FROM THE CEO
We are clearly making great progress in growing our market share across the world. Inflight connectivity is now firmly on the agenda for every airline in the world and we are already looking at what is coming up next.
The next stage is the development and exploitation of the e-Aircraft. The new generation aircraft - A350s and B787s - have the potential to produce a huge amount of data, covering everything to do with the aircraft's operation. That includes aircraft health monitoring and engine performance on the maintenance side, weather updates and EFBs in the cockpit, and customer relationship management and inventory management in the cabin. I predict around only 30% of connectivity will be used by passengers in the future: the rest will be used by the airline.
We need, as an industry, to work together to identify how best we can capture all the data and how to use it to improve operations. This requires understanding what data needs to be transmitted during the flight and how best to secure it.
The e-Aircraft is a major step in the aviation industry, and not simply about developing apps for electronic flight bags or inflight weather maps.
Adopting common protocols and standards is essential. OnAir and our shareholder, SITA, are, as neutral IT and telecoms providers, working to build consensus in the industry. It is a process we have already started: the first of a series of Connected Aircraft workshops took place in London in May and the next one will be in Asia in the autumn.
In the meantime, I look forward to seeing you at the APEX Expo in Anaheim in September.
Sincerely
Ian Dawkins
