Rockwell Collins announced here at EBACE 2015 that it has partnered with International Communications Group (ICG) to offer that company’s eRouter to Rockwell Collins business aviation customers, with the router being available straight away to expands cabin services capabilities available to Rockwell Collins customers.
“It’s a smart router,” said Dave Poltorak, vice president of aviation and network services at Rockwell Collins ArincDirect (Booth 1073). “And, maybe more important, it’s service-provider agnostic. If you have our router on board you can use anybody’s service. We recognize customers want to choose their service provider, and indicates confidence in our capability customers want.”
The ICG eRouter is the first that Rockwell Collins is offering to its business aircraft customers for cabin services–the company has previously delivered routers to its airline customers. “The focus with ICG is to recognize the growth and use of cabin connectivity,” said Poltorak. “There are multiple ways to communicate between the aircraft and the ground, and the smart router on board provides the least-cost routing and the choice of any service provider. We’re adding even more focus to the cabin and recognizing that customers are wanting more capabilities in terms of smart routing and which service provider [to] choose.”
Availability of the new router coincides with upcoming high-speed satcom services that Rockwell Collins will offer. Coming first is the Ka-band Inmarsat JetConneX (JX), for which of which ArincDirect is a value-added reseller (service provider). JX service will become available shortly and offers speeds of up to 33 Mbps. Rockwell Collins has also signed a memorandum of understanding to be the exclusive provider of satcom terminals and also a service provider for OneWeb, a planned constellation of 600 low-earth-orbit satellites that will provide high-speed broadband connectivity. Having the eRouter on board will help customers take advantage of these services. “More and more customers are looking to have the smarts on board the aircraft to ensure they’re getting the most out of connectivity,” Poltorak said.
Another new feature that Rockwell Collins is adding to the ArincDirect mobile app is a new dashboard for cabin services, which should now be available in the latest version of the ArincDirect app. The main function of the cabin services part of the ArincDirect app is to help business aviation users track satcom data usage on their Inmarsat SwiftBroadband systems. “If it’s a usage-based [service] package,” Poltorak explained, “this will provide insight into what they’re using it for. Cabin services is a fast-growing part of our business, and customers have almost insatiable demand for connectivity while flying.” The dashboard will provide new visibility into satcom costs. In addition to access on the ArincDirect app, the dashboard will also be available on the web.
The ArincDirect app has new features introduced during the past year including weight-and-balance calculations and a multi-leg fuel tankering module. These features supplement ArincDirect’s fuel pricing and fuel sourcing, which are part of the company’s international trip services offerings. “It’s been great to bring that together so we can leverage all our buying power, which customers ultimately benefit from” he said. Any ArincDirect or trip services customer can take advantage of the fuel sourcing services.
“A lot has happened over the last year,” Poltorak said, especially the further integration of the four services that fall under ArincDirect: cabin services, international trip services, flight support subscription services and the FOS scheduling and dispatch software. “We’re the only company that has all four,” he said. “It’s one thing for them all to be owned by one company, but there is more value when you start integrating those capabilities.”
One example of this integration is that FOS users can easily access and share information with the ArincDirect mobile app, including launching a flight plan. “It saves them time, effort and energy associated with putting data in different systems,” he said. Users can also overlay trips on the ArincDirect mapping tool.
ArincDirect also worked with Rockwell Collins engineers to develop FANS 1/A certification packages, the first of which is for the Challenger 604. The benefit to the customer is that the supplemental type certificate and any services and training associated with that STC are all from one company. The 604 STC should be approved in June, and this will be followed by FANs packages for the Falcon 50EX, 2000 and 2000EX by the end of the year. ArincDirect will also help operators obtain letters of authorization required for FANS operations.