Story ID: 405
Honeywell Inks JetWave X Deal with Gulfstream
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: First installations of the new high-speed KA-band system are expected next year
Word Count: 506
Gulfstream is now the latest airframer to partner with Honeywell Aerospace on the certification of the JetWaveX in-flight connectivity system. Under the deal announced this week at NBAA-BACE, Honeywell will work with the Savannah, Georgia-based OEM to certify the Jetwave X platform—the successor to the manufacturer’s JetWave system—for the GIV, GV, G450, G550, G600, G650, and G700.
Bombardier and Dassault previously signed similar agreements with Honeywell, and the first installation of the Ka-band system is currently underway on Honeywell’sFalcon 900 demonstrator. “We just have to finish the STC now,” said Honeywell Aerospace president of services and connectivity Jason Wissink.
“I think Dassault may be the first out of the gate in terms of availability, and then I expect Gulfstream and Bombardier to be right behind,” he added. “We’ll be steadily announcing specific dates for STCs throughout the year, but I expect the majority of the large-cabin fleets will have availability by the end of next year.”
According to Wissink, aftermarket installations will begin through the OEM’s factory-authorized service centers as system upgrades before becoming integrated at the production line level.
For those upgrades, Honeywell designed the system to use as much of the existing infrastructure as possible. “The line-replaceable units themselves will change, but what we’re really focused on reusing is the radome,” Wissink told AIN. “The radome is a fairly significant portion of the investment.
“We wanted people to be able to reuse that and then as much wiring and connectors as possible, so that you don’t have to fully rerun all the wires if you already have an existing JetWave system; you have a very economical upgrade path.” Indeed, those savings could be on the order of hundreds of thousands of dollars for customers considering an upgrade.
JetWave X is configured to access Viasat’s existing GX and Viasat satellite constellations, but it was designed to avoid the technological obsolescence of past systems.
“The system is provisioned to handle the full Ka frequency range, so that down the road, if a new satellite constellation launches that is applicable to business aviation, and it’s in the Ka frequency—which a lot of the new capacity is—we will have the technical ability to interface with those as well,” explained Wissink.
Honeywell’s new platform will retain the same 24/7 support and, in addition to improved connection speeds of up to 200 megabits per second, will also offer financial benefits. “You’re going to get an economic improvement on the price of your service plans, your monthly fees will go down, so you’re getting more performance for less cost,” said Wissink. 
Among the first to install the system will be Florida-based charter provider Slate Aviation, which will feature JetWave X high-speed connectivity in its fleet of 35 Bombardier CRJ-200s and Challenger 850s. Through its Part 145 repair arm, Slate will develop its own STC for those aircraft.