Honeywell Aerospace Rides the JetWave
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APEX Insight: This week’s Aircraft Interiors Expo has been abuzz with satellite connectivity claims, as new systems and upgrades to existing technologies move from development to reality. Honeywell Aerospace expects to declare its JetWave onboard terminal fully operational later this year, having already received FAA certification for installations on the Boeing 757 and Bombardier 5000 and 6000 corporate aircraft.
Honeywell Aerospace’s JetWave onboard connectivity terminal is currently undergoing certification testing for 26 different aircraft models, going live later this year through system partner Inmarsat’s GX Aviation service.
“Honeywell and Inmarsat are enabling new technology and a brand new network dedicated to mobile assets such as airplanes and ships. There is more bandwidth, and the technology is more efficient than legacy systems that cannot support demand anymore,” says Carl Esposito, vice-president, Marketing & Product Management, Honeywell Aerospace.
There has been much discussion at this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo about the relative speed and efficiency of competing satellite systems, with comments being thrown around the exhibition hall. Esposito says, “we hear a lot of chatter about speed, and our belief is that speed without consistency is useless. We believe that consistency, speed and capacity must all be available to ensure passengers have the best experience, and JetWave and GX Aviation is the technology that offers it. It’s not one or the other.”
“Consistency, speed and capacity must all be available to ensure passengers have the best experience.” €” Carl Esposito, Honeywell Aerospace
Esposito explains that passengers connecting through JetWave and GX Aviation on their personal electronic devices will have “the same experience in the air as they would get on the ground.” And airlines will have the flexibility to structure the service package to meet their needs. “The exact cost will vary by package, guaranteed levels of service and end user distribution pricing determined by airlines, but GX Aviation will make truly global high-speed broadband service much more accessible than current systems in the market,” says Esposito. “Think about how we have moved from dial-up to cable modem on the ground – the cost of internet on the ground is much lower, and services are much more accessible now than ever before.”