5th Generation pairing with Digital Aircraft : Aviation and Management

Let’s begin from the very beginning:

• From the 1950s to the mid-1960s, the first generation of commercial jets included the Boeing 707, the Douglas DC-8, and others.
• Between the mid-1960s and 1980, the second generation added embedded auto-flight, including more sophisticated auto-pilot and auto-throttle, as seen on the Boeing 727 and pre-400 747s, the Lockheed L-1011, and the Douglas DC-10.
• The third generation, which began in the early to mid 1980s, introduced glass flight decks and flight management systems, as well as electronic flight deck displays, improved navigation performance, and terrain avoidance systems, and is now retired or on its way out: the Airbus A310, Boeing 757 and 767, and McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and MD-90.
• The fourth generation is fly-by-wire, which began in the late 1980s and includes aircraft such as the A320, A330/340, 777, and others, as well as safety techniques such as flight envelope protection.

It appears that a fifth generation has emerged: the connected aircraft, which are distinguished by being built from the ground up to reap the benefits of the kind of inflight connectivity that became available in the late 2000s, when real-time broadband communication to and from the aircraft became a fact.

In the history of aviation, says Inmarsat Aviation senior vice president of technology Kurt Weidemeyer, "the industry has seen unprecedented developments — from hand and light signals to radio, to radar transmissions via satcom with GPS."

New possibilities in operations and airspace management have emerged with each step of the journey, Weidemeyer says.

Indeed, one of the primary advantages of connectivity is improved operational and off-aircraft performance. And, as a proportion of the advantages, it is growing to match the benefits of no longer being isolated 40,000 feet up.

However, there are numerous critical aspects when it comes to connectivity and how to incorporate connected aircraft, according to IATA, the International Air Transport Association.

According to Perry Flint, the airline trade association's head of corporate communications, the airline trade association concentrates on three sets of facets to understand the emerging perks of connectivity:

• Data access, driving safety, situational awareness, and operational efficiency?
• Communications, including in-flight weather, live electronic tech logging, and updated NOTAMs?
• Integration, including guaranteeing that disparate applications cooperate

"Older aircraft had fewer sensors and data collection systems on board," Flint explains. "Over the last decade, the advancement of sensor technologies and computing power has risen by orders of magnitude for the new aircraft types: the 787, A350, A320neo, 737 MAX, and A220."

"With these aircraft, network development enabled automated data retrieval while the aircraft was on the ground." Certain data can now be transferred while in flight. However, this is still restricted due to delays in incorporating such innovations as funding and economies of scale develop slowly," Flint says.

Connected aircraft bring both passenger and operational benefits

According to Weidemeyer, "for passenger services, inflight broadband will enhance the onboard experience and open up new ancillary revenue streams."

The host of possibilities passengers can do with their onboard experience has expanded over the last thirty years, from looped seatback channels to on-demand and now in-flight streaming video, including to passengers' own devices. It's not just sending a quick message or streaming a movie: it's online shopping, two-screening some entertainment, staying in nearly constant contact with family, friends, or the office, and keeping our online lives nearly eight miles above the ground.

"Beyond the passenger experience, in-flight wifi provides a possibility for airlines to generate revenue," Weidemeyer suggests. "While there is a rising desire for investment in this area, more attention should be focused on ancillary revenue generation over the next five to ten years."

Essential to work toward greater interoperability

The potential benefits of connected aircraft are various, with a wide range of consequences for cost, service, and interoperability that rely on them making the right decision. Fundamentally, these consequences represent a structural flaw in aviation. Because of the timeframes involved in aircraft capital investment, true, functional integration must become a priority in the future.

Some of this is due to the modern digital philosophy underlying apps, SDKs, and APIs, which enables the use of a wide range of data in specific, targeted ways.

Flint cites TASAR (Traffic Aware Strategic Requests), a NASA-developed app for electronic flight bags, as an example, describing that "the application takes in details from onboard avionics and external sources, including ADS-B In, traffic and weather from connectivity services, to imply option routing or altitude to reduce flight time or fuel burn." According to a 2012 analysis of 1,500 US airline flights, the proposed route changes would save approximately 2.4 million gallons of fuel, or US $10.3 million.

We can look forward to SWIM, the System-Wide Information Management ecosystem, which enables real information exchange from the aircraft to the ground—and to other aircraft—in a more integrated future. This makes it much easier to achieve shared, agreed-upon details and to make decisions on the basis of the most exact, up-to-date data.

Benefits from the aircraft need to be considered too

Of course, there are drawbacks to all of this. "Modern aircraft generate massive amounts of data second by second," Weidemeyer says. "The Airbus A350, for example, generates four gigabytes per flying hour." However, in order to maximize its impact, it is critical to identify what data is relevant, as well as when and where it should be conveyed.

Weidemeyer says that the full value of passenger information data, technical slip observations, engine performance findings, and other similar data cannot be noticed unless the information is expressed in real-time as the aircraft flies. With today's greater interaction, planes can interact with what needs to happen on the ground long before they arrive.

This means tangible improvements to the passenger experience as well as procedures along the way.

"Connected aircraft will revamp how airlines operate," says Weidemeyer.

"Because paperless cabin crew presentations and the potential to report technical flaws before the plane lands make airport comebacks more productive and likely to remain on routine." A linked fleet that provides continuous engine and system performance intelligence around the world allows airlines to make better-prepared, more strategic asset utilization decisions—and predictive maintenance can be premised on more timely input. A connected electronic flight bag can provide pilots with detailed, visual information about aircraft performance, allowing them to avoid bad weather and save fuel.

Emerging innovations are also on the horizon: low-Earth orbit satellite constellations are expected to modify cost constraints, while automated requests from aircraft for preventive analytics are well within the reach of today's technology stack.

The Bottom Line?

The Aviation Industry is taking its wings and growing in the right direction to achieve great development for the country. So, it's important to utilize the advancements for the future growth of our economy.?