June 2011 Archives

FYI...
The in-flight entertainment (IFE) shown in this WSJ report is Thales' AVANT system. Panasonic also had its next generation IFE system on display in the CSeries mock-up at #PAS11. The dimmable windows, meanwhile, are Vision Systems' Noctis. I'll have more on Bombardier's IFE and connectivity plans for the CSeries later.

Mediastation, a UK firm that specializes in computer generated imagery and 3D production, has just launched a product for aviation that lets airlines produce entirely CGI videos of cabins, aircraft etc.

Why is such a service so important? Well airlines hate taking aircraft out of revenue service for film shoots for obvious reasons. However, they frequently want to show what some aspect of their product looks like, such as American Eagle's new CRJ700 first class section.

Mediastation's new Digital Aerospace product lets airlines' create lifelike movies entirely from photos and design drawings - the aircraft is never used. You can see the just released American Eagle movie here:

Saints above I'm buried in a sea of pre- and post-Paris work right now (yes, I'm even behind on pre-Paris!) but I need to stop for a few minutes to tell you the news - JetBlue subsidiary LiveTV is working with DirecTV to stream live television to passengers' own devices where DirecTV is available.

Key quote from LiveTV's Mike Moeller:

"We're developing a streaming DirecTV solution. We don't need screens in the aircraft."

JetBlue offers DirecTV. So too does Frontier, United-Continental and WestJet. Perhaps LiveTV's roster of clients will grow now that it intends to offer television wirelessly.

Also today Moeller  gave me some detail behind LiveTV's new "global" live television service, which is targeted at widebody aircraft (hello Panasonic and Thales). It's "global" in the overseas sense, of course, and anywhere there is appropriate Ku capacity. But it's not "global" in the truly global sense. Oh, you know what I mean.

Tangent - isn't it ironic that after years of pooh-poohing Ku for connectivity, LiveTV is embracing it to augment its global live television service? Or maybe the global TV is augmenting the Ku solution :-)

Meanwhile, these days it seems that LiveTV is less the 'red headed stepchild under the stairs' in JetBlue's house, and more a member of the family. Former CEO Nate Quigley, who had been brought on board to sell the subsidiary, left last fall after JetBlue decided to keep LiveTV, at least for the time being. Will LiveTV become a major player on the international IFEC scene?

We live in interesting times. 
 

Click the pics to launch our super-slick interactive magazines.

Wireless in-flight entertainment (IFE) is coming to an aircraft near you. Aircell is testing the video service that will be trialled on American Airlines this summer. Check out the company's latest pic, taken "in a room full of people" testing the new service, and join in the conversation on FaceBook.

Thea Briggs, a college student at Columbia University and an avid traveler, works for an NGO called ECPAT-USA - a network of organizations and individuals working together to eliminate the commercial sexual exploitation of children around the world. She recently reached out to me to tell me about ECPAT and Delta Air Lines' participation in a project called 'The Code'. I asked her to write the guest blog that is posted below. I would not have a soul if I didn't ask you to read it and pass the message to your networks. Let's support the travel providers that try to protect the world's most precious inhabitants, children.

UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million children are trafficked for sexual exploitation per year. The multi-billion dollar modern slave trade is similar in size to the drug trade, but unlike drugs which can be sold only once, the body of a child can be sold over and over again. In recent years, however, many companies in the travel sector have taken a stand against these heinous crimes, by adopting a set of voluntary anti-sex tourism steps called The Code of Conduct. 

The Code was created by ECPAT (End Child Prostitution Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) in conjunction with the Scandinavian tour operators and the World Tourism Organization in 1998, in order to address the global demand for children in sex tourism.

The first and only major airline to adopt The Code is Delta Air Lines, joining more than a thousand other signatories.  Carol Smolenski, executive director of ECPAT-USA explains, "All travel companies could unwittingly be facilitating the sex trafficking of children. If they do nothing to raise awareness or to prevent child trafficking, they risk becoming an indirect and unintentional conduit for the abuse that takes place". 

As a subscriber to The Code, Delta implements policies that condemn child trafficking, provide training to help their employees identify and report suspected sexual exploitation activities, and will raise awareness among customers by including information about ECPAT and The Code in its Sky magazine and delta.com website. Richard Anderson, CEO of Delta Air Lines, remarked "We look forward to playing a role in ECPAT's important mission to raise awareness about and combat child trafficking. Delta prides itself on doing what is right, and this is the morally right thing to do."

For more information about what you can do to prevent the trafficking of children for sexual purposes or to support ECPAT's Protect Children in Tourism summer fundraiser:

www.ecpatusa.org
www.thecode.org
http://www.crowdrise.com/ProtectChildreninTourism/fundraiser/ecpatusa

"Holy crap" - I suppose there are better ways to describe the SuperJet's steep climb. And hey IFEC-ers, I didn't forget you. :-)

Taking in some sights and having a bit of fun en route to Bombardier's super-swank CSeries mock-up at the Paris Air Show....

Gulf Air, as first reported by RWG, is poised to bring Panasonic Avionics' eXConnect in-flight high-speed Internet solution to its fleet (could it announce the deal this week at the Paris Air Show?) but that's not the only in-flight entertainment and connectivity news breaking about the carrier.

According to a recent online post on the Kingdom of Bahrain's Tender Board web site, Gulf Air is upgrading IFE VCPs "to digital plug & play" players on aircraft MSN278, MSN281, MSN286, MSN287, MSN334 and MSN340.

The carrier is paying Goodrich/TEAC Aerospace a sum of just under $1.7 million for the package. In February Gulf said it would offer digEcor portable devices to premium passengers. Quite the deal, and indicative that there is some low-hanging fruit ripe for picking by providers of low-cost, retrofit-ready and portable IFE.

Heck, I hear you can kit out a widebody with certain seat-centric solutions for as little as $1 million per plane.

Gulf Air recently had digEcor's semi-embedded IFE installed on a Boeing 737.

Imagine you're the crew on an oceanic crossing. One engine starts to go into excessive vibration, which is detected by the sensors on the engine and by an automated flight information reporting system (AFIRS) on board the aircraft.

The "blue" AFIRS box instantly launches a report to the ground to coordinate all the people that need to be involved in an abnormal situation - the operator, maintenance and scheduling personnel, or perhaps the OEM and the engine manufacturer, if they provide maintenance support to the operator - and it all happens in the span of under 15 seconds.

Once the data is reported, the operator texts the crew or calls their Iridium satellite telephone to ask their opinion as to what is occurring, and get the benefit of their visual scan of the instruments.

The parties may agree on a prescription of an operational procedure, such as putting the engine into Flight Idle to avoid further degradation of the engine. Then, on the ground they're prepared to resolve the situation for a quick turnaround. If the problem cannot be resolved, all parties have already set in motion the logistics for doing so.

But what if the abnormal situation is more severe and the aircraft goes into an upset, meaning it goes into extreme attitudes? Then the rules embedded on board would require the box to start sending all the data from the flight data recorder plus position data from the GPS immediately and in a continuous stream. In an emergency situation such as this, the list of recipients would expand to include senior executives, the chief pilot, air traffic control, and search and rescue organizations.
 
A cost-efficient data streaming solution such as the one I describe is available today but you might not know it to read some of the skeptics quoted in a 27 May CNN article, titled 'In tech's golden age, why can't black boxes do more?'
 
The report seeks to explain the reasons why a modern aircraft like the Air France Airbus A330 that crashed in June 2009 in the South Atlantic did not have technology on board to stream black box data to the ground, and why investigators needed to find the airliner's flight data and cockpit voice recorders at the bottom of the ocean floor - a process that took two years - before being able to outline the events leading to the tragic accident.
 
An FAA spokeswoman is quoted in the CNN piece as saying: "While the technology may exist, the use of telemetry for commercial airplanes is not currently practical due to bandwidth issues." The Air Transport Association, meanwhile, says it's concerned about the potential cost and wants to assess the overall need for such a system within the aviation community, according to the report.
 
But while everyone has been wringing their hands about whether there is enough bandwidth to support a data streaming solution, and how much it might cost, AeroMechanical Services, which is marketed under the FLYHT brand name, has demonstrated the capability to stream black box and position data from an aircraft in real time. Indeed, at the time of the Air France crash the company already had AFIRS deployed on nearly 250 aircraft, including Boeing 767s, Airbus A320s, Boeing 737s, Bombardier CRJs and Dash 8s.
 
AFIRS consists of an on board electronic box (blue, not black!), a satellite communication system (presently Iridium, but others would be possible), a web (Internet) hosting and communications manager server, and the Internet. Both the on board box and the web server have rules embedded that determine when and what to report under both normal and abnormal situations.

The system is completely automated and integrated from end-to-end, so no human action or intervention is required to initiate a routine or non-routine report; however, both the cockpit crew and authorized persons on the ground can initiate streaming of black box data and high resolution position reporting if they choose to do so.

Routine reporting is typically sent every 5 minutes, to include an updated position report, fuel on board, and a summary status of the aircraft. Although the system is designed to not require any crew action, the crew has the ability to instruct the system to send data as well (and they also have the use of  Iridium voice channels and texting channels, all run through the AFIRS box).
 
But what about industry concerns over bandwidth and cost?

"We've done black box data stream through the current Iridium 2.4 kbps pipe. The downlink goes through the Iridium ground station in Phoenix, and then the data is relayed by secure internet connection to our server, UpTime, where it is further forwarded to designated recipients after processing. The process takes under 15 seconds and connects any aircraft operating on the globe with any internet address on the globe. Other satcom systems cannot provide the full global coverage - Iridium is unique in that respect." says Richard Hayden, president of FLYHT.

The cost of retrofitting the entire system, meanwhile, would be "something in the neighborhood of $50,000. The ongoing service cost ranges from a few dollars per flight hour to about $15 per flight hour depending on which menu of services are selected by the customer. Like an iPhone, some apps are free and some are not. But comments about the prohibitive cost of data streaming are entirely inaccurate. The cost of streaming all the data in emergencies over Iridium is under $4 per minute. The operational concept of our system is exception reporting so you'd never contemplate streaming all the data all the time. The feedback in the industry is that this is an insignificant cost compared to the consequences of emergencies."

So what needs to happen for the industry to adopt a solution such as this?

"We need a dialog in the industry as to how do we change standard operating procedure to take advantage of the information during a serious emergency," says Hayden. "Right now the industry uses ACARS messages, which are quite limited in terms of what insights they give. In the event of an accident, going and looking for the black box after the fact doesn't make sense. Our goal is to prevent the crash, not record the crash. But if there is a need for a search and rescue operation, what needs to be worked out is the protocols for notification of air traffic control people and emergency response people, or in the event of a hijacking incident, who in the TSA and their counterpart organizations globally should receive that info. Anybody with an email address can be designated to receive the information. What's lacking in acceptance of this technology is essentially how to use it industry-wide."

To this end, SESAR sponsored a study called OPTIMI which was intended to define options for improved position and data reporting, and assess the state of readiness of various options.
In its report, SESAS outlined the advantages and disadvantages of the AFIRS system, saying:

4.2.1 Advantages
This solution offers great flexibility and is unique in its ability to use a wide range of events to trigger alerts/position reports automatically. Down linking FDR data during specific periods is also potentially of great value. This system does not require ACARS or FANS1/A equipage; rather it monitors Arinc 429 and 717 data buses and transmits selected data in accordance with rules embedded in the on board software.

4.2.2 Disadvantages
Such a system cannot replace FANS1/A and its use for air traffic control purposes. It may, therefore, not be attractive to airlines to equip with this solution, although it is already demonstrated to be technically feasible for both types of system to co-exist on the same aircraft. This solution may therefore be attractive to types for which no FANS1/A avionics exist. In the FLYHT AFIRS 220 system the event/status reporting capabilities form a small part of a turnkey solution. Whilst FLYHT believe their existing customer airlines recover the relatively low cost of installation within one year of operation, and therefore such a solution would be attractive in the short term to airlines, the pace of change and the time it will take to achieve a credible mass of equipped aircraft limits this option to the mid term rather than the short term. There may be issued [sp?] surrounding the FDR down linking functionality and data protection. ED112 states that FDRS/CVR messages are strictly confidential and shall not be transmitted from aircraft during flight. Such systems use the internet as the communication network. The safety and security aspects of this would require attention.

It's not often that you hear about a top aircraft engineer and industry executive making the leap into publishing, but that's exactly what Jonathan Norris, formerly Airbus vice-president cabin design office, has done.

The Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) has selected Ink (known for its in-flight magazines) to produce the association's quarterly magazine and other APEX media, and in turn Ink has named Norris as executive director and editor-in-chief.

Explaining his decision to make such a big career change, Norris tells RWG: "After 25 years working for different airframers, I'm ready to take on a different line of challenges. I have really good industry experience and in the last couple of years, I've been getting more into media, marketing, communications and innovation, and looking at how engineering impacts the whole business of the passenger's experience of flying. I felt like this was a great opportunity to take a change in direction and get back to being more creative."

So where will Norris take the quarterly magazine?

"What we're looking to do is lift the game in terms of being a trade magazine, lifting the level of editorial such that we bring the magazine to a level where people in the industry really need to read it, particularly the airlines. We want it to be more snappy, a magazine that C-level executives are happy to have on their desks and will refer to," says Norris.

Since changing its name from the World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA) to APEX, the association has broadened its scope to include key elements of the passenger experience, adding in-flight services and pre-flight services to its standard focus on in-flight entertainment, connectivity and content. As such, the magazine will cover the various touch points of the passenger experience.

"There is a big push in the market to encourage passengers to use their smart phones to check in with e-tickets. The next logical thing is you keep your phones switched on during flight, ensure that connectivity blocks interference [with avionics] and while you're on the aircraft there may be other things you do with your smart phone," says Norris.

In addition to the magazine, Norris will head up a brand new Ink-produced news digest, which will be launched during the first week of July, and issued every two weeks. A blog and various social media, driven by Norris, will go live in conjunction with the news digest. "It will all be hosted on the APEX web site, a redesign of which is underway," says Norris. Ink will also be responsible for producing the show dailies at the annual APEX expo.

APEX's ultimate goal is to offer a media platform that will "become the industry's leading forum to discuss, debate and learn how to improve the airline passenger experience, in search for ancillary revenues to respond to rising fuel prices".

So no pressure, then? :-)

Seriously, though, I consider Jon a good friend, and I wish him all the best in his new career. He tweets as @nonnyjorris by the way.

These are also exciting days for APEX, which is looking to become more of a voice for the industry than in the past. "We're going through this period where we have an increase in fuel prices, so we want to help the industry improve its game," says Norris.

Let the fun begin!

The in-flight entertainment group on LinkedIn is proving to be an absolute treasure trove of information with industry experts weighing in on a number of timely topics, including whether IFE newcomers will have any success in snatching some market share off the big guys, Panasonic and Thales. If you haven't yet joined, you're missing out! It's a closed group so you will first need to request membership. Here is one nugget from a RAJCO Services:

We are a consulting company specializing in the IFEC market and have completed two worldwide airline surveys on IFEC and two IFEC supplier analyses in the past in nine months. We believe that the IFE hardware is rapidly moving towards being a commodity, as most systems have more functionality than the airlines are asking for. As the lower cost IFE suppliers prove reliable, the tight airline budgets will force more decisions to be based on operational and life cycle cost (including weight), which will make the low cost suppliers far more competitive. Several of the low cost IFE suppliers are getting close to the key airline purchase thresholds in terms of weight and price per seat for widespread implementation, including both single aisle and regional jet. Once the suppliers all develop low cost systems, the key drivers in the future will be GUI / Apps and seat incorporation esthetics rather than the hardware.

I'm being spammed like it's going out of style! Every morning - and throughout every single day - I am bombarded with these types of messages. Yes, we've got spam filters (they're keeping these comments from actually being published to the blog). But my Inbox is still inundated, and amidst all the chaos, I may have missed your email. If so, please accept my apologies and email me at mary_b_kirby(at)yahoo(dot)com

Thank you!

Flightglobal is gearing up for the big 2011 Paris Air Show, where our crack team of journalists will be covering the show like no other media outlet. To get the ball rolling, the Flightglobal team has put together an interactive preview issue. Click this link or the cover page below to find out about our live streaming of the flying display, courtesy of FLIR, as well as how you can create your own personalized 'MyParis' page to customize the news you'd like to see from the show. The interactive preview also lists the 'ten aircraft you must see at Paris' and a Paris survival guide.

At the show my colleague, aerospace journalist extraordinaire Jon Ostrower and I will be back in front of the camera with our fun daily wrap videos and we'll be tweeting like bandits with the #PAS11 hashtag. We arrive at Le Bourget on 18 June and won't stop running until we've covered the show from top to bottom. If I don't see you in Paris, I hope to see you here, at Flightglobal.

Last month Thai Airways International confirmed the configuration of its Airbus A380 aircraft, saying it will offer a three-class configuration and a total of 507 seats (12 first class seats, 60 business class seats and 435 economy class seats - Recaro, not Koito, ahem).

Now an unofficial graphics video has emerged showcasing the interior of the Thai A380, and highlighting its amenities, including in-flight mobile and Wi-Fi connectivity, Panasonic IFE, and first-class multi-purpose common areas in the upper deck plus a bar.

I can't vouch for the authenticity of the video but this might very well be the first example of what passengers can generally expect to see on board the Thai A380.

Later today Aircell will publish on its blog a rather thorough Q&A with its president and CEO Michael Small, who talks about everything from the firm's business model to its technology road map and the future of Ka satellite-based in-flight connectivity.

Aircell was kind enough to give me an advance copy of the Q&A. I've highlighted what I think are some of Small's most interesting points (some are a bit controversial). Do you agree with him?

Aircell's Q&A with president and CEO Michael Small

What differentiates Aircell from other in-flight connectivity providers?

We are the world leader in both commercial and business aviation when it comes to in-flight connectivity. We've earned that status by providing flexible, cost-effective technology solutions that are highly reliable, quick to install and work in a myriad of commercial and business aircraft applications. This has allowed us to reach operational scale, which truly sets us apart from our competitors. As of today, we're the only in-flight connectivity provider that has proven our model is scalable and meets the diverse needs of our airline partners for every single plane, today and into the future.  

It has taken a significant capital investment and years of attracting top talent in the industry to get to the point where we are today: the largest in-flight connectivity provider in the world.  We've now reached economies of scale that bring significant value and savings to our airline partners.

For example, because of our experience, we can typically install our equipment overnight without taking an aircraft out of service - which is a huge savings for our airline partners.  We also have extensive experience in managing bandwidth usage which enables us to maintain a high quality, consistent experience for our airline partners' passengers. To our airline partners we're a full service operation, providing in-flight and on the ground customer care, back office operations and equipment maintenance. So it's more than just putting an antenna on a plane and flipping a switch.

Technology is also a key point of differentiation. We are technology agnostic - whether it's our exclusive Air-To-Ground (ATG) system or satellite technologies on both commercial and business aviation. One of the main misperceptions is that we are only an ATG company.  Most people are not aware that we have the largest deployment of satellite-based aeronautical communications systems in the world with our business aviation customers. We can utilize our exclusive ATG network, but we can also use the same satellite technologies that our competitors utilize where we think it makes sense. And because of our scale, we will be able to offer these technologies on a more cost effective basis.    

The bottom line is that our flexibility allows us to meet the needs of our Airline partners in the most cost-efficient manner while maintaining a superior customer experience on any plane, any mission. With our experience, we believe we're uniquely qualified to manage those technology decisions and operational issues so our airline partners don't have to.

Is Ka the future of In-flight Connectivity?

When we talk about satellite technologies, it's important to make the distinction between domestic and international coverage. We believe global Ka will revolutionize overseas connectivity similar to the way ATG did domestically. We're particularly excited about what Immarsat's doing in the space. That's the primary reason Ka is an important part of our technology roadmap.  

We expect Ka satellite to be a realistic solution by 2015, both domestically and internationally.
 
Before that date in the domestic market, based on our knowledge of what traffic patterns and usage will be, we have questions about the satellite coverage for large portions of the United States west of the Mississippi River. The technology was originally designed for terrestrial use that focused mainly on the coasts. This leaves a gap in coverage in the Midwest. Right now, it is unclear as to how that problem is going to be solved in the near to midterm. 

Even if everything with the coverage gap is addressed and everything goes perfectly with the satellite launch, antenna development and certification, there's no proven timeline for installation of the equipment in the aircraft. We know from our experience that this can be a major hurdle. We're hoping for everything to align so we can effectively add Ka to our technology mix, but there are too many uncertainties at this point to expect that before 2015.

We believe domestic Ka has the potential to provide increased capacity for certain fleet types; however, we don't see Ka as a full-fleet solution for many years due to the current size, weight and drag of a satellite antenna. Satellite equipment is expensive and logistically challenging as compared to ATG and ATG-4, which are cost-effective, light-weight, easy to install, and more than adequate to meet the capacity needs of regional jets and other smaller aircraft now and in the future. 

We have the unique ability to utilize ATG and ATG-4 to solve any coverage or capacity deficiencies in the center of the country so we've optimistically put Ka in our roadmap beginning in 2013, despite the other unresolved issues. But, again, we don't see Ka as a standalone solution domestically until 2015 or beyond. Our plan is to phase Ka in where it makes the most sense as soon as it becomes available and supplement it with our ATG and ATG-4.  We will then continue to evaluate our technology mix as Ka becomes a more proven solution in the marketplace.

 

What about Ku?

Domestically, Ku is clearly yesterday's technology, and we are not going to invest in it.  It's expensive and less reliable than ATG; with an inferior online customer experience that is spotty from our experience. In my opinion it makes little sense for an airline to invest in Ku at this time.

Globally, Ku is the only technology available for service over the oceans today. We expect that global Ka will represent a significant improvement over Ku in terms of capacity, cost and coverage.  While we maintain the ability to deploy Ku for airlines that require over water service today, we believe that airlines are increasingly coming to realize that waiting for Ka is likely the better choice. 

We believe the bandwidth costs for ATG-4 and Ka will be very similar, but the equipment costs and weight and drag on the airplane will be significantly lower with ATG. Ka will allow for more capacity, which is why we see it as a long-term solution for larger aircraft with longer missions where you can recoup the increased equipment costs. However, for basic consumer needs like surfing the Web, social media, and checking email, we still believe ATG-4 will offer a better consumer experience due to better latency.  It's also a more cost-effective solution on many planes. 

People have the perception that the increased capacity satellite provides will allow them to stream full length, HD movies off the internet, but that's just not the case. Whether you're talking about satellite or ATG, this kind of streaming will be cost prohibitive

That's why we created our new video product that we recently announced with American.  It will allow passengers to pull videos from a digital library that's stored on the plane, and played on passengers' own devices.  We're exploring ways to update that content in close to real time. We feel it will provide the best performance at the most reasonable price.  We're also seeing the market moving from live to stored content.

There seems to be two business models in the domestic market place - a wholesale model and a turnkey model.  Why do you think the Gogo turnkey model works best?

We've spent years building our expertise in this unique space and bring a great deal of value to our airline partners.  We've closely analyzed bandwidth rates and usage patterns to maximize the most cost-effective solutions; we provide full customer support; and we offer technical service and advice. This is a true turnkey operation for our airline partners. 

Competitors offering the wholesale model claim the airline will have more control, flexibility and payback than the Gogo model provides, but that's just not true. Our model, in fact, offers airlines a lot of control and flexibility in determining how their customers will interact with the service. And unlike the wholesale model, which puts the burden on the airlines to build capabilities and operationalize a new line of business, Aircell's operational expertise and economies of scale enable the airlines to generate paybacks well beyond what they're likely to achieve doing it themselves.

As one example of the expertise we provide, we think, and we think that our airline partners agree, that they have better use for their time than managing an in-flight internet company and monitoring usage rates to assure costs don't get out of control.  In a wholesale model the provider has no incentive to minimize bandwidth usage because it gets paid based on the volume used. The airline would need to monitor usage to make sure they aren't paying too much for bandwidth used but they have no ability to manage it.  We understand the airlines goals and have built enough flexibility in our model to accommodate them.

While our competitors would like to see the IFC industry evolve into a wholesale model, the reality is that nine airlines have chosen Gogo over competitors' offerings. I can't think of any better evidence that our model works. Based on what our partners tell us, many airlines don't want a wholesale model. In fact, one airline partner told me they fear a wholesale model will destroy the value in the category for suppliers and the airlines.  They also feel that it will force the airlines to prop up this space and turn it into a cost center.

What's Aircell up to that you're most excited about?

More than 60 percent of Gogo users tell us that the availability of Wi-Fi is the determining factor in choosing their flight, all else being equal. More than 30 percent tell us it's the determining factor, period. What they most want is ubiquity, so we are aggressively working with our airline partners to get them to full fleet, which we believe is the key to maintaining the great growth in the percentage of people per aircraft who use the service.  We're excited by our recent expansion announcement with American, which brings our total of full fleet airlines to five. 

On the technology side, we're very excited to roll out our ATG-4 service, which should start happening in the very near future.  ATG-4 will significantly enhance the existing ATG network and increase per aircraft capacity by approximately four times current levels through the addition of a directional antenna, dual modem and EV-DO Rev. B technologies.  We will be able to upgrade our current system to accommodate the new service at very low cost.  

On the product side, we're thrilled about our new video product.  It is a win-win proposition that changes everything in the world of IFE.  Passengers want to consume content on their own devices. Airlines don't want to be burdened with expensive, heavy IFE equipment that must be continually maintained and updated. The video product will allow passengers to stream the latest videos and TV shows at their convenience.  In the fall, we will build on our video offering by unveiling a new project that will truly revolutionize the way passengers entertain themselves and receive information in flight.  More information on that project will be coming soon.

On the business aviation side, we're excited about the launch of our next-generation voice capabilities, which utilizes our ATG technologies to offer the aviation industry's best voice quality.  The high bandwidth and very low latency characteristics of ATG will combine to enable a level of voice quality and clarity that will be unrivaled by any previous or existing aviation solution.
 
Lastly, now that we've fully operationalized and scaled our business, we are giving our airline partners the flexibility to customize and enhance their passengers' flying experience and the freedom to bundle and price the service in ways that are most beneficial to their customers.

Virgin America is poised to make its super cool in-flight entertainment (IFE) system, Red, even cooler. The carrier has revealed to RWG that it will offer more live sports and news with the addition of three new network choices. It hopes to have the upgrade completed by the end of the month.

"We're going to be offering the same number of channels but we'll be switching some, trying to add more sports and news," says Virgin America vice president of marketing Porter Gale.

Adds Virgin America vice president of corporate communications Abby Lunardini: "We really try to look at what our guests would want and we've found that people really want the live events, such as sporting events and American Idol when they're flying so we've tried to add more options to get more live footage.

"If there is a big game on, and you're flying, or The Oscars is on, people really want to be connected and be able to view that content as they fly, and that was really the objective to adding more live content."

Offering more live content is among a number of upgrades planned for Red, which represents a collaboration between hardware giant Panasonic Avionics and software firm CoKinetic. For instance, Virgin America intends to support real-time credit card transactions via the IFE system by spring next year. Just imagine for a second what the airline might sell to passengers in flight!

However, Virgin America is dreaming very big for its next generation IFE system, which will be rolled out in the fourth quarter of 2012, and has been studying the many new IFE offerings on the market.

"It's fair to say that we're looking at everybody. Like everything in the technology world, there are new players that pop up and old sturdy guys that have been around forever and do things really, really well. We'll make the best possible decision that gives us the growth path in the future and the canvas for creativity to do many amazing things," says Virgin America director of engineering Ken Bieler.

The new IFE system will support connected apps, such as social media. "I'd imagine we'll have Facebook and Twitter but we're still working on everything," says Gale. Social gaming and real-time geolocation services could also be on the menu, according to a USA Today report.

Virgin America had previously expected to offer connected apps on its current system, but decided to wait for the new system. Explaining the carrier's decision Bieler says: "I think it's probably just trying to make the most of what we have right now and managing bandwidth frankly."

Virgin America was the first carrier to offer Aircell's Gogo in-flight Internet system throughout its admittedly small fleet. "We took that innovative position and put a stake in the ground. We took a risk. We were able to do that because we were a smaller-sized fleet and it is much easier for a smaller fleet to tackle new opportunities than a large fleet," says Gale.

"We spent a lot of money to do it. We obviously think it has been worth it. I hear a lot of people say they would rather fly with us in economy and have an empty inbox when they land versus fly first on a non-Wi-Fi plane."

Furthermore, she says, in-flight Wi-Fi "is a revenue generator for us, a source of ancillary revenue. More importantly, we recognized that the people that were flying Virgin America were tech savvy, involved in social media, carrying iPads; they like the power outlets between the seat so their laptop doesn't die, so that's the type of guest who responded very well to having the Wi-Fi on the plane."

Key quote from Gale:

"We've been a leader in social media, and I think a lot of it has been because we have this Wi-Fi on the plane and a captive audience. We have the perfect combination of social media, Wi-Fi and a captive audience not repeated anywhere else."

So, will Virgin America choose Aircell's upgrade path to Ka-band-based connectivity or another provider's solution to support its high-bandwidth needs in the future, particularly as it rolls out a new system at the end of 2012?

"We're evaluating all of the options on the table, both those that are factual at this point and those that are somewhat ethereal, and we're trying to plan the future. Having connectivity on the aircraft has been a phenomenal thing. As we move forward things change all the time so we're always keeping our ears and eyes open," says Bieler.

One solution that does not interest Virgin America at this time is wireless IFE, such as the Aircell solution that will be trialed by American Airlines this summer.  "In terms of the Aircell solution now, I don't think it's something on the table," says Lunardini, noting that Virgin America is able to make its embedded IFE system distinctly 'Virgin America'. Indeed, the system is very much part of Virgin America's brand.

Gale adds: "A lot of the movie studios won't give you the early release content on the wireless, and with our [embedded] system, we can get the movies much earlier."

So will the new IFE system roll off the production line with a new Airbus A320 or will Virgin America start by retrofitting one of its current aircraft? The carrier remains cryptic. "We're evaluating a lot of different options on how best to bring new products so it's hard to predict at this time but we're trying to accelerate things as much as we possibly can," says Bieler.

Aircraft seat manufacturers B/E Aerospace, Zodiac and Recaro (seats pictured above) have enjoyed plenty of new business ever since reports started surfacing from Japan that seat maker Koito Industries had falsified data on seats.

And the 'big three' can expect an even greater windfall now the EASA and the US FAA have formally issued airworthiness directives on the matter.

But will they be able meet demand in the near-term? Test data was fabricated by Koito on a staggering 150,000 seats in the world fleet. And there is already a tight bottleneck in the supply chain.

Reading between the lines of the ADs issued this week, it is clear that many airlines have not made adequate contingency plans for replacing Koito seats.

"Many kept their heads in the sand, hoping it would go away," an industry source tells RWG.

The airlines which, on learning about Koito's problems back in 2009, booked capacity early at B/E, Recaro and Zodiac's Sicma or Weber units - or other seat makers - will be ahead of the pack. Those who waited could face a mighty struggle in sourcing new seats in the short-term, if they choose retrofit over compliance with some of the more rigorous aspects of the ADs.

V Australia, which operates four 777-300ERs with Koito economy-class seats but selected Recaro for its newest 777, told the FAA in November that its then proposed AD would cause significant issues for operators "as no replacement seats are available to fill the gap". The carrier, which offers Panasonic in-flight entertainment systems at each seat, faces a potential bill of $2.6 million if it replaces Koito seats on the 777s, based on the FAA's own estimate of seat costs below.



But keep in mind that these are today's estimates, and don't include IFE and in-seat power. Drawing on our basic economics 101 courses, less supply plus more demand equals higher prices. And the big squeeze is on.

(P.S. Koito is vowing to support its airline customers in wake of the ADs. Does that mean it will cough up some bread?)

Updated to note that the EASA AD hit this morning.

BLOG:

With everyone from Boeing to Koito Industries to Continental Airlines begging more time, and some - like the Association of European Airlines (AEA) and the Association for Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) - suggesting the measure is unwarranted, the US FAA has issued its airworthiness directive (AD) to operators with seats manufactured by Koito Industries.

You'll recall that Koito did the dastardly deed of fabricating test data on some 150,000 seats in the world fleet, going so far as to rubber stamp documents with a fake Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) seal of approval.

Read the FAA's AD here. As expected - and underscored by the mass of opposing viewpoints - the AD impacts a heck of a lot of folks, and could cost hundreds of millions of dollars (so the little RWG estimate was on target eh?)

And how about the impact of retrofitting new in-flight entertainment and in-seat power? I'd love to see some estimates for that.

(P.S. Page 38 addresses the Bunsen Burner test, which caught my eye because I used to be good at science! Well, I liked to play with the flame. P.P.S. Koito seats are naturally also subject to an EASA AD, which doesn't completely mesh with the FAA's AD. Hello confusion.)

Related links:

Koito aircraft seat mess gets even messier

VIDEO: Boeing still offering Koito seats