We have just completed our first ever Global Connected Aircraft Summit event in California with a top-class line up of speakers with a number of global airlines such as United, Lufthansa, Emirates, Etihad, Gulf Air, Hawaiian Air, and Icelandair either speaking or in attendance. We are already looking forward to next year’s event, which will be bigger and better than ever and held in Washington, D.C. June 8th through June 10th. We hope to see you there.
A lot of the issues that were discussed at the event also form the backbone of some of the key content you can find in this month’s edition of Avionics. In our main feature, Chelsea Bryan looks at must-have cockpit upgrades. We talk to key end users such as American Airlines, Delta Airlines, El AL Airlines and Icelandair about some of main upgrades they are considering to improve their overall efficiency and operations. With airlines going connected, it has opened up a myriad of possibilities to bring more apps and tools to their pilots and staff.
We also look at the development of cabin management systems in the bizjet environment, and what technologies are coming up next. Additionally, we start to look at the ramifications of the Malaysia Airlines MH-370 tragedy. While, incidents like this are thankfully rare, they leave an indelible mark, and this article examines how the industry is responding and what work is being done to ensure an aircraft does not go missing in the future. We also bring you a thought-provoking opinion piece by Marijan Jozic, and a detailed look at electronic flight bags in our Upgrade Central section.
What the Global Connected Aircraft Summit taught us is that connected aircraft are for the here and now, and that they offer a number of intriguing possibilities across the entire ecosystem. We look forward to seeing a new wave of innovation in this area as commercial and bizjet operators look to tap into this new wave. It promises to be an exciting time.