Boeing has signed a new deal with Honeywell Aerospace to research and develop a new reliable, high-speed in-flight Wi-Fi solution.
The agreement will allow Boeing and Honeywell to develop a new solution that will utilise the Inmarsat Global Xpress system, with the new technology expected to be fitted to new Boeing aircraft from 2015. The roll-out will apply to Boeing’s 737, 747-8, 777 and 787 models.
The two companies said they wanted to address “passengers’ increasing demands for faster, more reliable in-flight connectivity on iPads, smartphones, tablet devices and laptops while over land and crossing oceans", and create “truly connected aircraft".
Carl Esposito, Honeywell Aerospace’s vice president of marketing & product management admitted that the current in-flight Wi-Fi solutions are “unreliable".
“The current in-flight connectivity landscape offers only a narrow field of overland flight paths… and does not adequately address passengers’ burgeoning desire for a true global in-flight connectivity offering," Esposito said. “Both Boeing and Honeywell understand this demand for global connectivity and are collaborating to ensure that airlines are equipped to provide passengers with the fastest and most reliable global in-flight connectivity experience possible."
The first new system will utilise the Inmarsat GX Ka-band satellite, which is expected to launch in late 2013. Boeing said it planned to make the service “available for commercial, business aviation and government customers in 2015″.
