![\"connected](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/connected-services-by-2020-338x1024.jpg\")
More than 90% of airlines are set to ramp up investment in advancing wireless services for cabin crew and pilots over the three years to 2020 \u2013 an 18% increase since SITA\u2019s 2016 Airline IT Trends survey. This is according to award-winning connected aircraft services expert SITAONAIR, as it presents SITA\u2019s 2017 Air Transport IT Trends Insights into the connected aircraft.<\/p>\n
Over a third (34%) of airlines expect to receive connected aircraft deliveries within the next three years, compared with more than a fifth (21%) in SITA\u2019s 2016 Airline IT Trends Survey. SITA\u2019s 2017 Insights also found 69% of carriers committing to a major program (40%) or R&D\/trial (29%) to establish full satellite broadband connectivity to aircraft.<\/p>\n
Enhancing the passenger experience is far and away the connected aircraft\u2019s biggest encountered and perceived benefit, according to 43% of airlines. A combined 31% meanwhile, cited operational benefits across maintenance and aircraft health monitoring, cockpit and cabin, as the chief advantages of a connected aircraft. In testament to this, 78% of surveyed carriers reported automatic aircraft data management as an investment priority \u2013 33% through major programs, 45% in R&D programs \u2013 by 2020.<\/p>\n
Wi-Fi advancement focus for forward-looking carriers<\/p>\n
When asked for their investment focuses up to 2020, 94% of airlines surveyed as part of SITA\u2019s 2017 Air Transport IT Trends Insights study cited wireless services for cabin crew or pilots (64% in major programs; 30% in R&D or trials). This was closely followed by 91% of carriers targeting investment in wireless inflight services for passengers (54% in major programs; 37% in R&D or trials).<\/p>\n
SITA\u2019s connected aircraft Insights data also reveals airline ambitions to boost Wi-Fi data bandwidth in the years to come, with 60% of airlines surveyed planning to, or having already implemented, high-speed Wi-Fi by 2020.<\/p>\n
Airline inflight connected services shopping list<\/p>\n
Assessing airlines\u2019 most-coveted inflight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) services, the insights found that providing a destination services app was the technological advancement that carriers are most enthusiastic to establish by 2020 (72% \u2013 up from 46% in 2016). This was closely followed by a Duty Free shopping app (61%, a rise from 48% last year).<\/p>\n
Passengers\u2019 preference for enjoying inflight entertainment (IFE) via BYOD \u2013 e.g. with a \u2018second screen\u2019 of their own \u2013 was reinforced for a second consecutive year, with 24% having invested in Wireless IFE to passengers\u2019-own devices and 46% planning to do so by the end of 2020. Providing infotainment to personal devices or apps \u2013 namely, news, magazines and books \u2013 and inflight communication services, proved similarly high in the airline IFEC shopping list, at an additional 47% and 43% each against the airlines that have already implemented.<\/p>\n
On the hot topic of pricing for delivering onboard Wi-Fi passenger services, roughly the same proportion of \u2018tails\u2019 expressed ambitions to provide free (an additional 43%) and paid-for Wi-Fi sessions (an additional 42%) by 2020 \u2013 with many airlines already exploring business models.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore mobile\u201d experience<\/p>\n
A significant proportion of operators revealed a desire to invest further in mobile technologies for passengers and crew, reflecting the \u201calways available\u201d trend on the ground, and with potentially transformational benefits for crew and passenger engagement and service on-board.<\/p>\n
A stark 87% of surveyed carriers in 2017 (compared to 75% in 2016) have implemented or plan to implement mobile services to enhance customer relationship management in the next three years. 75% of surveyed carriers expressed ambitions to invest in major programs around apps for passenger mobile services. Around half (47%) of carriers are focusing investment on major programs for social media-hosted passenger services; and a total 44% plan on major programs or R&D\/pilot programs for wearable technologies for staff.<\/p>\n
Connected future<\/p>\n
Reflecting on the findings, SITAONAIR\u2019s Vice President of Strategy, Dominique El Bez, said: \u201cOur industry\u2019s connected aircraft vision, with its complete, connected inflight experience, is irrefutably here to stay. Airlines are increasingly aware of the value-added benefits presented by in-flight connectivity options that we at SITAONAIR are experts in delivering, to advance their RoI.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the cabin connectivity side, these benefits span everything from enhancing airlines\u2019 brand perception in the eyes of passengers, by enabling them to stay connected to their digital lives when they fly via Wi-Fi or cellular, to digitizing cabin crews to personalize the passenger experience with intelligent, CRM-integrated applications. From supporting airlines to monetize inflight connectivity services with clever onboard sponsorship partnerships; or supporting passengers\u2019 choice to enjoy wireless inflight entertainment; to empowering passenger autonomy through delivering connected mobile applications and services to keep them informed and entertained on the move.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the cockpit, airline flight operations, management, and safety, connected solutions bring a significant lift to efficiencies and safety procedures. How? From deploying digital solutions that deliver the latest flight context information into the hands of pilots; ever-evolving our flight tracking and flight planning solutions to ensure airlines meet ICAO recommendations to frequently report fleet positions; to providing secure multilink communications to support every stage of flight.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also see accelerating industry interest in managing and harnessing the power of aircraft data. Such innovation advances flight and MRO operations with predictive and enriched aircraft operations. Amongst the emerging technologies reported by airlines, 67% plan to invest into initiatives around the Internet-of-Things, 52% around Artificial Intelligence and 44% on wearable technology for staff. All present amazing potential for enhancing airlines\u2019 operations inflight and on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mr El Bez continued: \u201cWe at SITAONAIR want to see more airlines able to achieve their connected aircraft aims, however. We truly believe the air transport industry needs to work harder to empower the world\u2019s airlines to get connected, by embracing our open platforms approach to inflight connectivity innovation. Our pioneering \u2018open cabin\u2019 attitude is already creating harmony across airline fleets and avionics, and data-rich customer relationship management systems, helping deliver airlines\u2019 unique passenger experiences without expensively overhauling their fleets.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" More than 90% of airlines are set to ramp up investment in advancing wireless services for cabin crew and pilots over the three years to 2020 \u2013 an 18% increase since SITA\u2019s 2016 Airline IT Trends survey. This is according to award-winning connected aircraft services expert SITAONAIR, as it presents SITA\u2019s 2017 Air Transport IT […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9899"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9900,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9899\/revisions\/9900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Dominique](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Dominique-El-Bezedit.jpg\")