CTO of Thales’ InFlyt Experience Talks IFE and IFC

Tudy Bedou, Chief Technology Officer for Thales’ InFlyt Experience business, spoke with Avionics International about the company’s in-flight entertainment solutions, including the Avant UP platform. Bedou also discussed how in-flight connectivity enables airlines to improve the passenger experience.

Avionics International: How have Thales’ AVANT IFE solutions evolved over time?

Tudy Bedou: The AVANT product line started several years ago. AVANT is an in-flight entertainment (IFE) platform designed to constantly evolve with new hardware and software building blocks. This enables us to closely adapt to the changing trends in consumer electronics and industrial electronics such as processors and storage for servers, display technology, sensors, charging solutions, et cetera.

AVANT Up is the latest evolution of the AVANT product line which has two major hardware building blocks. The first one is Pulse, Thales’ latest power supply solution providing USB-A and USB-C and wireless charging options for passengers. Pulse uses extremely advanced patented technology to dynamically reallocate power so that charging performance will be optimized no matter how many passengers are charging their devices at the same time. Pulse is a major evolution in power delivery and was a Crystal Cabin award winner at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in 2022.

The second building block is the Optiq display that will be flying at the beginning of next year on multiple customers’ aircraft, including American Airlines A321-XLR and Boeing 787-9 and Emirates A350. Optiq is the first 4K QLED [uses a layer of quantum dot light-emitting diodes in front of LEDs] HDR display in the industry. Optiq brings an at-home experience into the air—as we rapidly bring proven consumer electronic technologies into the IFE market. While this may seem simple, it is actually very complex to deliver such innovative technologies in a highly regulated aerospace environment with stringent certification requirements.

Thales’ Optiq display supports end-to-end 4K HDR rendering for a truly cinematic viewing experience. The display features two Bluetooth connections, built-in Wi-Fi, and two USB charging ports that can deliver up to 70 watts in total. Optiq was most recently showcased at the 2023 Aircraft Interiors Expo in 11-inch, 13-, 15-, 17-, and 20-inch variations. We are currently developing larger screen sizes for premium cabin classes.

Avionics: How do Thales’ IFE solutions, such as AVANT Up, enhance the passenger experience in addition to generating revenue for airlines?

Bedou: AVANT Up is a world-class platform combining leading hardware and software that enables us to constantly develop digital services that enhance the passenger experience, empower revenue generation, support airline operations, and ultimately increase brand loyalty.

Among Thales’ Digital Services is our powerful advertising platform, 360 Ads (or dynamic advertising). It maximizes revenue potential by placing the right ads in front of the right passenger at the right time. The airline has the ability to create ad campaigns using a dedicated portal to access and analyze historical data and create an ad campaign. 360 Ads has been flying on JetBlue for more than two years and it is indeed very successful.

We are also working with several partners such as Airfree. Together, we have developed an e-commerce platform offering a shopping experience onboard with multiple delivery options, including the ability to pick up items directly at duty free upon arrival or delivered at a destination.

Thales also works with partners to offer destination services enabling passengers onboard to purchase services at their destination such as hotel accomodations, travel experiences, and transportation by booking a rental car, a taxi, or Uber, et cetera. Destination services provide an additional revenue stream for airlines.

Avionics: Thales's FlytLIVE connectivity provides Wi-Fi with speeds of up to 400 Mbps. How does this advanced Ka-band high-throughput solution enhance the passenger experience?

Bedou: FlytLIVE is Thales’ connectivity solution over the Americas using the SES-17 High Throughput Satellite developed by Thales for SES. SES-17 is designed for aero-mobility.

The satellite was operational at the beginning of last year and we recently celebrated one year of connectivity services with SES-17 on the Spirit Airlines fleet. FlytLIVE is an extremely powerful solution that allows passengers to browse the internet when they are on board just as if they were at home and binge-watch their favorite content without interruption.

With FlytLIVE capabilities, we are now able to incorporate new services such as live television, on-demand wireless streaming to portable electronic devices [PEDs], and integration of new applications like maps, news and notifications, and many other innovative digital services.

Avionics: Could you share details about the performance, speed, and coverage that FlytLIVE offers across the Americas and the Atlantic following the launch of the SES-17 satellite?

Bedou: SES-17 provides two times the capacity compared to competition over the Americas. With close to 200 spot beams of mixed size, capacity can be optimized to better support high-traffic routes and areas of very high demand. As a point of reference, SES-17 is capable of providing four times the capacity compared to other Ka providers.

Avionics: Which airlines have successfully implemented Thales’ FlytLIVE connectivity and the positive impact it has had on their operations?

Bedou: Spirit Airlines has successfully implemented the FlytLIVE connectivity solution on its fleet of approximately 160 aircraft. Thales continues to install FlytLIVE as Spirit’s fleet grows. Within the next year, there will be more than 200 airplanes flying with FlytLIVE. The feedback from the airline has been tremendous with high levels of passenger satisfaction. Thales has also enabled passengers flying Spirit Airlines the ability to purchase sessions with Apple Pay and Google Pay.

We also now provide gate-to-gate connectivity service, ensuring that passengers can take advantage of fast Wi-Fi as soon as they board the aircraft.

Avionics: Can you provide examples of new applications or interactive entertainment options developed in collaboration with Thales’ network of partners through AVANT’s open platform?

Bedou: Other than the e-commerce partnership with Airfree, Thales collaborates with multiple partners and suppliers for several applications such as maps, games, and news. Thales also works with partners like Viator, Yelp, and Ticketmaster to offer destination services.

Avionics: What sets Thales’ digital technologies for airlines apart from competitors?

Bedou: There’s a long list that differentiates Thales’ technologies from those of its competitors. First, Thales has deep expertise in aerospace, space, digital, and cybersecurity, as well as connected in-flight entertainment. Thales works closely with OEMs and the retrofit market. We also possess a wide portfolio of Supplemental Type Certificates [STCs] and have our own ODA (Organization Designation Authorization) team. This enables the acceleration of retrofit programs as the Thales ODA team is allowed to issue the STC on behalf of the FAA.

Thales works with the airlines to customize our services and solutions to meet their business goals, branding, and vision. It's about adapting our solutions to meet their specific business needs. This requires a very different skill set to understand the challenges of the airline business, their investment profile, and digital readiness. We also consider if it is a regional or worldwide airline, the passengers' diverse languages and nationalities, and associated data-privacy regulations, as well as the airline’s needs for operational efficiencies and maintenance capabilities.

Particularly, as Chief Technology Officer, I'm extremely proud of our company’s investment in innovation. As proof of this commitment, Thales won its second Crystal Cabin award in a row with our new cloud-based onboard server, the Onboard Data Center (ODC). The ODC is the result of us looking at our previous generation of IFE servers and envisioning how we would be able to support and even accelerate the digital transformation of our airline customers. The ODC relies on a hyper-converged architecture built around individual blades with 10 times the storage space of traditional IFE servers, combined with smart software distribution for 99.99% system availability. The ODC is a solution that essentially brings web-based technologies onboard, drastically improving software and content deployment processes in under 12 hours on any airline fleet.

Our goal is to bring all of these proven, modern, and ubiquitous technologies onboard as quickly as possible to drive the future of aviation together with our airline customers.