Viasat Rethinks In-flight Connectivity Performance and Quality

In measuring the performance of in-flight connectivity, the aviation industry has come to accept that peak network speeds do not adequately reflect the quality of a service. To better quantify the overall user experience with in-flight connectivity, Viasat is implementing a new method of performance analytics for its JetXP in-flight broadband service dubbed In-flight Quality of Experience (iQe).

“For years as an industry, we’ve been educating the market to associate single speed tests with connectivity performance, and I think we’ve learned that that’s not really a good metric,” Claudio D’Amico, v-p of business aviation at Viasat, told AIN. “As an industry, we’ve been making decisions on how to equip an aircraft based on a speed test without any context, and I think we need to evolve, and that’s what we’re trying to bring to the market with iQe.”

Viasat’s iQe concept is based on the findings of a report, “Redefining In-Flight Connectivity in Business Aviation: What Really Matters to Private Jet Passengers,” by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School. That report, published on Tuesday at NBAA-BACE, details how business aviation in-flight connectivity providers can translate technical performance metrics into simple measurements that are easy for customers to understand.

“Peak network speeds have been the primary measure of business aviation in-flight connectivity performance for too long,” said study author Michael Schrage, a research fellow at MIT Sloan. “A single, holistic QoE [quality of experience] score analyzing several key metrics provides a more sophisticated measurement—one that looks beyond what the network delivered to whether users accomplished their objectives without friction.”

The iQe metric accounts for multiple variables, including latency, jitter, terminal availability, signal strength, transmission resilience, and demand satisfaction, D’Amico explained. “We’re in the process of developing a product that measures all of these specific attributes and metrics, and then we’ll launch this through our partners so that customers have access to this information.” This gives customers more transparency and enables them to make informed decisions, for example, about the best times during a flight to plan important business calls, he said.

Viasat is releasing the new iQe concept in the form of a mobile app, as well as a browser-based tool, that will become available early next year for JetXP customers.

“This unique concept delivers direct visibility into JetXP’s connectivity performance for principals, flight crews, and other stakeholders, incorporating all relevant network metrics and presenting the findings in a simple and easy-to-understand format, which aligns with MIT’s recommended approach,” said Kai Tang, Viasat’s head of business aviation.

Launched in 2024, JetXP combines Viasat’s legacy Jet ConneX business aviation satcom and its Ka-band GX satellite network (formerly Inmarsat prior to Viasat’s acquisition of Inmarsat in 2023) into one unified brand. The JetXP service offers uncapped connectivity speeds, expanded capacity, and enhanced network prioritization, catering to the needs of business aviation customers.