Honeywell Aerospace (Booth Y139) is ramping up on its connectivity portfolio with growing demand for its JetWave Ka-band satcom, as well as the introduction of new products such as its GoDirect Router and Aspire 350 and 400 satcoms.
Demand for the JetWave products that bring the high-speed Ka-band satellite-based connectivity into the cabin has continued to pick up since Honeywell brought the first units to market in 2015, said Jim MacDougall, product director, cabin satcom at Honeywell Aerospace. Overall, Honeywell has shipped 1,100 shipsets for both the air transport and business aviation market. In the business aviation market alone, 72 were shipped in 2015, a number that grew to 296 by 2017, and in the first quarter of this year Honeywell has delivered 108 and is on target for 450 to 500 shipsets this year, MacDougall said.
This growth has come as applications have been approved for most of the in-service large-cabin business jet cabins from Bombardier, Gulfstream, Embraer, and Dassault, with further approvals anticipated in upcoming months.
As Honeywell plans to build on that base, it is targeting the aftermarket of thousands of business jets flying today. Many business jet customers expect connectivity for all the business functions they would do in the office, including videoconferencing.
But also important is the individual passenger, MacDougall said. He pointed to the growth in high-net-worth individuals and their use of business aviation. Many have family members who also want to be online just as they would on the ground. “Connectivity is not optional for them,” he said. “There is a huge installed base that we are going after aggressively.”
In the past 20 months, Honeywell has secured 36 STCs for JetWave, which he said is “pretty remarkable. We’ve never done those that fast before.” MacDougall said this was possible by partnering with key industry partners such as established installers Lufthansa Technik and Jet Aviation, as well as with integrators such as Rockwell Collins, Thales, and Zodiac. These efforts have allowed them collectively to “attack the aftermarket,” he said. Twelve of the 36 STCs are for traditional business jets, while nine apply to bizliners.
But as they seek to lock up the large-cabin class, Honeywell is “looking in the near future to bring some additional products to market to target smaller aircraft," he said. "That’s the next step for us.”
The manufacturer is weighing the potential for new designs in-house or partnering with satellite antenna manufacturers to bring an existing or “near existing” antennas to market, to accommodate aircraft that aren't large enough to carry a JetWave antenna. “There’s a number like that that fit into this category,” MacDougall said. While unable to give an exact timeframe on when that might happen, he said a year or less would not be out of the realm of possibility.
He doesn’t see JetWave as a solution for the smallest of aircraft, saying their bandwidth needs are not as great and there are other Honeywell products that can suit those needs. But he does see demand in some cases that involve mixed fleets—where the owners get used to the higher bandwidth on the larger aircraft—or for operations that might involve flights into more remote regions or overwater, such as the Caribbean.
Don't Pass Go, GoDirect
While Honeywell ramps up that effort, it is looking to bring other new products to market. These include the GoDirect Router, a new lightweight, onboard router that the manufacturer says will be offered at a fraction of the cost, will take less space, and consume far less power than existing routers.
To reach the market in the next few months, the new GoDirect Router is estimated to be half the size and weight of traditional products and one-third the price. In addition, it will use about 30 percent of the power of existing systems, the company estimated.
The GoDirect Router comes with built-in security software that provides security from laptops and other connected systems brought on board, both on the ground and while the aircraft is in the air. This threat-protection software, to be available shortly, will be offered as an upgrade option on legacy Honeywell routers. The new router is designed to lower one of the major barriers to connectivity on airplanes, said John Peterson, senior director of connectivity services for Honeywell Aerospace.
Since rolling out its GoDirect suite of connectivity services in 2016, Honeywell has experienced about 300 percent growth in subscriptions, Peterson said. But it also has received substantial feedback from operators about the size and costs of onboard routers.
“The barrier to entry has been really high,” he said, adding that operators asked, “Why is it so expensive to put routers on the airplane; why does it take so long; and why do we have to take cabins apart to rewire them? Everything that [has been provided] is too big, too heavy, too hot, and consumes too much power." According to Peterson, "We realized we have an opportunity…to bring a completely disruptive product to the aerospace market.”
The new router is designed for ease of installation. For aircraft with older legacy systems, the new router will simply plug into the same location, a swap that should take about 30 minutes, he said. Since its introduction in March, the router has received a strong reception, not only from the light end of the market, but from the air transport market as well, MacDougall said.
Also recently introduced are the new Aspire 350 and 400 connectivity products. To enter service in the first quarter of 2019, the Aspire 350 will use the Iridium Next satellite constellation. The 400, to enter service by the middle of next year, will work with the Inmarsat SwiftBroadband service.
The 350 will provide critical voice and data communications in the cockpit, as well as cabin connectivity with faster speeds. The system is designed for reduced weight with an embedded router, but provides capabilities for FANS, ACARS, and air traffic control secure voice capability.
Weighing what Honeywell said is about 100 pounds less than comparable systems, the Aspire 400 consists of a satellite data unit, configuration module, high-power amplifier, and diplexer/low noise amplifier. It contains two separate and independent SwiftBroadband channels for fully segregated cockpit and cabin communications.
