Pax International - September/October 2013

Seat Integration

Modern Tray Tables

Staying ConneCted

APEX AnAhEim & AiX SEAttlE

S E P t E m b E r / o c t o b E r 2 0 1 3 | V o l . 1 7 , n o . 6 | w w w . p a x . i n t l . c o m

N e w s a N d a N a l y s i s f o r t h e i f e C & i N t e r i o r s e x e C u t i v e

PASSENGER HEADSETS p. 32MOBILE

CONNECTIVITY p. 24AIX/APEX Q&A’S p.12-14 SAfETY

fOCuS p.42

Profi tability, consolidation, managing operating costs, competition and fuel prices. These are just some of the

things that face your airline each and every day. In order to be successful, you need key business partners that

help you address each of these key areas. Partners that develop innovative solutions that generate revenue,

reduce operating costs, and build brand loyalty.

That’s why at Panasonic Avionics, we’re developing in-fl ight entertainment and communications solutions that help

you address your most pressing needs.

Visit our booth: 1205 at APEX or panasonic.aero/apex/pax to learn more about real solutions for real problems.

REAL SOLUTIONSFOR REAL PROBLEMS

PROFITABILITY

CONSOLIDATION

COMPETITION

MANAGING COSTS

FUEL PRICES

© 2013 Panasonic Avionics Corporation. All Rights Reserved.AD191

panasonic.aero

Profi tability, consolidation, managing operating costs, competition and fuel prices. These are just some of the

things that face your airline each and every day. In order to be successful, you need key business partners that

help you address each of these key areas. Partners that develop innovative solutions that generate revenue,

reduce operating costs, and build brand loyalty.

That’s why at Panasonic Avionics, we’re developing in-fl ight entertainment and communications solutions that help

you address your most pressing needs.

Visit our booth: 1205 at APEX or panasonic.aero/apex/pax to learn more about real solutions for real problems.

REAL SOLUTIONSFOR REAL PROBLEMS

PROFITABILITY

CONSOLIDATION

COMPETITION

MANAGING COSTS

FUEL PRICES

© 2013 Panasonic Avionics Corporation. All Rights Reserved.AD191

panasonic.aero

www.pax-intl.com | PAX INTERNATIONAL | 3

challenges of growth

PAX International26 Pearl Street, Mississauga, ontario L5M 1X2, Canadatel: (1 905) 821-3344; fax: (1 905) 821-2777website: www.pax-intl.com

PublisherAijaz Khan

E-mail: [email protected]

editorial officesRick Lundstrom, Editor in Chief PAX International723 Jefferson Street, NEMinneapolis, MN 55413, USAtel: (1 612) 378-0862fax: (1 612) 378-0852E-mail: [email protected]

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Tanya Filippelli, Associate Editortel: (1 905) 821-3344 x31E-mail: [email protected]

CoNtrIBUtorSAndrew Brooks

John Guise

Cindy Sosroutomo

art dePartmentSarit Scheer E-mail: [email protected]

advertising officesDeepa J, Subscription & Conference Managertel: (1 905) 821-3344 x35fax: (1 905) 821-2777E-mail: [email protected]

PAX International is published six times a year (Janu-ary/february, March/April, May, June/July/August, September/october, November/December) by PAX International, 26 Pearl Street, Mississauga, ontario L5M 1X2, Canada. International Distribution.

Subscriptions: $200 for one year; $300 for two years; $400 for three years. Art and photographs will not be returned unless accompanied by return postage. the views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher or edi-tor. September/october 2013, Vol. 17, No. 6. Printed in Canada. All rights reserved. Nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. © PAX International magazine

An old-time politician, Senator Everett Dirk-sen of Illinois, was once quoted as saying, “a billion here and a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.”

It seems like a billion dollars, an incom-prehensibly large number to most people, sure doesn’t buy as much as it used to. But in the years ahead, the estimated billions spent on inflight interior products will keep an industry afloat and another generation of passengers ensconced in the closest thing that passes for comfort in an aircraft cabin.

That growth will mean billions of dollars for an industry whose roller coaster may be finally, again on the ascent. With worldwide demand pegged at 35,000 aircraft in the next 20 years, the $4.8 trillion that Boeing estimates will be spent on big iron will mean opportunities for many of the companies gathering for the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Seattle.

The airline industry itself is coming off what generally has been seen as a success-ful year. Figures from the International Air Transport Association show airlines, which track everything down to the penny, were going to make $4 per passenger. On paper,

that does not look like much. But – with apologies to the late Sen. Dirksen -- $4 here and $4 there and pretty soon you’re talking about $12.7 billion, and that’s the global net profit projections that were released by IATA in late July.

But with opportunities come the inevi-table challenges. And one of the largest, seat integration will be tackled head on in Seattle (see related story page 38). Inside all the growth that’s anticipated lies the need for companies that supply seating and all the gadgets that go with it to work together for the benefit of the airline, and the future passengers that will be comforted and enter-tained with their products.

If anything can point the way forward, it will be the assembled experts that will spend the day together Tuesday, October 1. If they’re fortunate, and listen to one another, this year’s AIX Americas could make some history of its own, and make all the billions that will be spent in the years to come, a wise investment for everyone.

rick lundstromEditor in Chief, PAX International

EDITOR’S LETTER

FULL PAGe Ad

dePartments

3 editor’s Note

6 News

10 people News

44 what’s hot

46 assoCiatioN News

46 CaleNdar

oN the Cover:Flip to page 28 to read about the evolution of consumer electronics and its affect on tray table designs.

industry sPeaks out12 AIX fAll clAssIc

Exhibitor totals have climbed to 110 this year, as the Aircraft Interiors Expo prepares for another big show in Seattle

14 APEX rEAchEs outVisitors to this year’s IFSA/APEX Expo will see increased event integration and the desire of an Association to reach the world in several ways. All according to plan, says the group’s outgoing president

16 ‘lEvErAgE to thE fullEst’From AVOD to AVA and beyond, the new CEO of Thales’ IFEC group sees the company taking shape in new directions of the passenger experience

ife and connectivity18 thE rIght mIX

Pax International spoke to IFE Systems makers about how they’re using traditional and wireless IFE Systems to give customers the best entertainment experience inflight

24 stAyIng wEll-connEctEdFor airline passengers, connectivity at every step of their journey is an expected convenience, and suppliers say airlines are increasingly asking for timelines to installation as much as they are asking about cost

interiors27 The connecTed cabin

Inflight electronics specialist KID-Systeme is poised to shake up the market

28 how thE tAblEs hAvE turnEdManufactures around the globe are equipping economy-class tray tables with new and innovative designs to accommodate the immense amount of passengers traveling with portable electronic devices

32 stAyIng tunEd InPAX International listens in on to how leading suppliers and manufacturers of headsets stay tuned in to the IFE market

36 Flying high in comForTSupracor takes to the skies with in-flight seating

38 easing The wayThe subject of teaming embedded inflight entertainment with seating from a varied and growing number of companies will addressed head-on at this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo

42 saFeTy behind The scenesPax International spoke to three companies about how their products keep passengers safe in the cabin

Contents

4 | PAX INTERNATIONAL | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2013

S E P t E m b E r / o c t o b E r 2 0 1 3 | V o l . 1 7 , n o . 6

35

18

46

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AIRLINE NEWS

African LCC selects Acro seatingThe contract includes six shipsets and equates to 1,116 economy class seats. The UItra R seats on the first newly re-fitted Boeing 737-800 entered service in mid-August with the second aircraft set to arrive by the end of that month.

Acro Aircraft Seating is currently in negotiations with Mango Airlines for an additional two shipsets due for completion in 2014.

Mango Airlines is South Africa’s state-run low cost airline based in Johannesburg. “Crucially, the weight savings of approximately 800kg per aircraft will help the airline

improve fuel efficiency, reduce CO2 emissions and realize significant cost savings to the extent that the new Ultra R seats will literally pay for themselves,” said a August 19 press release from Acro. “The seats feature attractive E-Leather upholstery and a modular seatback with a generous recline of more than four inches.”

“Fuel efficiency along with passenger comfort were the key drivers in Mango’s deci-sion to select the Ultra R seat,” said Doug Hacking, Commercial Director, Acro Aircraft Seating. “Passengers will certainly notice the difference – its lightweight and slim design of the seatback offers outstanding comfort and more shin and legroom space. The Ultra R seat proves that comfortable travel with more space in economy class is possible.”

Acro seating has been installed on Royal Air Maroc, Thomas Cook Airlines, Jet2.com and Aer Arann.

JetBlue to bring lie-flat comfort to trans-con next yearJetBlue Airways in Augusts unveiled its new, fully customized lie-flat seat for transcontinental routes.

The new lie-flat seats, supplied by Thompson Aero Seating are expected to debut in new A321 aircraft beginning in the second quarter of 2014 on nonstop routes between New York and Los Angeles and New York and San Francisco.

“In addition, JetBlue will be the first and only airline in the market to offer customers the option of a completely separate single suite seat that includes a closable door for increased privacy,” said a release from JetBlue.

JetBlue CEO Dave Barger introduced the new seat at the Global Business Travel Association convention in San Diego. A computer-generated video of the new, enhanced experience, as well as JetBlue’s to the core JetBlue Experience was part of the program.

The new lie-flat seat, created in a partnership with Northern Ireland-based Thompson Aero Seating, will be displayed in unique 2-1 configuration. Rows 1, 3 and 5 will offer 2-by-2 seating, and rows 2 and 4 will offer private suites, with one seat on each side of the aisle.

The new seats also offer air cushions with adjustable firmness, a massage function, a 15-inch widescreen television and a “wake-me-for-service” indicator if the customer chooses to sleep in. JetBlue will refresh the core JetBlue Experience in 2014, which will include a comfortable seat design with movable headrests, a new entertain-ment system with up to 100 channels of DirecTV® programming on 10.1-inch widescreens, and 110-volt and USB power port.

“Transcontinental routes have had high premium fares we believe we can beat,” said Barger. “By offering our own, unique seats and enriched service elements that will include some soon-to-be-announced partnerships, we are creating a one-of-a-kind experience that will serve this market in a way only JetBlue can.”

JetBlue’s wholly owned subsidiary LiveTV will begin installing Fly-Fi on JetBlue’s fleet by the end of the year, a new high-speed, satellite-based Wi-Fi product that will offer broadband speeds.

JetBlue expects to increase frequencies on JFK-LAX and JFK-SFO with new A321 aircraft next year to offer even more options, convenience and comfort for customers. There will be a dedicated sub-fleet of 11 aircraft initially used for the two core transcontinental routes. Additional markets are possible, based on customer response and demand for more service.

JetBlue’s new A321 aircraft begin arriving later this year and will have two configurations. The first four aircraft deliveries will offer the core JetBlue Experience throughout the cabin with capacity for 190 customers. In 2014 additional A321s will be delivered from Airbus, with 16 lie-flat seats, four of which are the private suites.

The Acro Ultra R seat has been installed on several carriers, and will be on Mango Airlines’ fleet of 737-800sUK-based Acro Aircraft Seating has secured a contract to manufacture and install its Ultra R seats aboard Mango Airlines entire fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft

Thompson Aero Seating on JetBlue Airways premium cabin


NEWS

Mills TextilesMills Textiles have been supplying travel textiles to the airline, train & cruise sectors for more than 25 years & our associated supply & joint venture relationships in China extend back more than 90 years.

Our key products include:Hot & Cold Towels, Tablelinen (Napkins, Tablecloths, Tray mats), Headrest Covers, Pillows & Pillow Covers, Duvets & Duvet Covers, Sleep Items & Blankets.

Mills Textiles offer customers flexible supply solutions ranging from factory direct pricing/supply through to full warehousing & distribution worldwide.

Mills TextilesPO Box 67, Oswestry, Shropshire, SY111WD, UK

tel: + 44 (0)1691 [email protected]

InflightDirect

125 Compton View Drive, Middletown, RI 02842, USA

Tel: +1-401-714-4190 Skype: [email protected] www.InflightDirect.com

InflightDirectInflightDirect has been partnering with the world’s leading manufacturing facilities for the past 26 years. These facilities have proven to be the most reliable factories that have supplying the airline industry world-wide with IFE headphones, Amenity Kits, Blankets, Pillows, Pillow covers and other inflight products. InflightDirect represents these factories in order to give our valuable airline customers factory direct pricing. We provide all of the production, communication, logistical and warehousing needs while giving our customer the option of being invoiced by InflightDirect or the factory. This ensures the most competitive pricing in the industry for these high volume items.

AIRLINE NEWS

Germania gets content from IFE ServicesIFE Services will provide the Berlin-based Germania with a regularly updated package of Hollywood movies popular TV programs and music for the enjoyment of passengers across the airline’s entire fleet in German and English.

Founded in 1979, Germania flies to more than 50 inter-national destinations. With main airports in Bremen, Dus-seldorf, Erfurt/Weimar and Munich, Germania currently operates 10 737 and eight Airbus A319 aircraft, carrying approximately one million passengers in 2012.

IFE Services supplies a full range of services including movies, TV programs, audio, games, apps, safety and destination films, portable entertainment systems, onboard publications and AVOD technical support and management.

IFE Services works with a broad client-base worldwide of over 50 airlines and cruise ship operators. The company’s headquarters are in Cheshire, UK with regional offices located in Madrid, Singapore, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Nairobi, Kuala Lumpur, Oberhausen, Johannesburg and Irvine, California. IFE Services is a privately owned company and part of the Travel Entertainment Group.

AIX EXhIbITOR NEWS

Kydex thermoplastic sheeting has FAA approvalThe first FAA and aviation OEM -compliant, colorful thermoplastic translucent sheets are available from KYDEX LLC.

KYDEX frosted translucent sheets “liberate light and color,” said a release from the company. Seating installations, monuments and dividers that once blocked light can now transmit it, color it and transform it into an active design element. That allows designers to create a cohesive, consistent and customized interior. One that makes the most of LED lighting, and communicates the airline brand through form, color and texture.

The new material is being introduced to select specifiers and customers, with a focus on project-specific applications. As the product and palette expands, so will the availability of the product.

KYDEX also hosted the European debut of its new style forward palette. A 64-color offering is composed of six collections: Constant, Impulse, Resolve, Tangents, Tempest and Repose. The colors can be mixed and matched, and also be used as starting points for limitless customized hues.


NEWS

Victrex polymer picked for Amphenol clampsAmphenol has chosen the VICTREX® PEEK polymer for its high performance wiring, cable, and hydraulic tubing clamps, select-ing the product for its superior strength and ability to reduce overall weight.

Originally developed for the new all-composite 787 aircraft, the new high performance clamps are composed of the VICTREX PEEK polymer, a high performance thermoplastic that is over-molded with a silicone rubber cushion.

“By using VICTREX PEEK polymer, Amphenol was able to develop a lighter and stronger clamp — one that, unlike metal, is completely non-corrosive and non-conductive for use throughout the aircraft,” said a release from the company.

“VICTREX PEEK polymers are exceptionally strong, inert, inherently flame retardant, and can be easily fabricated into tight tolerance parts,” said Michael Sandeen, Product and Technical Leader at Victrex. “They offer significant advantages to aerospace engineers looking for lightweight materials that provide process-ing flexibility, reduce manufacturing costs and provide durability in harsh environments. VICTREX PEEK polymers have success-fully displaced metals, traditional composites and other plastics in a growing number of aerospace applications.”

Amphenol uses a proprietary silicone over-molding process to produce the high performance clamps, which are also used in a wide range of shipboard, industrial and railway applications. The over-mold process bonds the silicone rubber cushion to the plastic. Unlike cushions in metal clamps, they will not detach or come off, thereby reducing the possibility of wire chafing. In addition, because the cushions allow for varying compressions, the same size clamp can accommodate multiple bundle diameters.

Driven by Amphenol’s lean manufacturing expertise, the high performance clamps are equipped with a locking feature that makes installation quick and easy. Another feature of the high performance clamps is the easily recognizable labels on the top and bottom of each clamp. This enables quick inspection, allow-ing installers to easily distinguish between clamps and eliminate time wasted in identifying diameters.

In either a single leg (P-clamp) and double leg (Omega) con-figurations, the new high performance clamps are available in 36 sizes, allowing them to meet most wire bundle and application-specific load requirements. They are also compatible with tubing up to 2” diameter.

IMC Aerospace open Nanjing plantIMC/IMCI Aerospace Group has opened its latest facility, Nanjing Arrowhead Products, located in Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, China.

“This new location brings all the products, technology, manage-ment systems and experience of Arrowhead Products to the heart

of the dynamic and growing Chinese aerospace market,” said a release from the group.

Nanjing Arrowhead Products is a purpose-built, 118,000 square foot facility divided between 100,000 square feet of production, inspection and test and 18,000 square feet of design and administra-

tion. It is located on a 15-acre site to allow for future expansion.

Fabrication, testing and process-ing capability for flexible, compos-ite and metallic products and the production of low pressure and high-pressure Aerospace ducting systems and products at the plant.

IMC/IMCI Aerospace Group offers engineering, design, manu-facturing and test for the full range of High Pressure and Low Pres-sure Ducting systems, using a wide range of metallic and non-metallic materials. Its Total System Capa-bility from ducting components to complete Low and High Pressure Air Distribution systems enables it to provide its customers with what it says is a one-stop shop.

IMC’s new plant has acreage for future expansion

AIX EXhIbITOR NEWS


NEWS

National Nonwovens launches flame barrier dress coverNational Nonwovens announced the introduction of Ultra-ProTechtor™, the first fire-blocker for all aircraft seating dress covers.

Ultra-ProTechtor™ is a nonwoven lightweight flame barrier utilizing Ultem® polymer and newly developed Ultem® fibers by Sabic Innovative Plastics.

“Ultra-ProTechtor™ is engineered to provide ultra-flammability protection with superior performance at a lower weight and lower cost,” said Anthony Centofanti, CEO and President at National Nonwovens. “Although it was initially designed for the Aerospace Market, Ultra-ProTechtor™ can also greatly benefit other markets that have modes of transportation requiring fire-blockers.”

The enhanced construction of Ultra-ProTechtor™ provides increased stability along with significant property improvements, including: low smoke density and toxicity, water repellency, low heat release, high punc-

ture resistance, and improved fire-blocking protection at a lighter weight. In addition, it has superior seam, tear and tensile strength resulting in less stretch and is formaldehyde free. Ultra-ProTechtor™ was also tested and met FAR25-853-A and C amendments 25-116-appendex F part II by two independent US laboratories.

Ultra-ProTechtor™ combines the National Nonwovens advanced engineering with the superior Ultem® fiber technology and the result is material that is inherently more fire-resistant than Aramids. It has a higher Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI) rating than either Nomex or Kev-lar. LOI is an index that rates the fire-resistance properties according to the minimum concentration of oxygen, expressed as a percentage. The higher the number, the greater resistance of the polymer to support a flame; Ultra-ProTechtor has an LOI of 44 while Nomex has an LOI of 26 and Kevlar has an LOI of 31.

TFS and gategroup team up for lounge management at BOMPerforma, gategroup’s manager of lounge opera-tions, announced in August that it would manage the lounges at the new Terminal 2 of GVK Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai.

Set to be operational later this year, all four airline lounges at the new terminal will be jointly operated by Performa and TFS. “Synergies with other gategroup brands, such as caterer Gate Gourmet, will enable operations to leverage a broad understanding of the local food market and latest hospitality industry trends,” said a release from gategroup.

TFS is a large food and beverage concessionaire in India, catering to more than 50 million travelers with major operations at the integrated Terminal 3 at Delhi and in Mumbai. The partners are also collaborating in a joint venture operating under the ‘TFS-Gate’ brand name and are currently focusing on developing food and beverage service for low cost carriers in India.

“We are very pleased to work with both GVK Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL) and TFS in this exciting new venture, bringing the best of all parties together to create a memorable guest experi-ence for the passengers at Terminal 2 in Mumbai,” said Herman Anbeek, Group Senior Vice President & President Emerging Markets at gategroup. “The expansion of the existing partnership for retail on-board to lounges builds on the roots and strengths of our two companies. It combines the experience and know-how of gategroup’s Performa with the experience and know-how of TFS in the airport retail and services in Mumbai and other major cities of India. Together with GVK MIAL we aim to set a new standard in India at the Terminal 2 in Mumbai.”

CATERING

Flying Food Group welcomes five airline customers, adds six routes Since the start of this year, Chicago-based Flying Food Group (FFG) has added five new airline customers and is catering six new routes for new or existing customers.

Nicolas Rondeau, Executive Vice President of Airline Sales at Flying Food said this added business “affirms FFG’s strong reputation in the industry, and also reflects customer satisfaction with FFG quality and service.”

New customers include Aeromexico from Flying Food’s Miami unit. In February, Aeromexico added daily flights from Orlando and multi-day flights from Chicago. Aeromexico flies from the U.S. to Mexico City and several other locations in the country.

airberlin chose Flying Food to in March to cater its new A330-200 route between Chicago and Berlin. The airline now operates five flights per week on the route.

Austrian Airlines launched a new route between Chicago and Vienna in May with seven flights per week. Also Hainan Airlines has chosen Flying Food Group to cater its new route between Chicago and Beijing, starting September 3.

Finally, Qatar Airways has chosen FFG at both Chicago and New York to cater its nonstop service to Doha. In April FFG began catering Qatar’s new route between Chicago and Doha. The route launched with three weekly flights and expanded to daily flights in June. In July, FFG took over all catering for Qatar’s current daily flights between JFK and Doha.

Also this past year, All-Nippon-Airlines launched a new route between San Jose and Narita Airport in Tokyo, choosing cui-sine produced at Fly-ing Food’s San Fran-cisco kitchen and delivered to San Jose via special truck. China Eastern chose Flying Food to cater its new daily route between San Fran-cisco and Shanghai as of April.

Flying Food Group caters Austrian airlines from its headquarters city of Chicago

AIX EXhIbITOR NEWS


NEWS

Nenning heads U.S. sales at En RouteNora Nenning has been appointed Head of Sales USA for En Route International.

She has been recruited to manage and grow the existing base of travel and leisure business in the U.S. while expanding new distribution through other food service, retail and private label channels. Nenning gained extensive expe-rience in sales, mar-keting and business development during her 15-year career with Nestlé USA.

En Route International designs and sup-plies premium bakery & food solutions, packed and branded to airline specifications and delivered anywhere in the world.

Serna to develop business for Alison Price On AirAlison Price On Air has appointed Juan Carlos Serna to the newly created role of Business Development Manager.

Working alongside Daniel Hulme, Man-aging Director of Alison Price On Air and reporting directly to him, Serna will be responsible for developing and expanding new client business opportunities.

He brings more than 20 years experience to the role having worked previously in the luxury goods sector for Gieves and Hawkes, Polo Ralph Lauren and Mulberry at Harrod’s where he was responsible for VVIP clients including the Royal Family.

Most recently, he served as Business Development Director at Altitude Millbank where he arranged the sale of the 35,000 square foot Altitude venue to De Vere Ven-ues.

Jonathan Norris new VP sales at LumexisJonathan Norris is now the Vice President

of Sales for inflight entertainment sup-plier Lumexis Cor-poration.

Before joining Lumexis , Nor r i s served as Executive Director of Trade Media and Events at Ink with broad respon-sibilities, including the APEX Airline Passen-ger Experience magazine account.

Previously he was at Airbus where he served in a number of key management roles including Vice President of the Cabin Design Office, leading the development of cabin interiors and cabin systems for all Airbus aircraft programs, and A350 XWB Cabin and Cargo Program Manager. Before joining Airbus, he was Chief Design Engineer on the 728JET with Fairchild Dornier and Chief of Repair Engineering with BAE SYSTEMS Regional Aircraft.

Kapeckas tracks revenue for Hawaiian AirlinesHawaiian Airlines has announced the appointment of Bryan Kapeckas to the position of director - revenue analytics, with responsibility for supporting the company’s revenue management and commercial ini-tiatives.

“Bryan’s specialized skills and experience will be a terrific asset to Hawaiian as we continue to expand operations domestically and internationally,” said Andrew Watterson, Hawaiian Airlines Vice President, Planning & Revenue Management.

Kapeckas brings 13 years of airline revenue

management, alliance and partnership expe-rience to Hawaiian. Before joining Hawaiian, he served as manager, alliance and airline partnerships at JetBlue Airways where he was responsible for negotiating partnerships with international airlines. He previously served as manager, revenue management at JetBlue and as specialist/team lead, inventory management and project manager, revenue management training at U.S. Airways.

Stennes new Vice President at Silver AirwaysVicky Stennes has joined Silver Airways as Vice President - Airports and Guest Services.

As Vice President she will be in charge of the airline’s activities in airports, reservations, inflight service and customer care.

Stennes is outgoing Chairperson of the International Flight Services Association. This year, she did consulting work for the Mulberry Group since leaving JetBlue Airways late last year where she was Vice President of Inflight Experience. Before that, she had a long career with Delta Air Lines. Her last position was Managing Director of Inflight Customer Service.

Silver Airways is based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It operates 200 daily flights with scheduled service to the Bahamas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, West Vir-ginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and Montana.

Nora Nenning

Jonathan Norris

Vicky Stennes

Two named to SmartTray boardSmartTray International, LLC recently announced two new members to its Board of Directors, Charlie DiToro and Brian J. Queenin.

DiToro served in senior leadership positions as President of Brite Media Group; Chief Operating Officer of Clear Channel Taxi Media; COO of Triumph Media; Regional President of Commodore Media (Capstar Broadcasting and AM/FM); and Director of Sales & Development for COX Cable Communications.

Queenin was most recently a partner at IBM Global Business Services in the Business Analytics and Optimization (BAO) practice. Before that, he served in Partner and Senior Executive positions for Accenture, Ernst & Young/ Capgemini, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Xtropian.


PEOPLE NEWS

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BOS76954A_94205.indd 1 7/20/12 10:20 AM

The Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas again touches down in the Emerald City of Seattle October 1-3 and will bring with it a crop of new exhibi-

tors and industry insiders to the aviation hub of North America.

In late summer, Reed Exhibitions’ Katie Murphy, Exhibition Director of Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas spoke with PAX International on the history of the Americas event and the state of the cabin services industry, which is primed to match growth in the world’s airline fleet.

PAX International: Could we get a bit of history of the Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas event? When did it begin and how did it take shape in relation to the industry’s large event in Hamburg?Katie Murphy: Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas was launched in 2008 at Long Beach in California and a forum called the ‘Cabin Innovation Congress’ ran alongside the exhibition to discuss future cabin con-cepts. In addition, this show was co-located with the World Airline Entertainment Asso-ciation (WAEA). In 2010, Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas united with the International Flight Services Association’s (IFSA) and WAEA’s respective annual conferences and exhibitions to create the largest event across North America.

The 2011 event moved to Seattle and the Expo was again run in parallel with IFSA and the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX), formerly the WAEA, which changed its name in the same year. In 2012, Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas was held in Seattle as a stand-alone event and the 2013 event will again be staged in Seattle incorporating the launch of the Seating & IFE Integration Symposium.

With its progressive focus on the needs of airlines and suppliers within this specialized industry, visitors have unrivaled networking opportunities with a wide range of companies from around the world. Consequently, the rising demand from both exhibitors and visitors alike for Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas mirrors the continuing growth of the Hamburg event.

PAX: Two months out from the event, how

are registration and attendance prospects shaping up?Murphy: In terms of the Expo itself, to date, confirmed exhibitors include Airbus, AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings, Diehl Aero-systems, Lufthansa Technik, STG Aerospace and Zodiac Aerospace - in total we currently have 110 exhibitors. Because Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas is the largest dedicated air-craft interiors event in the Americas region, we also have specialist exhibitors such as Saint Gobain Performance Plastics who will be promoting its custom thermo-formed and composite parts for commercial aircraft applications.

For the Seating & IFE Integration Sym-posium, we have recently secured additional industry speakers from Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Geven and Qantas Airways, who will be joining an impressive line-up of con-firmed keynote speakers from Airbus, B/E Aerospace and Delta Air Lines so registration is already ramping up for what promises to be a thought-provoking Symposium.

PAX: Which are a few of the companies that will be exhibiting for the first time and what will they be showing?Murphy: Currently, we have 25 first-time exhibitors and I’m delighted to confirm that Lufthansa Technik, Diehl Aerosystems, Sky-Paxxx Interior Repairs and 3A Composites/Baltek, Inc. will be exhibiting for the first time. There will also be a Chinese company called Egret Aviation, which designs and manufactures aircraft galley service equip-ment. It will be promoting its standard and customized in-flight meal carts, beverage carts, duty-free sales carts, standard contain-ers, oven racks and folding trolleys. Examples of other debut exhibitors include Flexfab LLC, Gütermann Polygal Mexicana, S.A. de C.V. and PPG Aerospace.

PAX: How has the year been for suppliers of cabin service products? Has the outlook changed much since Hamburg?Murphy: In May 2013, Lucintel published its commercial aerospace seating market outlook 2013-2020 based on an in-depth analysis of North America and Europe as well as other markets. Due to the on-going economic climate, the market is likely to

experience moderate growth in the short run but good growth opportunities exist in the long-term due to increasing opportunities in retrofitting and the OEM segment of the seating market.

It is important that we continue to moni-tor the market to ensure that Aircraft Inte-riors Expo Americas keeps right up to date, especially with commercial aerospace as a whole. A significant indicator was provided by Boeing at the Paris Air Show with its 20-year market outlook, which projected a demand for more than 35,000 new airplanes valued at $4.8 trillion. Of interest to the inte-riors community, the single-aisle market is the main driver with 24,670 airplanes.

PAX: Why did you decide to add the sym-posium on seat integration to this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas?Murphy: A key objective for us as organizers is to ensure that our events are timely, rel-evant and educational. With the introduction of personal devices, new technologies, Wi-Fi and the drivers for lighter aircraft, IFE and seat integration is the focus for many airlines right now. The Seating & IFE Integration Symposium will explore the topical issues in four interactive sessions and by staging this event with leading industry experts, they will be discussing the latest trends to create an interactive educational forum.

PAX: The Aircraft Interiors Expo for the Americas stays in Seattle because it’s the largest aviation hub of North America and Reed Exhibitions has been visiting for several years. Any particular places in the city that would be attractive to the aviation interests of attendees?Murphy: Well, I think the Museum of Flight is worth a visit, as it has more than 150 his-toric aircraft on display, including a retired British Airways Concorde jetliner and there is a wide variety of restored World War I and II fighter aircraft. Of course further afield is the Future of Flight Aviation Center in Mukilteo, Washington where visitors can tour the Boeing plant and view an aviation gallery with interactive exhibits on com-mercial aviation.

AIX fall classicExhibitor totals have climbed to 110 this year, as the Aircraft Interiors Expo prepares for another big show in Seattle

Katie Murphy


AIX Q&A WITh KATIE muRPhy

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d i g i t a l e n t e r t a i n m e n t s o l u t i o n s

Airline Passenger Experience Asso-ciation President Linda Celestino finishes her term in 2013.

The General Manager Inflight Services and Product at Oman Air, Celestino set out with several goals when she took the helm of the group in 2012. As the year comes to a close, she talked with PAX Inter-national about her tenure and her pride in a region that is still at the forefront of inflight entertainment. PAX International: What were some of your goals and objectives when you became Presi-dent of APEX?Linda Celestino: During my first term, I laid out three core objectives: to grow and broaden membership, to strengthen the APEX community, and to expand the asso-ciation’s global presence. As these goals are largely in line with longstanding association initiatives, we’ve made significant progress in each regard.

To grow our membership base, we’ve launched an aggressive campaign to bring more non-IFE&C members into the fold. We’ve engaged existing members and reached out to prospective members in the key areas of comfort, ambience and services. Part of our outreach involved the integration of International Flight Services Association (IFSA) exhibitors into our annual EXPO. We also put a heavy focus on comfort and ambience on the exhibit floor, in our media and in our educational programming.

To bolster a strong sense of community, we’ve taken steps to increase transparency and to garner member feedback. We’ve ramped up our communications with mem-bers, as well, including regular reporting of Board meetings.

And to become a more global association, we’ve expanded into new regions in the last year – notably in South America and Asia. We’re especially excited about our upcom-ing Educational Event in Shanghai, China, November 4-5. It’s our first solo event in that region, and a sign of things to come.PAX: In recent years, the WAEA became APEX. What has this done for the Associa-tion?

Celestino: Most significantly, the change from WAEA to APEX reflects an association mandate to expand beyond the association’s traditional IFE&C niche. The membership has embraced that mission and has helped us attract new members from such sectors as seating, interiors, fabrics, carpets and much more. As a result, we’ve seen growth in our annual EXPO and more robust educational programming at our events around the world. More importantly, APEX membership increasingly reflects what is happening in the marketplace where there must be strong coordination and collaboration among all who touch the passenger experience.

Overall, we’re growing this association to be more representative of what is hap-pening in the marketplace where there must be strong coordination and collaboration among all – companies and profession-als – who impact passenger experience. So many components feed into what passengers see, hear and feel while inflight, and APEX comprises it all.PAX: This year, APEX and IFSA are much more of an integrated event. What led to the decision?Celestino: The collaboration between APEX and IFSA is part of our larger strategy for more diverse and useful events for all of our members and industry stakeholders. In the past, we have co-located with IFSA, but to a lesser extent – attendees had limited access, the separate exhibit floors were much more defined and educational and networking events were more narrowly focused.

We expect members of both associations will enjoy the benefits of a more closely aligned event beginning on Day 1. Our Edu-cational Sessions, for example, now include five breakout tracks, one of which is specific to the catering and services sector. And with the walls removed between the two exhibit halls, all attendees will be able to visit every exhibit more freely.PAX: The Passenger Choice Awards have made significant changes with the associa-tion with Nielsen. Can you see the awards reaching an audience outside the industry?Celestino: We think our awards program

has the highest integrity in the industry, and for that reason we look forward to more and more passengers participating. Between promotions by APEX and the members, we expect the awards will gain greater recogni-tion beyond the industry.

The Passenger Choice Awards program enjoys a global reach. And since the survey

– www.passengerchoicewards.com – is open to every single traveller, it’s important that we make it relevant to all flyers, regard-less of their level of expertise on the subject. APEX tailor-made the survey to be easy, understandable and useful for all passengers

– whether they fly weekly for business or once a year for pleasure.

The program helps our airline members connect with the people who are directly impacted by what we do: the passengers. Our participating airline members see the program as a huge benefit for their own research on passenger preferences, and allows them to benchmark against industry data. Each quarter, we supply them with reports that describe in detail how passengers feel. The “comments” section is especially valuable, as it lets passengers express their thoughts more directly.PAX: You work at a Middle Eastern airline. Are they still leading the way in inflight entertainment evolution?Celestino: From an industry perspective, the Middle East is widely recognized as setting the bar in passenger experience. The region is renowned for luxurious ground facilities and services that continue throughout the duration of the flight. It serves as a reminder of what the capabilities truly are with respect to an extraordinary passenger experience.

Additionally, Middle Eastern companies have always been among the strongest sup-porters of APEX, and they consistently are at the forefront of inflight innovations. It’s no coincidence that Middle Eastern companies have had steady representation on our Board of Directors – the APEX/WAEA president has represented Middle Eastern countries for six of the last 20 years, and in the last year, three of 11 Board members were from Middle Eastern airlines.

APEX reaches outVisitors to this year’s IFSA/APEX Expo will see increased event integration and the desire of an Association to reach the world in several ways. All according to plan, says the group’s outgoing President

Linda Celestino


Q&A WITh LINDA CELESTINO

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Dominique Giannoni took the helm as CEO of Thales Group’s Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity business this past summer. He was most recently with the company’s Underwater Systems and Military Avionics business lines.

“His wealth of knowledge in electronics and telecommunications provides an excel-lent foundation for our product policy and future roadmap,” said the company.

Giannoni laid out several directions on where the company has been and where it’s going in a discussion with PAX International.

PAX International: Looks like the most recent news is the further installations of the TopSeries with British Airways. What is the progress of installation and has the system gone into service with BA?Dominique Giannoni: The first aircraft with the Thales TopSeries IFE went into service with British Airways in August 2010. Three years later Thales has 34 Aircraft in service (7,688 Seats) as follows: 18x 777-200, 6x 777-300, 7x A321, 1x A380, 2x 787. By December 2014, there will be 53 Aircraft in service (14,063 Seats) as follows: 18x 777-200, 12x 777-300, 7x A321, 8x A380, 8x B787.

The Thales TopSeries IFE system features AVOD, (Box sets) audio, games, 3D-Geo-FusionMaps, seat-to-seat chat and a picture viewer. The system also is used in “Gate-2-Gate” mode, which means it is available to entertain from the moment you step onto the aircraft to the time you leave. All of the aircraft are supported from a new Thales maintenance hub that has been setup at London Heathrow.

PAX: Last year the TopSeries AVA system was in trials. At what stage is the launch of that product? Giannoni: We successfully installed TopSeries AVA on a LAN Airlines A320 earlier this year. Later this year we will also be deploying AVA on multiple aircraft for a major airline client based in the Middle

East. We now have an industry leading product that is robust, rich in features and in active use by airline passengers – using their own devices. TopSeries AVA not only provides passengers with a full range of AVOD content options – movies, TV and audio programming – it also delivers a variety of other content and services, for example a moving map, a news service with daily updates in multiple languages, and the ability to gather surveys and other usage information. Initial responses have been great, and we believe a key part of that positive feedback is the ability for passengers to use the system with a really wide range of devices, not just iPads but also any laptops, Android smartphones and tablets.

A key feature of the Thales solution is our ability to provide a complete turnkey service to our clients. For LAN we are managing the entire process, from content selection and licensing through to digital delivery. We have created an infrastructure that enables us to transmit the content via the Internet, directly to the airline’s hub and then from there the content is loaded on to the aircraft via a wireless network. This last stage goes live very soon with the implementation of GateSync at LAN’s Santiago base. This pro-cess provides an end-to-end digital delivery solution that completely takes away the need for manual loading and the time, cost and potential operational hassles.

PAX: What aspects of cabin service will AVA be able to perform aside from that of the passenger? Giannoni: TopSeries AVA is more than just an IFE product. AVA serves as a platform that enables a wide range of other services. The news and user surveys have already been mentioned. The launch product also provides the ability for airline staff to have a different portal from the passengers, so that they can carry out airline specific services via the system. Now that AVA is successfully flying

with the initial feature set, we are looking at what other features is a priority for our cli-ents. We are not currently providing catering related services – for example ordering food and drinks from the passenger’s device – but AVA has the potential to support the addition of other application based services when we have an airline client that wishes us to develop them. PAX: The industry is talking quite a bit about “passenger experience” these days. Is Thales developing any sort of technology to help airlines with those tasks?Giannoni: Yes. Thales is developing several personalization experiences for the passenger which includes; personalized welcome screens; personalized movie, music, books, food and social networking; personalized shopping and duty free based on key likes and dislikes; mobilization and portability of this personalization information from anywhere to anywhere via the cloud or Personal Electronic Device; personalized experience from home, hotel, car, limo, taxis, airport to aircraft and back. PAX: In the announcement, you said you would be involved in growing Thales IFEC business with “value-added propositions.” Any examples or specifics you can talk about?Giannoni: Our business in the areas of Connectivity and Media are both in their early stages of development. As these areas continue to mature airlines will realize new value-added support especially in their operations. In terms of the passenger experience, we are ramping up new relationships with application developers that will expand our content and application library appropriate for passenger use. The Android OS is our latest platform, which we will leverage to the fullest.

‘Leverage to the fullest’From AVOD to AVA and beyond, the new CEO of Thales’ IFEC group sees the company taking shape in new directions of the passenger experience

Dominique Giannoni

ThALES Q&A

Consultancy & Design

Product Development

Manufacturing & Logistics

Quality Management

The number of BlueBox’s systems in operation have doubled in the last year

tHe RIGHT MIXPAX International spoke to IFE systems manufacturers about how they’re using traditional and wireless IFE Systems to give customers the best entertainment experience by John Guise

Staying connected to the Internet is ubiquitous in today’s society. In airport lounges around the world people are constantly on their smart phones and tablets before they catch a flight. They’re

often multitasking by reading e-mail, an e-book or connecting to social networks on more than one device.

Passengers now want that multitasking experience on board as well. That is putting a demand on IFE system manufacturers and forcing them to get creative about how they keep people entertained on an aircraft.

LumexisAs Lumexis executives monitored the IFE systems market over the last year, they saw that while Wi-Fi connectivity was growing as predicted, the market for traditional seat-back systems appeared stable in wide body and actually growing in long-haul narrow body aircraft. However, they understand that passengers in the age of smart phones and tablets often want more than one screen to stay entertained during a flight.

“I don’t know what your office looks like but I’ve got multiple screens on my desk – a laptop plus attached extra monitor, an iPad, and an iPhone – and they’re all sitting there, powered up offering up different things at the same time in my office. Now, with FTTS Second Screen™, you can do that on your airplane,” said Doug Cline, Lumexis’ CEO.

Lumexis has combined its fiberoptic IFE system, Fiber-To-The-Screen (FTTS) with a

WiFi connection allowing for second screen capability on a passenger’s iPad, PC tablet or smart phone. “You can order food, you can do catalog shopping without interrupt-ing your movie that’s on the main screen,” Cline said.

Lumexis will be showcasing its second-screen feature for its FTTS system along with the latest generation of its 9, 10 and 12 inch seat-back monitors at its APEX booth this year. The monitors show high-definition movies and television programs in 1080pixel resolution, with each one delivered through Lumexis’ fiber-optic network at six or eight megabits per second.

The use of fiber optic cable means that the FTTS is easier to upgrade than other tradi-tional seat-back systems without rewiring any part of the aircraft. With it’s Generation 3 monitors, Lumexis has added in-seat storage for triple redundancy so even with multiple system failures, all passengers would still have access to content that has been stored on the system.

“If there’s a failure in your server, you’ll see zero change in your video. You’ll continue with full access to any of the many hundreds of movies available, from a different server or a different path,” Cline said. “If you would have an extremely rare, double failure, you would have access to the locally-stored, seat-centric content of, say 30, or so high-definition movies, games and whatever else would be in storage.”

The company still sees strong benefit for a

Wi-Fi-only system in the short-to-medium haul airline market and has developed its WiPAX system to cater to those customers. The WiPAX system is designed to provide both entertainment and retail service offer-ings including menu ordering and inflight retail to its customers

The last year has been a good one for the company and its FTTS system. The FTTS system has not only helped Lumexis’ clients, such as low-cost carrier flydubai, provide their passengers with the latest blockbuster films, it’s earned them environmental awards. flydubai received the International Travel Catering Mercury Award for environmental and sustainability award for using Lumexis’ FTTS.

Those environmental savings came from the weight savings delivered by the FTTS system. With its fiberoptic cable network and fewer servers and other box units than a traditional system, the FTTS system weighs about 60% less than legacy systems found in many aircraft. flydubai claimed in a press release that Lumexis’ FTTS system saves it $2.37 million on fuel and reduces the airline’s carbon emission by 7.5 million kilograms annually.

The FTTS system’s durability demon-strating 99.9% seat availability, along with its operational and fuel cost savings helped Lumexis to sign Turkish Airlines as a client earlier this year. Turkish Airlines will have the system installed on two A330s starting in September of this year.


IFE REPORT

The company is also on a path that will allow it to drastically expand its customer base. Cline said Lumexis is currently working towards getting its FTTS system approved by Boeing to have its products installed on the 737-800 and -900 series aircraft. The system has already passed the Phase I Aircraft Impact Assessment and is currently going through the Phase II process of LRU Quali-fication for line-fit. “This will be [Boeing’s] first new IFE system in 13 years. That is a big deal for us, so we will be pressing hard on that. Expect to see announcements on that in the early 2014 timeframe,” he added.

Rockwell CollinsFor Rockwell Collins’ its focus for this year’s APEX is exhibiting reliable IFE systems.

“Airlines invest a lot of money in IFE and they do it for one purpose -- to increase cus-tomer satisfaction because it is a competitive set. And when IFE works, customer satisfac-tion does go up,” said Jerry Thomas Principal Marketing Manager for Cabin Products with Rockwell Collins. “But once you introduce IFE on the aircraft and IFE doesn’t work or the IFE has issues, you drop your customer satisfaction to levels much lower than they were in the first place before you introduced IFE because you have changed expectations.”

To ensure that airlines can carry a reliable IFE system on board their aircraft, Rockwell has designed its PAVES On-demand system (previously known as PAVES 3). It will be exhibiting a full demonstration of the system at APEX this year.

PAVES On-demand is a seat-centric IFE system designed for single-aisle aircraft. The system’s seat-centric architecture allows Rockwell Collins to help minimize the likeli-hood that its IFE systems will fail on multiple seats at any one time. For those seats that do fail, the monitors can be quickly popped out of the seat – even inflight or while a plane is being turned around at an airport – and replaced with a new monitor in minutes. Passengers would be able to use the system about 45 seconds after installation while the monitor simultaneously downloads content from the aircrafts head server.

The easy installation also will also help to keep the cost of upgrading to future versions of the PAVES On-demand system low for the airlines. The initial release of the system is expected for late 2014.

The system’s architecture is specifically designed for a single-aisle aircraft, a market that Thomas said Rockwell Collins is focusing on because they currently feel its underserved by IFE as more airlines are using them to fly longer flights than before.

PAVES On-demand system architecture allows airlines to put an IFE system in a single-aisle aircraft at about a 30-40% total

Rockwell Collins’ PAVES On-demand system can be replaced within two minutes

Lumexis’ combined FTTS and Wi-Fi system allows passengers the convenience of a second screen


IFE REPORT

ownership savings over Rockwell Collins’ competitors. A savings that Thomas said airlines appreciate as the high cost of install-ing an IFE system mention for a dual-aisle aircraft on a single-aisle aircraft makes it prohibitive.

Rockwell Collins is not only giving its customers easy control over installation and cost. It also wants to give them control over content. Airlines will be able to load non-encrypted content such as local and regional news to the PAVES On-demand system on their own, allowing them to potentially have different content on individual routes. The content will be integrated through a Rockwell Collins web portal. It can be then loaded on aircraft via a USB stick.

The company is also continuing to make progress on the wireless IFE system that it began developing with Thomas Cook last year. The partners plan to begin testing the system later this year or early next year depending on the airline’s schedule.

Thomas said that Rockwell Collins plans to market the system in conjunction with its PAVES On-demand and its PAVES Broadcast overhead IFE system. He said that a combina-tion of systems is often a better offering as it ensures lower costs for the airline while at the same time offering the system reliability that passengers expect. Rockwell Collins can help airlines meet passengers’ different needs by having all three systems on the same aircraft.

BlueBox AvionicsIf you took a snapshot of where U.K. hand-held IFE Systems producer BlueBox Avionics was a year ago and compared it to today you’d see a company that’s experiencing a period of dynamic growth.

“About a year ago we had approximately 4,000 units in active service. If you take a snapshot today, we have just a bit north of 8,000 units and in a couple months from now we’ll have almost 10,000 units in service so gives you a reasonable sense of how our position in this market has grown,” said Kevin Clark BlueBox’s Business Development Manager. “The scale of our installed business continues to grow and this is matched by the increasing scale of our pipeline.”

The company’s BlueBox Ai, iPad-based devices are currently available on a range of airlines such as Aeromexico, El Al, British Airways, Jetstar and Thai Airways amongst others. The company announced in August that Kazakhstan’s Air Astana has brought 850 BlueBox Ai units into service on its flights.

Airlines can either purchase iPads direct from BlueBox or supply their own, but in either case BlueBox will provide all service

and technical support for the devices. Blue-box also offers an optional custom protective case and external battery combination that provides an additional 20 hours of opera-tional life from a single battery. “This works particularly well for long haul flights,” said Clark. “It also means that batteries can be quickly swapped at the end of the service without the need to remove devices from the aircraft, simplifying logistics and rapid turn around.” BlueBox Ai has also recently entered service on the iPad Mini with the smaller form factor allowing more devices to be carried on board an aircraft.

Of course Bluebox is aware that passen-gers want access to the latest movies. Bluebox Ai has been approved by Sony, Disney, Para-mount, Universal, Warner Brothers, and Fox for the delivery of Early Windows Content.

BlueBox has also increased its global foot-print. In early 2012 it established a service-and-support office in Australia to serve its Asian and Australian clients. The office compliments its UK headquarters and its U.S. service and support office in Arkansas. Clark said that he could see the company opening an office in Asia as BlueBox’s business grows in the region.

Technologically, BlueBox has also spent a large portion of the last 12 months developing a wireless streaming solution called BlueBox wireless IFE or wIFE. BlueBox wIFE allows content to be streamed from an onboard server to both airline-owned and passenger-owned devices with the airline in control of who sees what content.

Clark said BlueBox is currently working with one airline to secure a supplemental type certificate (STC) for its BlueBox wIFE device, which is expected later this year. The com-pany is also speaking to many other airlines.

BlueBox will be exhibiting a full demon-stration of its BlueBox wIFE system along with the new carousel interface for its Blue-Box handheld devices at APEX 2013 in Anaheim, California.

digEcordigEcor is known as portable a IFE provider but that is an impression that its new parent company, Australia’s Total Aviation Solutions (TAS) hopes to change. With its purchase of digEcor in August it is hoping to transform the company into a complete IFE solutions provider.

digEcor’s Director of Sales and Marketing, Ben Fuller said the merger came after TAS and digEcor had partnered developing digE-cor’s Glide Embedded IFE system. Through the Glide product development process it became clear that TAS could provide the engineering experience while digEcor could provide the IFE hardware and content to be a total system provider.

It is a model that Fuller is excited about. “We’re morphing into a company – with this new ownership – that will create and provide an entire digital cabin experience. We can take care of content, we can take care of over-head systems, we can take care of seat back systems, we can take care of portables and put ancillary revenue services on them,” he said.

Glide is the first step for digEcor to make itself at total IFE solutions provider


IFE REPORT

Keep your passengers coming back with the experience they want and the functionality they expect.

• eFIT: Drop-in LED lighting upgrade for B737NG and A320 platforms

• Avionics kit integration and FAA/EASA STC certification services

EXPECT MORE [Frequent Flyers]

SET AN APPOINTMENTemteq.com/apex | Booth 1804

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digEcor’s Glide system is the next move in this direction. The seat-centric IFE was developed over the last year with TAS and is aimed as a replacement for overhead systems on aging wide-body and single-aisle aircraft at a lower price than legacy systems. Glide uses digEcor’s existing digEplayer L7 and L10 portable IFE devices, and embeds them into the seat back. The system also combines the monitor with a cabin management unit so all the content can be stored locally on the plane. Should a monitor fail, a new one can be installed in about 10 seconds allowing for quick replacement even inflight.

Glide was officially launched at AIX Ham-burg earlier this year, but this year’s APEX show will be the first time digEcor has exhibited the product in the Americas. The Glide system is currently being installed on four 757 combi aircraft owned by Air Trans-port International, a U.S. charter airline. The aircraft will be used to carry U.S. servicemen and their families to military bases around the world.

Glide is just the first step in the pipeline to transform digEcor into a full end-to-end IFE provider. The company is developing ancillary revenue content including video

games, a moving map and an IFE shopping program. It is also looking at developing a new streaming IFE service and releasing a next generation portable device.

Fuller said the major focus for the com-pany over the next couple of months is digEcor’s integration with TAS. “In the next

year, the integration of the companies will be up and running – and growing with a con-centrated effort on customer service,” he said.

Zodiac AerospaceBefore Zodiac Aerospace’s Zodiac Inflight Innovations entered the wireless streaming

Zodiac’s RaveTM system features a new article reader


IFE REPORT

IFE market it wanted to make sure that its RAVE™ embedded IFE system lived up to its name.

“We needed to make sure our current RAVE™ product catalog provide reliable, affordable, and very easy in-flight entertain-ment to our current airline customers,” Larry Girard, Zodiac’s Executive Vice President of Business Development said. “We have improved RAVE’s™ hardware and software to achieve this goal and now feel the time is ripe to enter into the streaming IFE market.”

Zodiac has improved its passenger-centric RAVE™ system by adding features such as an improved article reader, a “favorites” feature for the system’s video library and a mobile-based crew panel application. It will be exhibiting its updated RAVE™ embedded system as well as its streaming and its GSM to personal electronic device services at the company’s booth at this year’s APEX show.

The RAVE™ IFE system is currently flying in the fleets of Lufthansa, Brussels Airlines, airberlin and Gulf Air. Zodiac recently signed deals with airline leasing firm International

Leasing Financial Corporation (ILFC) as well as Transaero and one with Congo’s ECAir in July. It is also working at having its RAVE™ system certified for line fit aircraft.

Girard said he believes streaming IFE offers a lot of possibilities to complement Zodiac’s existing IFE offerings. “What we find is most appealing to airlines are the new ways to personalize the passenger experience with individualized deals and advertisements,” he said.

PokewareAn unresolved quest to find a dress she saw on a television sitcom in 1997 drove Maryse Thomas to found Pokeware.

“I was watching an episode of Spin City on TV in 1997. I saw a dress on Heather Locklear that I immediately wanted to learn more about, I wished that I could just poke on the TV screen to discover more information. I took a photo of the TV screen. I searched for months for the item, showing the photograph to store clerks and stylists with no luck. I still haven’t located the dress,” Thomas said.

The company’s technology works on the principle of see, poke, search and makes what wasn’t possible for Thomas a reality for others. It catalogs objects in music videos, films and television programs and then links them to website where the items can be found without interrupting a passenger’s viewing experience. This allows passengers to touch certain items on an IFE touch screen and be automatically linked to a brand’s e-commerce website where they can purchase it.

Pokeware clearly has appeal. The company has seen revenue grow at 50% per year since it was founded. Today approximately 5% of that revenue is from the IFE market.

Currently most of Pokeware’s advertisers embed their links into films, movies, TV programs and magazines. “We are opening our ad exchange to more advertisers than ever before. This will make the advertising marketplace more competitive and drive additional revenue for the airlines, Thomas said.

Thomas said that airlines like Pokeware because it provides ancillary revenue to the airlines at no additional cost to them. She added that Pokeware is able to engage a pas-senger for about two hours on a long-haul flight, allowing for significant opportuni-ties for passengers to make purchases. The company also signed a payment processing deal with PayPal in August this year that will help customers to more easily purchase items through Pokeware without a credit card. It is also looking to close a deal with Intel by September.

Pokeware is currently available on Guest-Logix’s IFE screens as well as airlines in the Middle East and Africa.

Thomas said Pokeware is continuously developing its software to give airlines more opportunities to customize the technology to meet their requirements. “We are also deploying new options for the user interface to give the airlines control over the look and feel of the IFE user experience and maintain a more streamlined brand experience, some-thing that is unique to each carrier,” she said.

Pokeware has also just released a smart phone and tablet application that will allow passengers to take the poke experience out of the IFE system and will turn their device into a search engine. “When a user in a seat reading a magazine and wants to learn more about what they see in an image, the app, if connected to inflight Wi-Fi, can upload the image to the Pokeware app and the search result will be delivered. The airline gets a piece of that pay-per-poke experience, via the Wi-Fi relationship,” Thomas said.

“We are also deploying new options for the user interface to give the airlines control over the look and feel of the IFE user experience.”Maryse Thomas, CEO Pokeware


IFE REPORT

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“The key thing we have learnt in 2013 is that inflight connectivity is here to stay,” said Ian Dawkins, CEO of OnAir. “We are not run-ning single-aircraft trials any more: airlines want connectivity across their entire fleets and they want it as soon as possible. We are all used to being in touch wherever we go and it is no different being on a plane: people want and expect to have connectivity wherever they are and that is what we are delivering.”

Ease of use, and increased public aware-ness and desire for the service can be given a good deal of credit for clearing the way to increased interest by airlines, say suppliers. Combine that with millions of travelers toting tablets and smart phones, and those

same suppliers say there’s a sense of urgency among potential airline customers, anxious to enhance the passenger experience, and bring in revenue.

OnAir was incorporated in February 2005 and is owned by SITA, a pioneer IT solutions provider to the air transport world. The company’s first inflight GSM product flew in 2007. OnAir’s products enable passengers to use their own mobile phones, smartphones, tablets and laptops in exactly the same way as they do on the ground, either through the onboard GSM network or the onboard Wi-Fi hotspot. The products are available as line fit or retrofit for all commercial aircraft, as well as government, VIP and business

jets, and ships. The company’s two key products are

Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir. Mobile OnAir is the onboard GSM network, which mirrors international roaming. Passengers can use their mobile phones and tablets in exactly the same way as they do on the ground and the costs are included in their regular mobile phone bill. Passengers typi-cally use it to check email, receive or send text messages, social media updates and phone calls. While, Internet OnAir is the onboard Wi-Fi hotspot. As with any hotspot, passengers log in, enter their credit card details and start using the system. Internet OnAir is generally used for emailing, mak-

connEctEdFor airline passengers, connectivity at every step of their journey is an expected convenience, and suppliers say airlines are increasingly asking for timelines regarding installation as much as they are asking about cost by Lauren Brunetti

With OnAir, passengers can use their mobile phones and tablets in exactly the same way as they do on the ground

StAyinG weLL


mObILE CONNECTIVITy

ing onward travel bookings and, as with Mobile OnAir, to update social media.

When both technologies are available – and most of OnAir’s airline customers do indeed offer both – approxi-mately 80% of passengers choose Mobile OnAir, said Dawkins, largely because it is so easy to use. “We are the only provider to offer consistent global coverage for both inflight GSM and Wi-Fi, thanks to regulatory approvals from nearly 100 countries, more than 350 roaming agree-ments, and by using Inmarsat’s I4 satellite networks,” he told PAX International.

At APEX this year, OnAir will be launching a new tech-nology called, OnAir Play, which combines connectivity and entertainment by integrating inflight connectivity (both GSM and Wi-Fi) with on-demand entertainment streamed directly to passengers’ own personal electronic devices. “As the only supplier providing truly consistent global coverage, it is no secret that we are working flat out to provide onboard GSM and Wi-Fi to airlines across the world,” said Dawkins.

“We are talking to every type of airline, from the luxury carriers to low cost operators, and to government, VIP and business jet owners and operators. The main question they ask is ‘how quickly can we equip our aircraft’?”

As a result of this new technology, airlines can now provide and transmit movies, TV, live news, music, games, newspapers and magazines to all passengers over the onboard Wi-Fi network. Also, news and sports clips can be updated throughout the flight and passengers can play networked games, using the Wi-Fi connectivity.

“On-demand entertainment is a growing trend on the ground, so we are replicating that in the air. We know the vast majority of passengers carry smartphones or tablets, or both. They want to use them, both because they are familiar and because the quality is often better than seat-back screens,” Dawkins told PAX International.

From an airline’s point of view, this new technology has the power to remove the need for seat-back screens, he added. Airlines can also use the connectivity to enhance customer loyalty programs (for example using social interac-tion), frequent flier enrolment and gathering feedback on a

According to AeroMobile’s research, GPRS data has

increased by 56% this year and SMS usage has

increased by 44%, with voice usage remaining static


ASSOCIATION NEWSmObILE CONNECTIVITy

cabin services - including food, IFE content, and any other service generating additional ancillary revenues.

All content is stored on the onboard server and distrib-uted through the cabin’s Wi-Fi network. Passengers simply need to connect to the hotspot. The passenger interface, which can be branded by the airline, is highly intuitive and is designed for all types of devices, regardless of brand, screen size and operating system.

Moving on upAeroMobile started flying in 2007, followed by a full com-mercial launch in 2008, when they facilitated the world’s first authorized in-flight mobile phone call on Emirates flight EK751 flying between Dubai and Casablanca. Since 2008, more than 19 million passengers have connected to AeroMobile’s network.

Nine airlines currently offer inflight connectivity through AeroMobile, including Emirates, Etihad, Transaero, SAS and Aer Lingus. All Virgin Atlantic flights leaving London Gat-wick offer the AeroMobile service, making it the company’s first fully-connected hub. Etihad is also rolling out fully connected routes, the first being Abu Dhabi to New York.

In 2012, AeroMobile became part of the Panasonic Group and over the last year, the company has experienced acceler-ated growth; holding more than 220 roaming agreements with mobile operators worldwide and service is active on 160 aircraft. “We have several other airlines due to launch the service including Garuda Indonesia, Singapore Air-lines and Lufthansa and over 800 aircraft in the pipeline,” explains Kevin Rogers, CEO, AeroMobile. “We’ve gained huge momentum this year and usage on the AeroMobile network is accelerating. This is partly due to new airline launches, more aircraft being enabled and new roaming agreements, but it’s also due to increased awareness. We’ve been working with airlines to educate cabin crew about the service and this is paying off, quite literally, for the airlines.”

In the last few months, Rogers said the company has ramped up the number of aircraft being installed with AeroMobile connectivity, as their major airline partners roll out their installation programs. AeroMobile is currently in talks to activate approximately 800 aircraft with AeroMobile connectivity, and as these go live with the service, others will be added to the list, he said.

“The big news for us is that we now have AT&T onboard as a roaming partner. We’ve put a huge focus on getting really good roaming coverage in the countries that matter to our airline partners, and obviously the USA represents a massive market for most of them. We’ve also signed up with Everything Everywhere in the UK, meaning we now have the mobile market covered for British travelers,” Rogers told PAX International.

More and more passengers across AeroMobile’s cus-tomer base are using their mobiles to text, browse and call inflight, said Rogers. According to AeroMobile’s research, GPRS data has increased by 56% this year and SMS usage has increased by 44%, with voice usage remaining static.

“Our recent poll also supports our findings that demand for inflight connectivity exists and makes financial sense to all stakeholders, with more than 70% of UK travelers revealing they would use their phones inflight, if they had the option.”

This past year, TriaGnoSys launched airborne hardware technology, GSMConneX

TriaGnoSys launches GSMConneXTriaGnoSys was formed in 2002 by three satellite communica-tions experts with two objectives in mind: the first was to play a leading part in the development of cutting-edge aircraft com-munications technologies, either in-house or as part of interna-tional research teams, and the second was to make technology commercially viable, explains Axel Jahn, Managing Director at TriaGnoSys.

The company’s first commercial success was develop-ing software which enabled airline passengers to use their mobile phones and internet during flight. The solution is now in use through providers such as OnAir and Thales. The key research had been carried out as part of WirelessCabin, an EU-funded ground-breaking research project, Jahn told PAX International.

Currently, TriaGnoSys’ customers include Airbus, Inmarsat, OnAir, Honeywell, Thales, Lufthansa Technik and Siemens. “We work with them to provide our hardware and software to airlines and VIP aircraft owners and operators. Our role is to provide the technology that enables passengers to use their phones during flights; we are not the service provider.”

This past year, TriaGnoSys launched airborne hardware tech-nology, GSMConneX, which enables inflight GSM, Wi-Fi and the wireless distribution of IFE content. “GSMConneX is revolution-ary because most of the technology is included in one small, lightweight box. It is also simple to install and maintain,” explains Jahn. “The strength of GSMConneX is that it is very small and light – the main unit weights only 5kg – and it is very simple to install and maintain. It is also flexible, in that it can provide GSM, Wi-Fi and wireless IFE services. And it can interface with any radio link, including satellite links: L-band, Ka-band and Ku-band – as well as air-to-ground links.”

GSMConneX is manufactured in Oberfaffenhofen, supplied as certified hardware and is available with an EASA Form 1.


mObILE CONNECTIVITy

These days airline passengers—whether on long-haul flights or short commuter hops—increasingly expect not to have to sacrifice all the connectivity they enjoy at home or in the office just because they happen to be in the air. Airlines

have responded by turning to inflight electronic systems specialists to help them outfit their aircraft with all the technology they need to ensure passengers have full access to all the high-tech tools and toys they want.

One such company is Buxtehude, Germany’s KID-Systeme GmbH, a fully owned subsidiary of Airbus Operations (it’s part of the Cabin and Cargo organization). The independent KID-Systeme brand specializes in in-seat power supply systems and is on the point of introducing its latest product SKYfi, a new modular onboard con-nectivity platform.

“SKYfi enables airlines to provide their passengers with broadband Internet, GSM mobile telephony and inflight entertainment (IFE) streaming content such as movies, electronic media and games,” says Peter Schetschine, Vice President of Customer Affairs. “Fourth generation wireless content is the next step to be added.” Schetschine explains that SKYfi is a scalable system in terms of its functionality. Conveniently for airline customers, the hardware installation is a single, standardized process and doesn’t have to be revisited in order to augment or change the functionality delivered by the system.

That kind of scalability is going to be essential not just for success, but for survival, as mobile device technologies change and evolve increasingly quickly, and as airline passengers increasingly expect to be able to bring any kind of device aboard and have it work fault-lessly. “From our perspective, and the rest of the industry, the BYOD [bring your own device] trend is unstoppable now,” Schetschine says.

“Passengers today travel with their tablets, their iPads, their Androids. The airlines have to ensure that they can receive streaming media, connect wirelessly with social media, watch movies or play games.”

Over the years since its founding in 1985, KID-Systeme has brought a number of major systems to market. SKYpower, billed as the world’s first 110-Volt In-Seat Power Supply System and now installed in over 300,000 seats by over 80 airlines, was brought out in 2000 after two years of development conducted in collaboration

with Lufthansa Technik. The company is just now in the process of introducing SKYfi. The

product name and concept were brought before the market at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg in April, and KID-Systeme plans to highlight the system at the next APEX/IFSA event, which will be held in September in Anaheim, California. With the forthcoming introduction of this major new system, Schetschine says that 2013 is shaping up well for the company. “KID-Systeme is heading for success,” he says. “SKYpower hit all our expectations, and SKYfi complements the product portfolio of KID-Systeme as a world lead-ing cabin system supplier.”

Response to the new system has been positive, Schetschine says. “We have customer contacts and during our sales visits we have started to promote SKYfi. The feedback has been positive. I think it helps very much that we already have the necessary hardware platform installed in more than 250 aircraft.”

While SKYpower and SKYfi are KID-Systeme’s ‘signature’ offerings, over the years the company has posted some other major milestones. These include the company’s introduction of the global AC outlet unit, the 2006 launch of the Seat Power Module for integrated inflight entertainment solutions and the introduction the following year of GSM onboard equipment that enabled mobile telephony applica-tions onboard commercial aircraft. More recently the company has brought out its Advanced Power Converter (2011) and a new USB Power extension (2012).

Notable presences on KID-Systeme’s long list of airline customers include Lufthansa, United Airlines, LATAM, Japan Airlines, Philip-pine Airlines, South African Airways, Air France/KLM, Etihad and Qatar Airways . The company is an approved supplier for Airbus, Boeing and Embraer.

The connected c a b i nInflight electronics specialist KID-Systeme is poised to shake up the market

SKYpower components (USB feature not shown)

Onboard access: power provided by Kid-Systeme’s SKYpower

with Internet connectivity and content via SKYfi

by andrew Brooks


COmPANy PROFILE

Manufacturers around the globe are equipping economy-class tray tables with new and innovative designs to accommodate the immense amount of passengers traveling with portable electronic devices

nick Pajic began working on Smart-Tray International in early 2011 and formed the company after recognizing two noticeable developments in the commercial airline world. First, as he

traveled, he observed the trend of more and more leisure and business airline passengers using their own personal electronic devices (PEDs) while they were onboard. Second, he saw the growing number of airlines exploring the idea of deploying Wi-Fi and content on their aircraft.

“Nick understood that the existing inflight entertainment platforms consisted of heavy, very expensive, high-maintenance, embed-ded systems, and that they were at risk of being displaced by airlines who would rather feed connectivity and content directly to either passenger’s owned or airline provided PEDs,” explains Randy Smith, Director of Business Development and Airline Rela-tions at SmartTray, based in Phoenix. “And

further, he understood that smaller airlines (who could never have afforded the expensive systems) would now have a cheaper way of providing IFE and improve their customer’s inflight experience.”

Pajic is both an engineer and an entrepre-neur. Prior to launching SmartTray Interna-tional, Pajic published inflight magazines for TWA, Western Pacific Airlines and pioneered ads on airline tray tables onboard America West Airlines and US Airways – still ‘flying’ today. “We call him the “serial entrepre-neur,” said Smith. His enthusiasm, leader-ship and unmatched drive are a reflection of our achievements to date. SmartTray was just selected as a Finalist by APEX for the Best Achievement in Technology, Avion Award,” added Smith. “That’s a remarkable achievement in a category where hundreds of companies compete, some of which are multi-billion enterprises!”

SmartTray’s first product, the SmartTray

X1™, is an updated airline tray table that fea-tures a proprietary groove built into the aft of the tray table. It is designed to replace the existing trays in any coach or economy cabin where the trays are mounted on the back of the seat, Smith told PAX International. The groove can be scaled for PEDs of all sizes and shapes, from iPads and minis to Galaxy tablets, Nook and Kindle e-readers and virtu-ally any smartphone.

“Using the X1 tray table, the passenger would now have a handsfree way to view their device, plus with the tablet sitting in the groove, it frees up all that ‘real estate’ in front of the tablet for a meal or drink. This way, the PED is safely secured inside the groove, Randy explains, while adding that the SmartTray X1™ would also give each airline the option of a revenue generating, ad decal based turn-key advertising opportunity, vis-ible when the tray is stowed.

The SmartTray X1™ premiered at the APEX

turned

by Lauren Brunetti

How the tables have


TRAy TAbLES

EXPO last year in Long Beach, CA and after the show, the company had an enthusiastic response by airlines, technology providers, content service managers and the aviation press. “The best comment we heard at that event - and we heard it often was, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’” said Smith.

“SmartTray products boast the simplest tablet device and IFE architecture designs. Period.” said Pajic. “Our products offer increased utility, simplicity and low cost. We help airlines improve their passenger’s inflight experience. We drive higher uptake rates of paid Wi-Fi and purchase of food and beverages. We protect the passenger’s investment in technology and we offer a new stream of incremental revenue via advertising which can turn airline tray tables from a cost to a profit center.”

Many existing IFE systems cost millions per aircraft and thousands per seat, Smith added. They also drive costs for installation and maintenance. The SmartTray line, which is composed of the SmartTray X1™, SmartTray X2™ and SmartTray X3™ are manufactured to match the existing seat and tray and can be installed in minutes with a couple of screws. An entire aircraft can be modified on a routine overnight stay, Smith said. The X2 features a revolutionary ‘tray-in-a-tray’ design which allows travelers to place their tablet device inside a tray table. While the X3 is for carriers who distribute airline owned tablets, they cannot be removed by passengers and are charged on the aircraft in the tray tables.

“In our view, the iPad hasn’t changed the tray table, but it has provided us with a unique opportunity to bring it into the digital age. SmartTray has reinvented the decades old tray table in a dramatic way that will allow passengers to take full advantage of the iPad and other PEDs while preserving the original function of a food tray,” said Pajic.

The remainder of last year saw the company develop strategic partnerships with manufacturers that currently build replace-ment tray tables for the airline industry as well as technology developers and content providers. SmartTray also made presen-tations and developed proposals to more than a dozen airlines in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East.

At the APEX expo this year, in Anaheim, California, Smart-Tray will be unveiling enhanced designs for the SmartTray X1™, X2™, X3™ and tablet device IFE platforms.

It’s not often that less than six months from launch date, a newcomer to the industry has more than 100 airline customers (consisting of both international and domestic carriers) – and

A game changerEarlier this year, Acro Aircraft Seating developed the Ultra Arm Table Seat, a Crystal Cabin Awards finalist that is self-cleaning, lightweight, line replaceable in less than 60 seconds and accord-ing to Cameron Allan, Director of Program Management, “greatly improves passenger comfort and visual appeal.”

The new concept uses Acro’s formula of simplicity and inno-vative design, said Allan, adding that it is also used in conjunction with Acro’s Superlight seat family. By making the mechanism as simple as possible, the traditional table enclosure is not required - returning the full width of the seat to the passenger and providing benefits to the operator in the form of ease of cleaning and reducing part count.

“The Ultra Arm Table Seat is demonstrative of Acro’s core principles – it’s lightweight, robust and deceptively simple,” explains Allan. “We design solutions which include what is nec-essary, rather than what’s expected. For example, the removal of the usual “peanut trap” enclosure around the table and the reduction in part count to the bare minimum results in a maintain-able elegant product, which returns the full width of the seat to the passenger, and reduces ownership costs to the operator.”

Acro Aircraft Seating started in 2006 with the aim of designing from first principles the most comfortable and durable economy class seat in the world. The first seats designed for low cost carriers flew in 2008, and Acro grew steadily until 2012, when the product range expanded to include reclining seats, a full service operator product, and long haul IFE equipped seats. Acro’s production capacity has more than doubled in the past year and now, the company produces 1000 passenger places a month with a staff of 50.

Acro currently has over 20 customers, including KLM, Thomas Cook, Jet2, Aer Arann, Royal Air Maroc, Primera Air, ILFC and ACG.

In particular, 2013 has been a time of rapid growth for Acro. The inevitable challenges of managing this growth have been a focus for much of the management team, says Allan, and the successes include winning their first significant order from the United States for 20 shipsets of Superlight seats, delivering over 2,000 passenger places to KLM Cityhopper, and delivering Ultra seats incorporating IFE to Thomas Cook. “Our administrative team has been strengthened enormously with new appoint-ments in the engineering, production and quality management departments as well.”

The SmartTray X1™ features a proprietary groove built into tray table that can be scaled for PEDs of all sizes and shapes

Acro’s Ultra Arm Table Seat is self-cleaning, lightweight and line replaceable in less than 60 seconds


TRAy TAbLES

Changing the world of IFEC one plane at a time.

Visit us at APEX 2013 Booth #1400

2929 East Imperial Highway, Brea, CA 92821 USA 1.714.854.8600 www.imsco-us.com

ZODIAC INFLIGHT INNOVATIONS

to top it off, this was accomplished with barely any advertising. The company’s main marketing tool is their website.

AirClipZ, exclusively distributed by CAM Marketing LLC, allows passengers to mount their iPad and other electronic tablets directly to the tray table in front of them, in its closed upright position and locked in place.

“The idea for AirClipZ came after watch-ing many airline passengers struggle using their iPads while in flight,” explains Chris Caggiula, President of CAM Marketing LLC.

“I witnessed people constantly holding onto the devices, using neck pillows to try and balance the device, constantly moving and shifting and then as soon as they got some-what comfortable, a fellow passenger would need to get up and stretch or use the facilities. AirCLipZ eliminates all of that – it’s a very simple and easy-to-use product!”

To adjust the viewing angle, passengers simply slide the adjusters up or down to create the “perfect” view, Caggiula explains.

“The iPad is becoming more and more the choice of business and recreational travelers for both work and entertainment uses. As more and more airlines offer onboard access to the internet and streaming video the use

of the iPad is greatly increasing,” he told PAX International. “The iPad is much easier to use and carry then a conventional laptop PC and as more and more applications become web friendly the iPad is becoming the choice of business travelers. I believe that this trend has driven the airlines to accelerate their onboard internet offerings to meet the expectations and demand of their customers.”

Made in the United States from durable,

high-quality materials, AirCLipZ is sold exclusively online. However, Caggiula says the company is looking to expand and is in discussion with several airport retailers - with hopes of having AirCLipZ in the airports soon and to have it available as a buy-on-board item. “We are very focused now in securing a partnership with one or more large retailers. Once we get closer to an agreement we can offer more details,” he said.

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2013EXPO

9-12 SEPTEMBER ANAHEIM, CA USABooth 1720

AirClipZ allows passengers to mount their iPad and other electronic tablets directly to the tray table in front of them


TRAy TAbLES

Changing the world of IFEC one plane at a time.

Visit us at APEX 2013 Booth #1400

2929 East Imperial Highway, Brea, CA 92821 USA 1.714.854.8600 www.imsco-us.com

ZODIAC INFLIGHT INNOVATIONS

The inflight entertainment (IFE) industry is helping to increase the ambient and comfort levels of the passenger experience by advancing audio technology to meet the growing demand and challenges of the market.

In order to take that technology to the final step of the way (the passenger’s ears), IFE headset suppliers and manufacturers continue to face the age-old challenge of helping airlines make the most of their new systems while keeping in line with fluctuating budgets.

PAX International recently spoke with some of the leading sup-pliers and manufacturers of IFE headsets to learn about their new products, initiatives and developments that they have put in place in order to differentiate themselves and to gain a competitive advantage.

AVID Airline ProductsAVID Airline Products claims the distinction of developing the first inflight entertainment device in 1961, for Trans World Airlines. As a division of the original AVID (Audio Visual Instructional Devices), AVID Airline Products developed innovative audio products that included the audio translation headsets for the United Nations; and soon after was producing the first and only IFE headsets in the

world. Today, AVID Airline Products is a privately owned corpora-tion located in Middletown, Rhode Island, and among the leading manufacturers of inflight entertainment and comfort items. With an extensive array of headphones including active noise cancelling, passive noise attenuation, over the head ear clip and ear bud models, AVID has also recently introduced a new high quality headset called the AVID Clarity NC.

“The Clarity noise-cancelling headset sets AVID apart,” said Paul Fleming, Public Relations Representative for AVID. “Importantly, the Clarity is just the beginning of the opportunity we are seeing in higher-quality headsets. Airlines are obviously investing a consider-able amount of money and time installing the latest IFE technology in their planes. Passenger experience and comfort are the leading reasons for the investment,” he added.

Fleming goes on to explain that when it comes to investing in ear buds or headsets, the leading consideration is often price and since the headset is the interface between IFE and the passenger, a poor quality headset can negate the technological benefits of a high performing IFE set-up.

“Selling a better headset or ear bud inflight turns a budget item into a revenue source and ensures a better entertainment experience for the passenger. It also gives the airline a longer-term, after-flight marketing opportunity if the item is branded, for example,” Fleming further explained.

In their latest initiative, AVID has recently introduced a new INVENTORY NOW program.

“We’ve identified the 12 most popular IFE and passenger comfort products airline professionals ask for and we’ve made a major commit-ment to a large inventory of each of these products,” Fleming stated.

Recognizing that airlines are looking to cut budgets and identify new sources of revenues, AVID has decided to develop a program to assist them. The Buy-On-Board (BOB) programs are growing in popularity and are designed to provide benefits to both the airline and the customer. AVID will introduce its new BOB program at the APEX (Airline Passenger Experience Association) Expo.

by tanya FiLippeLLi

AVID Clarity noise-cancelling headset

TunEd instayinG

PAX International listens in on to how leading suppliers and manufacturers of headsets stay tuned in to the IFE market


hEADSETS

Phitek SystemsPhitek Systems was incorporated in 2003 as an acoustics engineering company with the objective of developing audio excellence in the delivery of noise-cancellation technology. Since that time the company has established itself as a premier supplier of integrated connectivity and headphone-based noise cancellation solutions, for major avia-tion customers. Building upon success as a supplier to major IFE systems providers, Phitek launched its premium noise-cancellation headphones in Singapore Airlines’ business class. Currently, Phitek continues to supply Singapore Airlines and more than 16 additional long-haul carriers with high-capacity, ultra-long life noise-cancelling headphones. With key offices in Auckland, New Zealand and Santa Cruz, California, Phitek continues to innovate electro-acoustic technologies for personal listening, through the enhanced delivery of inflight entertainment audio.

“We are committed to sustaining IFE delivery excellence with our existing clients through connector solutions and our patented noise-cancellation technology, delivered via best-in-class passenger headphones,” said Paul Simmonds, Director of Sales at Phitek Systems.

Each of their headset models incorporates Phitek’s proprietary technology, specifically configured to extract the maximum noise cancellation capabilities present in an IFE system.

“Our design development sees new models created in direct response to airline customer needs and their own development of the customer experience,” Simmonds said.

A recent development has been the introduction of a supra-aural (‘on-ear’) premium noise-cancellation headphone, driven by carrier needs focused on space and weight savings and by evolving pas-senger demand.

“Our premium noise-cancellation headset designs are engineered to generate ultra-long life operational performance for airline clients and to be repairable at the conclusion of serviceable cabin life,” Sim-monds explained.

Phitek has in place strict materials quality control protocols that are designed by their own engineers and implemented throughout the manufacturing process.

“In this way, our headsets substantially reduce the environmental impact of plastic use for every airline customer,” Simmonds explained.

“Phitek headsets and their components have the ability to be repaired and recycled on a continual basis with new individual components introduced as required,” he added.

The recent appointment of Roy Moody as a CEO is a clear signal to the industry that Phitek incorporates a deep engineering under-standing of IFE technical challenges with a concurrent commitment to delivering against end user expectations.

Roy Moody spent 11 years as General Manager of Assa Abloy where he was responsible for the company’s New Zealand commercial division. Moody also held the position of Director of Research and Development and more recently General Manager of Connectivity at Phitek Systems.

Malton Inflight LimitedOne of Malton Inflight Limited’s first customers was Virgin Atlantic Airways when it was founded in 1989. Producing a wide range of stereo electronic headphones and earphones for airlines, Malton Inflight now supplies 54% of the world’s top 100 airlines, including four of the seven five-star airlines, picked by Skytrax in its annual awards. They’ve also recently won contracts to supply two of the Middle East’s fastest growing airlines.

Malton Inflight has an extensive range of earphones and headband style headphones for the airline market including its in-ear canal model, the in-ear bud and the successful on-ear clip. Its strongest products are competitively priced noise cancellation headsets. Cur-rently, it’s latest and most popular model is the MLT-830.

“The company’s headset range has become far more sophisticated and desirable for the more discerning airline who appreciates quality and reliability. It goes without saying that these are always supplied at very competitive prices,” said CEO, Gordon Oakley who formed Malton Inflight.

With locations in U.K. and Shanghai, Malton Inflight has grown organically through internal development selecting reputable manu-facturing partners who exemplify both an innovative approach and a socially ethical attitude towards production, according to Oakley.

“Our purpose is to help make it easier for our customers to procure their onboard cabin products reliably and competitively,” Oakley stated.

Malton Inflight has been a member of ITCA (International Travel Catering Association) since the company was formed and now exhibits at the annual World Travel Catering and Onboard Services Expo as well as other trade shows around the world.

SkyMaxWith more than 15 years of experience in the IFE audio business, SkyMax designs and offers a wide range of premium IFE audio equip-ment including in-ear buds and noise cancellation headphones. Its first client was a German airline, and today, as a dedicated specialist in the development of new concepts and the sale of highly developed inflight passenger experience products, SkyMax steadily updates its product portfolio in order to conform to the latest technical standards while assisting airlines with their bottom line, according to Oliver Kloth, Managing Director at SkyMax.

Phitek Cirrus headphones

Malton’s Inflight’s noise cancellation headphones


hEADSETS

World Travel Catering& Onboard Services

8 – 10 April 2014Hamburg Messe , Germany

The eventfor travel catering, onboard retailand passenger comfort

worldtravelcateringexpo.com/enquiry

Interested in booking a stand?For more information contact:Mitra Esmizadeh+44 (0)20 8910 [email protected]

8-10 APRIL 2014

Co-located with: Organised by:

World Travel Catering& Onboard Services

8 – 10 April 2014Hamburg Messe , Germany

The eventfor travel catering, onboard retailand passenger comfort

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8-10 APRIL 2014

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“SkyMax stands for innovative ideas and aims to improve comfort for passengers as well as to optimize possibilities for airline revenues,” Kloth said.

In addition to active noise cancellation headphones and headphone customization, one of SkyMax’s high quality range products is the SMH 103 Leatherette, a premium entry headphone for business class passengers, while another new addition to its portfolio is the new ‘Eco-Line’, which provides lower cost units per product.

SkyMax has also expanded its product portfolio in order to meet the demand for re-usable headphones. As a result, SkyMax is currently working on developing a rental system for the IFE equipment, particularly high-quality headphones to lower total costs of ownership. To control pricing for its cus-

tomers, SkyMax applies lean management in order to avoid waste and unnecessary process steps. For reasons of hygiene, SkyMax also recommends the use of cushions (ear pad covers) to airlines. The company’s Sanitary Headphone Covers, are an inexpensive, easy to install and comfortable method for re-use of their headsets.

“Initiated by large requirements of dis-posables, the headphones of ‘Eco Plus’ are re-usable with certification and focus on total cost of ownership,” Kloth stated.

Working closely with innovative industry partners, SkyMax’s product range is ISO 9001 certified and applies the RoHS (The Restric-tion of Hazardous Substances Directive), short for directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in elec-trical and electronic equipment, and C.E.

according to European standard (a manu-facturer’s declaration that the product meets the requirements of the applicable directives).

SkyMax attributes it success to main-taining closest contact with its production team and informing customers accordingly, according to Kloth.

“It’s most important to always offer the latest state-of-the art technology. Being on the ball is a match decider especially in this business and SkyMax steadily strengthens its position in the hotly contested IFE market,” Kloth concluded.

An abundance of innovative options and leading edge systems are designed and created with sophisticated hardware and technology aimed to improve the passenger experience. As announcements of product launches continue along with the emergence

of new partnerships, the IFE demand is without a doubt even greater to cre-ate this ultimate passenger experience. Meeting ongoing technology improve-ments and providing premium quality products while not losing sight of the bottom figures, these IFE headset man-ufacturers and suppliers know just how to stay tuned in with crisp clarity. Skymax

earbuds


hEADSETS

As the originator of Stimulite®, a fusion-bonded honeycomb technology, Supra-cor has gained worldwide recognition for its line of wheelchair cushions and mattresses that prevent and heal pres-

sure sores. As the year comes to a close, the California

company was preparing for Seattle’s Aircraft Interiors Americas Expo where it will give the industry yet another look at its product’s airline applications.

The company has decades of development behind the latest offering for airline seats. Before Stimulite® there was Hexalite® in the 1980s, an energy absorber for athletic shoes manufactured by Reebok®, then came military seating in F-18 fighter jets and applications in medical support surfaces and sports protec-tive equipment.

Unlike foams and conventional materials, Supracor’s flexible honeycomb is anisotropic, meaning it has varying degrees of resistance from its three sides. Alternatively, foams that are isotropic have the same resistance from all sides. By resisting forces at a different rate, the honeycomb is able to absorb impact from different angles and, in the case of a seat cushion for example, contour to the body.

In Stimulite seating and sleep surfaces, the footprint of the cells’ edges stimulates blood flow, enhancing circulation and preventing numbness that can occur when sitting for long periods of time. These benefits naturally make Stimulite one solution to the discom-

fort of in-flight, long-haul travel.

Taking flightSusan Wilson, Vice President and Creative Director of Supracor said it was a resource-ful engineer at Boeing in search of a more comfortable experience for pilots and crew who is credited for introducing the aviation industry to Stimulite. After inviting pilots to participate in a blind comfort trial of various mattresses including foam, results showed that the Stimulite mattress was preferred hands down.

Today, Stimulite mattresses have been installed on the 787 Dreamliner. With its focus on reducing fuel consumption, the long-range, twin-engine jet-liner needed a lightweight cushioning material that was more comfortable than foam for its crew rest quarters. Boeing has also specified Stimulite mat-tresses for its long-range 747-8 aircraft.

“We are working with sev-eral companies to integrate the technology into many different areas of the aircraft, from the pilots’ seats to the main cabin’s First, Business and Economy seating,” said Wilson.

“Our close partnership with the raw materials provider BASF allows us to fine-tune the thermoplastic polyure-thane (TPU) to best suit the needs of this industry. Supracor and BASF have recently developed, tested and implemented a new generation TPU material specifically targeted to offer advantages in the aerospace industry.”

Next stepsSupracor currently has projects in various stages of development for a broad range of aerospace customers, including airlines, OEM’s, MRO’s and tier-level suppliers. Some of its more innovative products will be on

display at this year’s AIX show in Seattle. These include cushions in various configu-rations that have passed the mandated FAA 14g testing, making them lighter, thinner and more durable than their foam counterparts.

“Airlines are looking to give custom-ers an innovative and comfortable seating solution, which also provides value to the carrier,” added Wilson. “Supracor’s Stimulite honeycomb technology can be designed to exceed any level of comfort while saving the airlines weight and space as well as increas-ing the cushions’ overall useful life when compared to traditional solutions. Addition-ally, the ventilation, antimicrobial nature

as well as recyclability of this advanced technology com-

bine to give the end user a high-value prod-

uct on which to capitalize.”

Beyond aviation, the company is equally excited about its Lifestyle Collection of luxury spa and wellness products, which are currently marketed to upscale spas and hotels. The travel industry in particular, which Wilson says the company is consider-ing targeting, would benefit from Supracor’s carry-on comfort seat cushion, the Supra SeatTM.

A model of seat and back for the first class cabin, made by Supracor

Crew rest easy on the 787 on a mattress made with Supracor padding.

flying high in comfortSupracor takes to the skies with in-flight seating by Cindy sosroutomo


COmPANy PROFILE

MasseysProduction_Layout 1 12-03-05 10:34 AM Page 1

t his year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo in Seattle and APEX/IFSA Expo in Anaheim will be filled, wall-to-wall with examples both inside and outside the aviation world of how companies have strived to make technology easier to use.

Embedded video with touchscreen efficiency and fewer parts and weight will be seen, along with seating made from advanced composites cutting kilograms and cost throughout the cabin. Inte-grated actuators and other components have been designed for easy swapping and even easier testing.

But looks can be deceiving. A typical passenger may be able fasten a seatbelt for a long flight, surf the Internet and pick out a favorite movie with technological acumen that makes the tasks simple even for a four year old. This can be accomplished with equipment sup-plied by the airline or dug from a laptop bag. For all those activities to reliably come together, a number of elements need to have fallen into place very early in the process.

The companies that supply every piece of equipment that goes onto the surface and into the guts of the airline seat know that while those passenger’s experience may be easy, getting it all together for them is rarely a simple task.

However, making the complex task simple for passengers is a job that must be done. That that job falls on the shoulders of every com-pany that places one of its products into the airline seat. Months in meeting after meeting and batteries of tests must be completed until the final product can be FAA approved and placed in the airline cabin.

Many aspects of that long process will be addressed in a daylong section on Tuesday October 1 at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, which will bring in a veritable who’s who of com-panies and individuals to hash out the subject in a full day Seating & IFE Integration Symposium.

The Lumexis inflight entertainment system is designed for easy installation and testing

The Recaro CL3710 economy class seat with embedded IFE

The subject of teaming embedded inflight entertainment with seating from a varied and growing number of companies will be addressed head-on at this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo by riCk Lundstrom

thE WAyEasing


SEAT INTEGRATION

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agenda (business attire)

Thursday, November 7th

Conference Breakfast 8–10am Presentation/Conference Program

Exhibits Open 10am–3pm

Evening Event (offsite venue)

Tuesday, November 5th

Registration 9am–5pm

Opening Reception Hotel Arts

Wednesday, November 6th

Conference Breakfast 8–10am Keynote Address/

Conference Program

Exhibits Open 10am–4pm

Evening Event (offsite venue)

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Reed Exhibitions, organizers of the Aircraft Interiors Expo Ameri-cas and the Symposium were still confirming speakers and partici-pants in late August. Four sessions were planned for the Symposium and a large group featured speakers at throughout the day were part of the schedule in late August.

In late August, Reed Exhibitions had confirmed Zuzana Hrnkova, Head of Aircraft Interiors Marketing at Airbus; Alex Pozzi, Vice President of the Advanced Design Group at B/E Aerospace and Jason Adams, Aircraft Interiors/IFE Supply Chain General Manager at Delta Air Lines. The day will open with a session devoted to trends in consumer electronics and smart phone technology. The second session will cover the business importance of integration by suppli-ers. The topic will be expanded in the third session, as panelists will discuss critical industry standards, and the impact of regulations on the integration between seat, inflight entertainment and connectivity.

Jason Johnson, Director of Technical Services and Engineering at Omni Air International will give visitors a case study of Omni’s 777 IFE integration. Organizers plan a far-reaching discussion on the pros and cons of new or refurbished seats for IFE integration, ways to assemble an IFE integration team and selecting vendors for project management and ways to work across a multiple vendor project.

The day will round out with two speakers. Rick Lockhart, Presi-dent at Skypaxxx Interior Repairs will highlight areas of cooperation with airlines and engineers and other players in the seat integration. Finally, a yet to be named executive from Zodiac Aerospace will focus on “The IFE Experience” followed by a question and answer session.

“The topic of IFE and seat integration is clearly a focal point within the industry at the present and by adding a quality list of speakers, there is no doubt that the appeal and relevance of the Symposium will provide a unique and timely platform to debate trends and issue,” said

Katie Murphy, Exhibition Director for Aircraft Interiors America, in the late summer announcement of the Tuesday Symposium.

The level of participation, the myriad of topics and the issue of making IFE of all varieties work with a growing number of seat types by a growing number of manufacturers were all indications that successfully merging IFE and seating was a complex issue. That challenge is also being tossed by the tide of rapidly expanding selec-tion of consumer electronics carried aboard by passengers.

“The iPad is still driving innovation,” said Rich Salter, Chief Tech-nology Officer at Lumexis. “Passengers want an iPad-like experience in the seat. Control of the screen with multiple fingers, quick response, and it has to be high-definition.”

Salter will be one of the panelists for a discussion on “the busi-ness case for closer integration” which will be the second session in the daylong symposium. He will be joined by Neil James, Executive Director of Corporate Sales and Product Management at Panasonic Avionics Corp. and Jason Adams of Delta Air Lines.

Salter’s company has been one of the players in the rapidly evolving technology that is now changing the face of embedded IFE. Devel-oped over the last 10 years, Lumexis products enjoyed interest and sales in the last four to five years and installed on aircraft round the world. Using fiber optic cable and simple hardware architecture, the Lumexis IFE system is composed of a touch screen in each seatback with simple connections in each seating row that can be easily tested and components that can be easily removed. It can also be easily installed. When a new 737 is delivered to flydubai, crews can go to

Jim Cangiano, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Recoro said greater standardization among IFE components would be helpful in seat integration

“ the iPad is still driving innovation,”– Rich Salter, Chief Technology Officer at Lumexis


SEAT INTEGRATION

work on the aircraft in a maintenance hanger, installing a full IFE system in approximately two-and-a-half days.

But even the simplicity of the system presents challenges. Airlines are keen to turn the process of integration and testing over to the supplier partners as much as possible, said Salter.

Then, there are the meetings. Suppliers first get together during an initial techni-cal coordination meeting (ITCM). A few weeks later, a technical coordination meet-ing (TCM) works out more mechanical requirements. A preliminary design review (PDR) is the followed by a critical design review (CDR), before a seat, its IFE and its various components are ready for the airline customer.

“For an embedded IFE system, the seats are really the long pole in the tent,” Salter told PAX International. “They’re the things that takes the longest for the airline to get. And, of course, the IFE has be checked out and qualified in each seat…and it is not getting any simpler.”

The time consuming aspect of getting a seat system ready for a cabin has been one of the reasons for a large number of new entrants in the seating market. But one com-pany that has established itself over the years has been Recaro Aircraft Seating. Taking part alongside Salter at the same session will be Jim Cangiano, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Recaro USA.

“The technology has been evolving very quickly, and this has different ramifications for each of the stakeholders that are affected,” said Cangiano. One example, he said, is the seat product development cycle. Tradition-ally, he said a company like Recaro could develop a seat that easily lasted a decade on the market before some type of phase out.

“This is a lifetime in the personal device world,” Cangiano said. “As ten years ago, we were using flip phones and texting was in its early infancy.

“Seat suppliers are more often consider-ing modularity as it relates to a wide range of personal devices now and in the future.”

Seeking that optimum one-size-fits-all approach where every tablet is roughly the same size, would allow seat makers to develop a tray table to hold them all. This is one of the ways that manufacturers could help seat makers, said Cangiano.

Recaro Seating prides itself on its ability to supply a high level of standardization with some customization opportunities. A good example, said Cangiano is the company’s

“high literature” pocket that is designed to fit most tablets. Part of the success of this aspect of seat design was the way the company worked the IFE suppliers themselves.

“By getting together early in both of our design processes and sharing ideas from our unique perspectives, we find that we are more able to adapt our design ideas to ensure ease of manufacture, while still meeting the

passengers need for storage and mounting,” Cangiano said.

There may be indications that, at least for embedded IFE, the evolution that is changing size and configuration may be slowing down. Since its first product was launched, Lumexis has made its embedded video boxes denser and slightly narrower from 1.75 inches thick to 1.25 inches. At approximately a kilogram per device, Salter said there’s not much fur-ther the company can go to decrease weight and overall size of the product.

The development of IFE technology is racing ahead in an industry that is poised for growth. Every new aircraft delivery is providing opportunities, but also demanding innovation and cooperation from players across the spectrum. Over the next five years, a forecast from Research and Markets shows that the aircraft interiors market will grow to US$12 billion by 2016 and at a annual rate of 8% over the next five years.

“In 2010, the interiors sector was valued at US$8.4 billion,” said a release from Reed Exhibitions, organizers of the AIX Americas.

“And the report cites customization and brand positioning as key drivers for the investment in interiors, in addition to the expanding worldwide aircraft fleet.

“In light of this report, the opening session of this year’s Symposium, which takes place on the opening day of the Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas, will be timely as its theme will be “Inspiration and Opportunity.”

rECAro BECoMES LEAD INSPECtor for A380 SEAtSIn August, Recaro announced that it would be responsible for quality control that includes source inspections for all the seats installed on the A380.

“With this delegation of responsibility for the approval of seats for the A380, approval for all of the economy-class-products that we supply to Airbus is now in our hands. This makes us not only the first Airbus supplier conducting supplier source inspection for the A380, but also the only aircraft seating supplier in the world given this authority for all of the products it supplies to Airbus,” said Dr. Mark Hiller, Chief Executive Officer of Recaro Aircraft Seating.

The company has carried out the final source inspections and approvals for seats in the A318, A319, A320 and A321 short-range aircraft. In April the German company was granted authorization

to carry out supplier source inspections for the long haul seats it produces for the A330 and A340 aircraft.

Source inspections are done to ensure that the product meets the requirements of the aircraft manufacturer and the customer airlines. In the future, this final approval process will be conducted solely by Recaro.

“This makes it possible for us to recognize problems early and to respond immediately to deviations, with the goal of ensuring zero error production. This decision to authorize us to conduct supplier source inspections for A380 seats shows us that the customer has been watching this all very closely and has decided to honor our performance with his most important vote of confidence,” said Mirjam Bruhns, Director Quality and Process Management at Recaro Aircraft Seating.


SEAT INTEGRATION

t o ensure a satisfied passenger everything has to run smoothly and safety is at the top of the list. If things go well we often

don’t notice the items that provide us with a safe cabin experience. But they are no less important.

EMTEQThe best way to ensure something is done safely is to make sure that it can be completed correctly the first time. That’s the principle that Wisconsin-based EMTEQ has embraced with its new eFIT LED lighting solution.

“It is is a true drop-in replacement for the Airbus family and Boeing 737 platforms. To EMTEQ, the meaning of ‘drop-in’ is quick, easy installation. A mechanic would take the fluorescent [light] out and use the existing connectors and mounting provisions,” said Peter Tessmann, Marketing Specialist with EMTEQ. “So the operator is saving on wiring, engineering, and labor for the installation while getting all the benefits of LED lighting.”

Tessmann said that using LED lighting inside the cabin provides numerous safety benefits. They charge escape path lighting systems faster than fluorescent lighting, help-ing to guarantee a safe exit for passengers and the crew in an emergency. LED lights also generate less heat and lower current than fluorescent lighting.

EMTEQ’s LEDs also last a longer-than-average 50,000 hours compared to other industry providers. The company’s LED lighting can be found on airlines including

Transaero, Icelandia and Condor.EMTEQ’s eFIT LED lighting solutions

are currently available in both white and white/blue combinations to provide mood lighting. Both options come in multiple color temperatures.

For those airlines that want to differenti-ate themselves, EMTEQ has designed the QUASAR II Full Spectrum Mood Lighting Solution. Currently being certified, the solu-tion can provide custom lighting animations and dynamic scenes such as sun rises for their passengers during flights.

Tessmann said the product has become quite popular with EMTEQ’s clients.

“We’ve had requests to do mock ups from the Aurora Borealis to replicating lava,” he said. “[With QUASAR II] there really are no limitations of where an airline would want to go. The potential for differentiation of airlines based on the dynamic effects of QUASAR II go deeper than lighting has gone before. Branding and emotional reac-tion will become a standard and increase customer loyalty.” In addition to the dynamic scenes, the light offers crisp whites and can be blended into more than 16 million color options.

EMTEQ is now using its expertise in lighting and is offering exterior LED lights. EMTEQ offers a line of exterior lights for multiple platforms including landing and taxi, PAR 34/46/64, ACL, beacons, and logo lights. Tessmann said EMTEQ’s taxi and landing lights provide all the benefits of its interior lights: low heat, low current, and a

long service life. But they also provide vis-ibility for the pilot, air traffic controllers and other aircraft.

Like EMTEQ’s eFIT LED lighting solution, its landing and taxi lights are easy to install. Tessmann said that a mechanic would be able to install the lights in the time a plane is on the ground in between flights.

EMTEQ will be showcasing all three types of lighting solutions at its booth at this year’s IFSA/APEX Expo. Tessmann said its staff will also be available for meetings at Aircraft Interiors Americas in Seattle. In addition to its lighting, the company is also showcasing its engineering and avionics services.

Tessmann said that EMTEQ is able to provide its engineering and avionics ser-vices, LED lighting, cables, trays, and system installation kits from any of its seven global locations in the USA, Canada, Switzerland, or Brazil.

Celeste IndustriesWhen it comes to developing products to ensure a cleaner cabin, there needs to be a balance between disinfecting a cabin and sacrificing cleaning according to Celeste® Industries Corporation’s International Busi-ness Development Manager, Dora Cheatham.

“What you find with a lot of disinfectants is they may kill viruses, bacteria and even fungi, but many of them leave behind a fine layer that attracts dirt. Long-term, your aircraft is not going to look great. It’s like an item of cloth-ing that you’ve worn over and over again and it starts to look worn and grungy,” she said.

EMTEQ’s “drop-in” eFIT LED lights are available in white and white-blue color combinations.

PAX International spoke to three companies about how their products keep passengers safe in the cabin by John Guise

Safety, bEhind thE ScEnES


SAFETy IN ThE CAbIN

To beat that grunge, Celeste® has devel-oped its Interior Cleaner Complete product that actually builds up a protective surface to prevent dirt from building up over time. Cheatham says its just one of the things companies like Celeste® need to watch out for.

“One of the concerns that many airlines have is “if I clean it with a disinfectant and I don’t rinse it off what happens if food gets on there or if a child is eating on there is that an issue,” Cheatham said.

In additional to its Interior Cleaner Com-plete product, Celeste®’s other offerings include Glyco-San® for cleaning aircraft potable water tanks, lines and coffee makers as well as micro fiber cleaning clothes and sponges. It also produces a line of personal sanitizer towelettes to be used by passengers as well as a water-free hand-sanitizers.

Celeste® ensures that all of its products comply with the regulations of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding product efficacy regardless of where they are sold in the world. Celeste® is also environ-mentally focused delivering products that are free of carcinogens and biodegradable. The company’s products are also tested to ensure that they don’t cause issues to the surface of airplane components.

To meet airlines demands for products during cold and flu season, Celeste® devel-

oped its SafeHands® line of hand sanitizers. The SafeHands® foaming hand sanitizing solution contains 62% ethyl alcohol was

one of the products that was able to help airlines from spreading the 2009 H1N1 swine flu epidemic. It is also 99.99% effective against spread-ing bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella.

UTC Aerospace Efficient evacuations for passengers and crew are the main focus of UTC Aerospace’s cabin LED lighting. The company believes they are key to ensuring that passengers and crew

are able to leave an aircraft safely in an emer-gency situation.

“Lights by definition illuminate the way for passengers and crew during flights without incident as well as illuminating the way to safety and out of harm’s way when in dan-ger,” Hermann Koch, Business Development Manager at UTC Aerospace System’s light-ing systems facility in Lippstadt, Germany told Pax International in an email interview.

“Illuminated indicator signs are an important means of providing safety information for the passengers. For example they can tell the passengers to return to their seats, to fasten their seat belts or to turn off elec-tronic devices. Floor path marking lights and battery operated exit signs contribute significantly to the passengers’ safety, too. In case of emergency, their reliability is an indispensable precondition for the safe and quick evacuation of the aircraft.”

The company has ensured that its cabin lighting remains safe inside the cabin by mak-ing sure that all of the touchable components of its LED lights remain at room temperature during flight to avoid burning passengers and crew. UTC’s lights are also shock- and

vibration-resistant. This helps to reduce any chance of the lights’ tubes or bulbs breaking and injuring passengers or crew. The lights also provide constant and uniform brightness to provide a stable level of illumination in the cabin for passengers and crew.

According to Koch, the Charlotte North Carolina-headquartered company is continu-ally focused on improving the safety of its lighting products. “UTC Aerospace Systems’ is continuously improving the lifetime and lowering the maintenance effort of its emer-gency lighting products by reducing their power consumption,” he said.

The same quality that the company puts into its interior cabin lighting is also found in its aircraft evacuation slides.

“Our evacuation slides incorporate light-weight fabric, durability and reliability when it comes to some of their benefits,” Laura Neel, UTC’s Client Manager for Interiors based at the company’s Phoenix operations. Some of UTC’s evacuation slides can also be used as life rafts during landings on water.

As evacuation slides are required on board aircraft that fly 100 miles or more away from land and must function properly. UTC requires that its airline customers turn their slides in for a complete overhaul or service check a minimum of every three years. In addition, the company performs function-ality testing on 100% of its evacuation slides and each one is properly repacked before its sent to the customer.

UTC Aerospace Systems will be exhibiting some of their lighting products and life rafts at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) trade show this year. “Chances are the next generation of safety lighting and evacuation slides will have to incorporate weight savings and cost savings along with longer shelf life to make them more cost effective overall,” Neel said.

UTC’s lights remain at room temperature during flight

Celeste® Industries manufacturers personal Sani-Com towelettes Celeste® Industries manufacturers


SAFETy IN ThE CAbIN

The Zonal Drying™ SystemCompany Name: CTT Systems AB Company Location: Nykoping, Sweden Description: The Zonal Drying™ System from CTT prevents condensation in modern aircraft, resulting in lower fuel consumption and emissions. The system effectively removes moisture using established industrial technology; it takes air from the crown area or cargo area and feeds it though zonal dryer units between the cabin and the outer skin of the aircraft, using a specially designed piccolo duct.

Contemporary experienceCompany Name: Lufthansa SystemsCompany Location: Kelsterbach, GermanyDescription: BoardConnect by Lufthansa Systems is a wireless infotainment platform with the ability to integrate content from movies to duty-free shopping and travel information while offering a contemporary shopping experience. BoardConnect can stream DRM protected content and comes with superior usability and striking economic advantages. Visit Lufthansa at APEX: Booth #430

Advanced sound performanceCompany Name: LinstolCompany Location: Naples, FL & London, UKDescription: Linstol is pleased to introduce the PE-90, its latest small and light earbud model. Designed with an air-tube feature to provide advanced sound performance, this new model also offers a comfortable and secure fit for long periods of wear. The PE-90 is equipped with soft silicone earpieces with great noise reduction. The earbud is available in a variety of colors and can be manufactured to the airlines technical specifications. Linstol also provides a range of low cost packaging solution that can include promotional messages.Visit Linstol at APEX: Booth #200

WHAT’SHOT!

On-demandCompany Name: Rockwell CollinsCompany Location: Cedar Rapids, IowaDescription: Rockwell Collins PAVES™ On-demand: The industry’s most versatile in-flight entertainment system. Airlines can improve their passengers’ experience with PAVES On-demand from Rockwell Collins. PAVES On-demand provides in-seat audio/video on demand. Travelers can enjoy high-definition entertainment while the system’s reliable, compact footprint, lightweight and maintenance-friendly features help minimize cost of ownership.Visit Rockwell Collins at APEX: Booth #1000

New Inventory ProgramCompany Name: AVID Company Location: Middletown, Rhode IslandDescription: AVID is pleased to introduce its new INVENTORY NOWSM program. The most popular IFE and passenger comfort products have been identified through the program and a consistent and reliable supply are available from headsets and earbuds to fleece blankets and socks.Visit AVID at APEX: Booth #1702


what’s hot!

Porcelain collectionsCompany Name: Global Inflight ProductsCompany Location: Redmond, WashingtonDescription: Global Inflight Products (G.I.P.) offers innovative porcelain collections to allow airlines to showcase menus and flavors of inventive cuisines. Elegant and simple porcelain options are available for various destinations and diverse culinary repertoires. Global Inflight Products is a leading provider of various inflight products including cutlery, tableware, glasses and much more.

New design conceptCompany Name: LinstolCompany Location: Naples, FL & London, UKDescription: Linstol is pleased to introduce the 225 Noise Cancelling Headset now being offered to airlines. Since sound performance has developed more over time than the design element, The Linstol Design Team has recognized this and developed a new manufacturing process where more individual parts of the headset can be manufactured to design specifications as requested by the airlines by providing flexibility for individual customization. Visit Linstol at APEX: Booth #200

Who’s game?Company Name: IFE ServicesCompany Location: Cheshire, UKDescription: Leading in-flight entertainment provider, IFE Services, recently teamed up with specialist games company, GUE Tech, to shake up the in-flight games industry. The alliance means that airlines can now choose from over 200 popular PlayStation, Xbox, Wii and casual games to entertain their passengers onboard. IFE Services is a leading provider of in-flight entertainment solutions to the airline industry. Its focus on quality and innovation is supported by a strong commitment to customer service and investment in the latest systems and technologies.Visit IFE Services at APEX: Booth #1031

Lighting solutionCompany Name: EMTEQCompany Location: New Berlin, WisconsinDescription: eFIT ™ Drop-In LED Lighting Solution by EMTEQ provides the ambience and functionality for a refreshed look on the 737NG and Airbus. With no changes needed for attendant or flight panels, nor the drop-in installation of the existing mounting provisions and connectors, eFIT ™ is a very cost-effective modification. Visit EMTEQ at APEX: Booth #1804

Get connectedCompany Name: Zodiac Inflight InnovationsCompany Location: Brea, CaliforniaDescription: Connectivity is now part of the RAVE™ product line, which will complement Zodiac’s classic RAVE™ AVOD system. The RAVE™ connectivity line follows a modular concept that can be tailored to each airline’s needs, allowing them to pick and choose from features such as “Wireless Cabin”, “Broadband Connectivity”, “Streamed IFE”, and “GSM”. Visit Zodiac Inflight Innovations at APEX: Booth #1400


what’s hot!

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Two-thirds of all air travellers carry more than two personal devices which they will use during fl ight. Will they be able to charge all of these devices? Do they get a power reload? Our legend SKYpower has a new family member. USB Power. Stand alone and combined with our classic system. Now available and in service. Give People the Power they need.

Attendees at this year’s Airline Passenger Experience Association Awards night can expect a little camp humor to go with the yearly litany of airline recognition.

Pam Ann has been tapped by APEX to be the host for event. Pam is the alter ego of Australian comedienne Caroline Reid. Pam’s “performances focus on the nuances of air travel, identifying the individual quirks of some of the biggest international airlines and their media stereotypes,” said a description of her shtick, which draws heavily on the period of aviation from the late 50s to early 70s. She has been featured on advertising campaigns for British Airways and was part of the entertainment three years ago, when JetBlue Airways opened its new hangar at New York’s Kennedy Airport.

This year there are 13 separate categories in the Passenger Choice Awards. To pick the finalists passengers responded to an online survey available to any member of the traveling public, at the encouragement of member airlines. Also during the early evening event the Avion Awards will be distributed the airlines and vendors for technological advancement and commitment to the passenger experience. APEX also recognizes the accomplishments and com-mitment of an individual with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The winners will be announced at a cocktails and appetizers event from 5:45 to 7:15 p.m. September 9 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The following is the list of finalists for this year’s APEX Awards:

Best Overall Passenger exPerienceEmirates

Etihad Airways

Garuda Indonesia

Virgin America

Virgin Atlantic Airways

Best in regiOn: africaAir Mauritius

Ethiopian Airlines

Kenya Airways

South African Airways

Best in regiOn: americasAir Transat

Avianca S.A

Delta Air Lines

JetBlue

Virgin America

Best in regiOn: asia and australasiaAir New Zealand

Cathay Pacific

Garuda Indonesia

Singapore Airlines

PIA

Qantas Airways

Best in regiOn: eurOPeNorwegian Air Shuttle

SWISS International

TAP Portugal

Turkish Airlines

Virgin Atlantic Airways

Best in regiOn: middle east Emirates

Etihad Airways

Gulf Air

Qatar Airways

Royal Jordanian Airlines

Best inflight PuBlicatiOnAvianca S.A.

Garuda Indonesia

Gulf Air

Ethiopian Airlines

TACA International Airlines

Best ife user interfaceEmirates

Etihad Airways

Royal Jordanian Airlines

Virgin America

Virgin Atlantic Airways, LTD

Best inflight cOnnectivity & cOmmunicatiOnsEmirates

Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA

Oman Air

PIA

Virgin America

Best inflight videOAir New Zealand

Emirates

EVA Air

TAP Portugal

Virgin America

Best caBin amBianceAir Transat

Emirates

Singapore Airlines

SWISS International

Virgin America

Best fOOd & Beverage (in cOnjunctiOn with the internatiOnal flight services assOciatiOn)Emirates

Etihad Airways

Singapore Airlines

SWISS International

Turkish Airlines

Best grOund exPerienceAvianca S.A

Delta Air Lines

El Al Israel Airlines Ltd.

Garuda Indonesia

Virgin America

c a l e n d a rAPEX/IFSA EXPO, September 9-12, Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California, For more information Contact IFSA at (404) 252-3663, e-mail [email protected] or contact APEX at (212) 297 – 2177, [email protected]

Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas, October 1-3, Seattle, For more information contact: Customer Service at 203-840-5680 [email protected]

Aircraft E-Enablement Connectivity and IFE Conference, October 1-2, Park Inn Hotel at London Heathrow. For more information, call +44 1403 230 700 or contact [email protected]

Marine Hotel Association European Conference & Trade Show, November 5-7, Hotel Arts Barcelona. For more information, contact [email protected] or call (415) 332-1903.

International Travel Catering Association/SIAL Middle East Trade Show and Networking Forum, November 24-26, Abu Dhabi. For more information, go toitcanet.com

2014Middle East Rail 2014, February 4-5, Dubai World Trade Centre, For more information, contact Terrapinn Middle East, 971 4440 2500 or [email protected]

Aircraft Interiors Expo and World Travel Catering and Onboard Services Expo, April 8-10, Hamburg Messe, For more information +44 (0) 208 271 2174 [email protected]

cruise3sixty, April 2-6, Broward County Convention Center, Fort Lauderdale. For more information, contact Nicole Dunbar, [email protected] call 949-457-1545

InnoTrans rail event, September 23-26, Berlin. For more information, contact Mary Jo Balve at [email protected] or call 732 933 1118

Finalists announced for APEX Awards


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Pax International - September/October 2013

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