#GCAPODCAST Ep. 19: Valour’s Daniel Welch Talks Global Airline IFEC Equipage Rates

On a regional basis, airlines with hubs in North America have the highest rate of in-service airplanes featuring in-flight Internet in the world, according to the latest available data from Valour Consultancy’s in-flight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) tracker.

Established in 2012, the U.K.-based consultancy is a provider of market intelligence services, providing expert insight and analysis to the aviation industry as well as a number of other markets including maritime and drones among others. Through the IFEC tracker provided by Valour, the commercial aviation industry is able to gain a better understanding of what airlines are investing in what type of technologies for what purposes in various flight information regions (FIRs).

On this episode of the Global Connected Aircraft Podcast, we discussed regional IFEC equipage trends with Daniel Welch, a senior consultant for Valour.

“Today, 80 percent of North America’s commercial active fleet is equipped with an active IFC service. As a result, 7 North American airlines feature in the top 10 connected global fleets table,” Welch said. “It is well documented that this installed base was kick started by Gogo’s ATG network and airlines across the globe, not just in Asia Pacific are still playing catch up. The installed base in Western Europe actually sits at a similar level to the rest of Asia Pacific, with 25 percent of the regions commercial active fleet equipped with an active IFC service at the time of writing. But we expect both regions to be responsible for growth in IFC adoption in the coming years.”

Listen to this episode below, or check it out on iTunes. If you like the show, subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get new episodes as soon as they’re released.

#GCAPODCAST Ep. 18: How IATA’s ‘Turbulence Aware’ Helps Airlines Fly Steady

On this episode of the Global Connected Aircraft Podcast, we caught up with Katya Vashchankova, head of IATA’s meteorology program and Brent King, head of flight operations for IATA.

The International Air Transportation Association’s (IATA) Turbulence Aware platform is a tool makes aggregated turbulence data available to airlines using an algorithm developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), which collects turbulence parameters from aircraft systems and sensors.

IATA first started working on the system three years ago, and it has been operational throughout 2019 with 31 participating airlines — ten of which are currently feeding real-time turbulence information into it.

On this episode of the Global Connected Aircraft Podcast, we discuss the benefits of Turbulence Aware for airlines with Katya Vashchankova, head of IATA’s meteorology program and Brent King, head of flight operations for IATA.

Listen to the episode below, or check it out on iTunes. If you like the show, subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get new episodes as soon as they’re released.

#GCAPODCAST Ep. 17: How the World’s Only Flying Eye Hospital Uses Connectivity to Teach Medicine

Bruce Johnson is the director of aircraft operations for the Flying Eye Hospital at Orbis International.

Orbis International operates the world’s only Flying Eye Hospital, an MD-10 converted into an ophthalmic hospital and teaching facility that flies to developing nations around the world to bring training local doctors and nurses.

On this episode, we speak with Bruce Johnson, director of aircraft operations for Orbis International, about the connectivity that powers this unique aircraft. Johnson discussed the process of reconfiguring the MD-10, the sensors and networks necessary to monitor sensitive medical equipment onboard, and how the aircraft turns into a teaching hospital — broadcasting lessons live — wherever it lands.

Listen to the episode below, or check it out on iTunes. If you like the show, subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get new episodes as soon as they’re released.

#GCAPODCAST Ep. 16: How Swiss Airlines’ Digital Twin Improves Maintenance

Marcus Di Laurenzio is the project manager for Aviatar at SWISS Airlines.

On this episode, we interview Marcus Di Laurenzio on how Swiss Airlines is using Aviatar, a platform developed by Lufthansa Technik, to digitally monitor the health of its aircraft and manage maintenance operations. Di Laurenzio, project manager for Aviatar at the airline, explains how the open platform takes in aircraft data, places it in a centralized location maintenance staff can access via a web-based dashboard, and enables the airline to use predictive maintenance to avoid grounded aircraft.

Listen to the episode below, or check it out on iTunes. If you like the show, subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get new episodes as soon as they’re released.

Registration is now OPEN for GCAS 2020. We’ve made major changes to the format & focus of the event, including a heavy emphasis on AI, data and cyber, so check it out at www.gcasummit.com. We look forward to seeing you there.

#GCAPODCAST Ep. 15: NSR’s Guide to Satellite Connectivity

Brad Grady, principal analyst at Northern Sky Research, gave an insightful presentation on satellite connectivity along with president Chris Baugh at GCAS 2019.

Drawing from one of the most insightful presentations from GCAS 2019, in this episode Chris Baugh and Brad Grady, respectively president and principal analyst at Northern Sky Research (NSR) — one of the most recognizable global satellite and space market research and consulting firms — provide a demystifying look at satellite-based in-flight connectivity.

Baugh and Grady talk about the differences between LEO, MEO and GEO constellations as well as some of the key challenges and considerations for airlines considering purchasing new satellite connectivity. Check out the new episode below: