Honeywell is rapidly expanding the market for its JetWave hardware that will use the Inmarsat’s Global Xpress Ka-band network. Installations are ongoing in 26 different aircraft models and types. Honeywell, the exclusive hardware provider for both business aviation and air transport hardware for Global Xpress, received its first U.S. FAA certification of the equipment earlier this year on a Boeing 757.
Carl Esposito, v-p, strategy, marking and product management for Honeywell Aerospace, noted that since then, it has received multiple STCs on a range of aircraft and work is ongoing with the airlines, original equipment manufacturers and centers on aircraft ranging from business aircraft to large passenger jets. Installations on business aircraft have included Honeywell’s own Dassault Falcon 900 test aircraft, he said, adding Bombardier also has received Transport Canada approval for the equipment on Global 5000s and 6000s.
The installations currently are limited to larger business aircraft, but Esposito said, “If the aircraft is big enough for a tail-mount antenna, we’re probably doing it.”
He also remains bullish on the business aviation market for the Global Xpress service. “Business aviation operators are often early adopters, so we see a huge interest in this because they want to stay connected,” Esposito said, adding, “They were early adopters in Satcom, and we’ve seen business aviation customers upgrade their systems two and three times.”
Honeywell is continuing its work with Kymeta, which has expertise in flat panel antennas, for possibilities that will address smaller business aircraft, he said. He noted that when traditional L-band equipment was first released, it was only available for large aircraft but is now accessible by even small general aviation aircraft.
Honeywell believes that strong interest will be driven by the promise of satellite Ka-band service that will be 100 times as fast as the legacy L-band system and one 20th the cost. The system is also expected to be more reliable than the existing Ku-band satellite connectivity services, since that service is based on signals from satellites originally designed for fixed receivers, which can cause interruptions when the moving aircraft transfers from one satellite to another.
Inmarsat has launched three operational geostationary satellites for the Global Xpress network that are designed for mobility, enabling seamless service globally. A fourth satellite that will enable additional capacity is anticipated for later this year. The additional capacity will be allocated to areas most in need, said Frederick Van Essen, v-p aviation strategy for Inmarsat.
Commercial service is anticipated “imminently,” Van Essen said, but added Inmarsat is already planning for the future of the system with the next generation of satellites on order and anticipated to be ready by the end of the decade.
Honeywell, which also has a master distribution agreement with Inmarsat for the business aviation services (known as Jet ConneX), believes that existing services, such as L-band and other ground-to-air options, will continue to serve a purpose.
But the improved speed, coupled with the reliability, will continue to open the door to an array of services that extend beyond the passenger.
“We have a broad strategy around connected aircraft,” Esposito said. “We talked about the passenger side of things, but we’re thinking much broader about the entire aircraft itself… How does WiFi enable the rest of the aircraft to communicate more effectively and efficiently in ways that have never been done before.”
He noted more reliable connectivity will enable them to tap data locked in computers and cited as an example the ability to download weather data gathered from its RDR-4000 weather radar and “crowdsourcing” that information to provide a more complete weather picture. He also pointed at efforts to gather maintenance date from the aircraft.
Honeywell formerly had a product, Zing, which relied on cellular technology to transmit engine date, Esposito said. But that service was limited to a single location on the aircraft. With the advances in connectivity, Honeywell is now able to look at the entire airplane, he said.
But, he also stressed the importance of reliable and fast connectivity for the passenger, citing a recent survey finding that 28 percent of respondents indicated that would give up a first-class seat for access to WiFi.
