The year 2018 is coming to a close and it’s been a big one for Connected Aviation Today. We covered several important trends and updates in the aviation industry like GADSS adoption, GDPR and PNR’s impact on travel, and the evolution of ACARS, with the help of insightful industry experts. This week, with New Year’s Eve approaching, we’re sharing a quick glance at some of our top content. Here are your favorite reads from 2018:
The Evolution of ACARS Series with Collins Aerospace’s Dan Pendergast
In the first article in our series on the evolution of ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System), we began our conversation with Dan Pendergast, senior marketing director, Commercial Aviation and Network Services at Collins Aerospace (formerly Rockwell Collins). Pendergast spoke with us about how ACARS has adapted to the aviation communities needs over the last 40 years.
“Now, ACARS has become a network that, for many airlines, is critical to their operation as a whole. Because it’s grown and become so well used and it has, through our services, excellent reliability and availability and performance, the airlines have come to rely on it as the primary means to communicate to the aircraft and for the pilots to communicate back from the aircraft,” stated Pendergast.
Read the whole story here.
ACARS: Understanding Fact vs. Fiction
Our ACARS series continued with Pendergast debunking several myths and misunderstandings about ACARS. Because of ACARS’ key role in aircraft communication, it’s important that these misconceptions are resolved.
“Moving forward, I see aviation communications continuing to evolve, as will ACARS itself,” noted Pendergast. “There will be a transition period as stakeholders work to understand the complexities involved in moving the industry forward. During that evolution, the ACARS service will continue to provide the foundational support for critical aviation communications now and for the foreseeable future as it has for the past four decades.”
Read the whole story here.
Video: 3 Reasons Why ACARS is Here to Stay Now and into the Future
The final piece of our popular ACARS series centered around a video with Pendergast explaining ACARS’ role in aviation’s future and how the technology will continue to adapt to industry expectations and needs.
“New ACARS capabilities associated with the connected aircraft have already emerged,” Pendergrast told us in the video. He went on to explain different examples of ACARS’ adaptability and where the field is headed with regards to aircraft communication.
Read the whole story here.
Why Every Airline Should Already Exceed GADSS Flight Tracking Standards
One of our editorial board members, FlightAware, shared with our readers the impact of ICAO’s GADSS (Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System) recommendation and why it will change aircraft safety and situational awareness for the better.
Daniel Baker, FlightAware’s Founder and CEO, explained in his byline that GADSS prompts aircraft to give position updates every 15 minutes and every minute when in distress. This drastically changes the effectiveness of search and rescue efforts.
Baker stated, “In the event of a search and rescue operation, receiving one position every 15 minutes will yield a search area that is roughly twice the size of Lake Michigan (about 44,788 square miles). When the position update is increased to once-per-minute, that area is reduced by over 99 percent to approximately 154 square miles (smaller than the island of Barbados). Imagine the difference that could have made in locating MH370 or AF447.”
Read the whole story here.
Airlines Under Pressure to Meet GDPR and PNR Compliance
A major update that essentially every industry had to tackle in 2018 was GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliance, and the aviation industry was no different. Under GDPR, airlines were specifically planning out their compliance with the Passenger Name Record (PNR) directive.
“…The PNR directive is being extended in an effort to protect passenger data and regulate the handling of personal identification information. Following the new mandate, the handling of this information must meet the EU’s standard,” we reported. “PNR data can be processed only for the fight against terrorism and cannot include information about a passenger’s race, ethnicity, political, or religious beliefs, among other traits.”
Read the whole story here.
We look forward to seeing what 2019 holds for the aviation industry and we are excited to continue working with such insightful industry experts in the new year.
