Honeywell aims to improve Wi-Fi on flights

Arizona’s aerospace industry is working to overcome one of the many frustrations of air travelers.

Phoenix-based Honeywell Aerospace is developing a satellite-based system aimed at keeping airline passengers digitally connected during their flights.

Inflight Wi-Fi systems are available on nearly 40 percent of domestic U.S. flights and 6.5 percent of U.S. overseas flights, according to a study released in June by Routehappy, an air travel website.

But those air-to-ground systems, which use cell towers and in some cases satellites, have limited capacity.

Honeywell and its partner Inmarsat, a communications satellite company, want to change that with a more reliable system of higher speeds and more capacity. The project is just one example of the type of work being pursued by Arizona’s aerospace and defense industry, one of state’s economic mainstays.

London-based Inmarsat plans to launch the first satellite in December and two more next year as the backbone of its Global Xpress system.

The goal is to make it available to airlines by early to mid-2015, said Jack Jacobs, a Honeywell vice president of marketing, safety, information and product management.

“Honeywell is banking on the game that this insatiable appetite for always being connected is going to continue,” Jacobs said. “We know (passengers) want to be connected to be free to do what they want to do.”

Connectivity within the cabin would be the most noticeable improvement for air travelers. But the Global Xpress system is also intended to reduce operation costs for airlines and make flights safer by providing more real-time information for pilots and maintenance crews.

Honeywell, with about 7,300 employees in the Valley, plans a design review of the system by the end of the year, Jacobs said.

Honeywell’s own research showed that 86 percent of U.S. travelers say that wireless Internet should be available on all

“Passengers definitely want a better experience” similar to what they have at home with a cable modem, he said.

In addition to Internet connectivity, the system will provide three channels of live TV and other channels of entertainment content.

In the cockpit, the Honeywell system will provide better communications between aircraft and updated weather information that can guide pilots to avoid storms.

The system will also improve airline maintenance by enhancing the ability to gather and analyze all the data on the aircraft’s flight systems.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to know that on the last three flights I worked the brakes hard and they should be checked or I went through a hailstorm?” Jacobs said.

Overall, the new system would provide more consistent performance, more bandwidth and at a lower cost per bit, he said.

“That’s the value proposition for airlines,” he added. “I’m going to save you money and time and make air travel safer.”