in-flight connectivity is becoming increasingly important on short-haul flights. They're ready to lay out significant expenditure to offer it. But some are still worried about promises made and broken.

The IFE&C vendors that reverse that perception by setting realistic deadlines for equipage and then making good on those deadlines are the ones that will ultimately win the prize. Those who do not will miss out on an impending financial windfall.

If you need evidence of said impending windfall, check out Flight International's latest IFE&C feature packet. (For the record, I prefer the acronym IFEC over IFE&C, but the copy editors have their own view on the matter. I'm working to change that view. :0)

("Late for work" photo above from Eneas Flickr photo stream)

Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America, V Australia. All three carriers have been short-listed as finalists for the first annual Passenger Choice Awards by passengers from all over the world.

Indeed, Virgin-branded airlines have been named as finalists in all but one of 12 categories - Best in Region, Middle East. Virgin will no doubt remedy that in time.

Virgin America has also been short-listed for a coveted Avion Award for Best Single Achievement in In-flight Entertainment, joining Air France, El Al Israel Airlines, Emirates and Etihad Airways.

If you haven't had the pleasure of flying Virgin America yet, let me direct you to Simpliflying chief executive Shashank Nigam's latest blog post: "Why every visionary airline executive needs to fly Virgin America this year to get a glimpse of the future."

A big congrats to Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America and V Australia for their proud showing, as well as all of the deserving finalists for the Passenger Choice Awards, which will be handed out on 13 September at the annual World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA) conference and exhibition in Long Beach, California.

I'd also like to extend my congratulations to the finalists for the Avion Award for Best Achievement in Technology - Oman Air, Panasonic Avionics, PlaneBill, TECOM Industries and Thales Avionics as well as to WAEA Lifetime Achievement Award recipients Joe Barber and Paul Margis and WAEA Outstanding Contribution Award recipient Bryan Rusenko.

I'll see you all in Long Beach, where the WAEA will formally change its name to the infinitely more exciting Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX). I understand there may be some special vodka drinks in our future.

P.S. I'll be using the Twitter hashtag #APEX10 for any news I tweet from the show floor. Also be sure to follow the Passenger Choice Awards on FaceBook. Is everyone else as excited for this year's exhibition as I am?

(Photo of Virgin America cabin from Mark Smith's Flickr photo stream)

This morning I spotted this photo of Southwest Airlines' in-flight Wi-Fi portal on Flickr, specifically on the Yahoo! blog's Yodel Anecdotal photo stream (click on the image to see the original more clearly).

The pic was snapped over a year ago, but as you can see, the portal largely offers what service provider Row 44 promised it would - a virtual shopping mall (via SkyMall) some free games, entertainment and news content and various promotions. Southwest worked with Yahoo! on the home page (quite clearly).

So how many Southwest birds have been equipped with Row 44's Ku-band satellite-based in-flight connectivity system?

About 10 aircraft have Wi-Fi on board "and 28 more - tentatively scheduled - will be equipped by the end of October", reveals a source.