Future-Proofing Connectivity and Technology
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Connectivity and Technology | Education Day, APEX EXPO 2015 Breakout Sessions
We’ve all been there. It sometimes feels like our smartphones, computers and media systems are all outdated the day after we make the purchase. But for the airline industry, “once you’ve released a product, and you’ve actually qualified it, no one ever wants it to change,” says Jim Costello, chief technology officer for Telefonix PDT, a technology design and manufacturing company. But he admits “that’s kind of a nice starting point. I think we all recognize that isn’t going to occur.”
Costello draws a parallel between the airline world and commercial electronics, where the focus comes to end-of-life management. “You might have to support a product for anywhere from 10 to 15 years.” Citing the example of bulkhead mounted phones introduced in the Boeing 777 in 1993 that are still in use, he says, “it just goes to show you that when you look at products, sometimes the product is out there in the field much longer than you can imagine.”
But by “designing for upgradability,” Costello explains that a product can be future-proofed by clearly defining the product’s specific requirements, and focusing on ongoing technology reviews along with the customer’s commitment to develop a “product roadmap.”
When it comes to in-flight connectivity, “Passengers want to be able to do in-flight what they do on the ground on their own devices,” says Leo Mondale, Inmarsat’s president, aviation. “Mobile data on the ground is moving very, very quickly, and it’s not going to slow down, as far as we can tell.”
Airlines are placing huge orders for aircraft, with deliveries stretching out many years, “so the idea that you’re picking a [connectivity] technology today that’s supposed to last, when mobile technology has devices that roll over every nine to 18 months, keeping up with that is going to be a non-trivial task, and catching up with that is going to be a non-trivial task,” says Mondale.
With multi-year delivery schedules, Mondale says to airlines, “I understand that you’re making a long-term decision, but maybe you should be making a decision about who is going to bring you the solution that is relevant at the time the aircraft is equipped.” At the same time, he says that work still needs to be done to ensure the quality of service and the passenger experience. “There’s going to have to be progress in satellites, in terminals, in onboard networks and on the ground, in terms of facilitating ease of use.”
Passengers’ need to “bring your own device” onboard will drive the future of payment technologies, says Craig Proud, SVP platform for GuestLogix, a global provider of merchandising and payment technologies. With many airlines now cashless, Proud sees a trend towards “cashless, cardless and paperless transactions, with increasing smartphone adoption.”
Combining aircraft connectivity with passengers’ smartphone-enabled apps such as Apple Pay, Visa Checkout and MasterCard MasterPass will give airlines real-time, or near real-time payment processing, reducing fraud while significantly reducing the handling of sensitive credit card data, explains Proud.
All photos by Vance Walstra.