Story ID: 
Economical In-flight Wi-Fi Offered by EMS Aviation
By: David A. Lombardo
Caption: EMS Aviation is offering its Forté AirMail for a wide range of corporate aircraft.
Word Count: 296
EMS Aviation is offering its Forté AirMail for a wide range of corporate aircraft. The FAA STC-approved, Iridium-based system provides worldwide Wi-Fi e-mail capability in  flight using common Wi-Fi devices such as smartphones (BlackBerry and  iPhone) and Wi-Fi-enabled personal digital assistants. The company has approval for the Bombardier Challenger  600/601/604, Global Express (not the XRS or 5000) and CRJ850; Dassault  Falcon 50, 50EX, 900, 900EX, 2000, 2000EX; and Gulfstream V and GV-SP.  
 “The unit system price is just shy of $35,000 and would include an  airmail Wi-Fi router, Iridium transceiver and one of three antenna  devices,” Iain Ronis, an EMS account manager, told AIN. The choices of  antenna include a single element designed to support the system alone, a  dual element to support the EMS system and another Iridium-based  system, or a diplexer that allows the AirMail Iridium transceiver to use  an existing Iridium antenna already installed to support another system. 
 Ronis said this is an e-mail-only function and users are charged based  on the airtime connected to the Iridium network, which averages about  $1.25 per minute. Forté AirMail system users can add in-flight phone   with the optional Forté phone system.
 “This is a rather unique opportunity. We’ve got STC approval for 13 different aircraft models. This is a tricky area because the FAA hasn’t quite figured out what do to about Wi-Fi yet. We  introduced the system at NBAA in 2009 and the FAA immediately put a  moratorium on Wi-Fi until [the agency] figured out how to regulate it.  Fortunately, we were able to get our system grandfathered as an existing  system. A couple of other systems exist but are approved for only a  limited number of aircraft and it is currently difficult to get the FAA  to approve a new system,” Ronis said.