Highlights From The Connected Aviation Intelligence Summit

Avionics International and Via Satellite hosted the annual Connected Aviation Intelligence Summit in Denver, Colorado, in early September. Our teams put together a fantastic agenda, including great speakers and interesting panel discussions on topics like in-flight Wi-Fi and satellite connectivity.

The summit began on Wednesday, Sept. 6, with an opening keynote from Tassio Carvalho, Senior Manager, AI/ML at American Airlines. In his presentation, titled “AI Accelerates Transformation in Aviation,” he explained that artificial intelligence will eventually be everywhere within the airline industry. AI has the potential to help human employees book flights, perform aircraft maintenance, and many other tasks. According to Carvalho, this could boost the industry’s productivity by billions of dollars.

American Airlines has pilot programs for introducing AI and machine learning into almost every element of its operations. Providing a generative AI program to a customer service representative to help with booking flights can boost their productivity by 15%, Carvalho said.

Following the opening keynote, attendees heard a presentation on “Converging Tech and its Impact on Sustainable Aviation” from Ryan Stone, President of SmartSky Networks. He addressed two pressing issues facing the industry: a predicted shortage of 80,000 pilots by 2032 and aviation's carbon footprint.

Stone pointed out the rise of training programs, collaborations between major carriers and regional airlines, and adjustments in pilot salaries. “Airlines are creating their own flight schools,” he noted.

However, he introduced an exciting perspective by highlighting a recent event where AI piloted a drone that outperformed the human drone racing champion. This milestone indicates that with some regulatory adjustments, there might be a shift towards reduced reliance on human pilots. Single pilot operations, backed by AI and technological advancements, could play a significant role in bridging the pilot gap.

Stone's discussion on aviation sustainability began by highlighting that, as of 2016, aviation was responsible for 2.8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, translating to an effective contribution of 3.5% due to high-altitude emissions. The industry is already feeling the heat, both from climate activists and Mother Nature. Stone showed a photograph of an airplane defaced by climate protesters, emphasizing the urgency of the issue.

“Our industry does care; we're developing ways to deal with the crisis,” Stone remarked.

The next presentation, “Onboard Intelligence and the New Horizon of Observability,” came from Bobby Anderson, Vice President/General Manager for Commercial Aviation at Shift5. He talked about a challenge facing the aviation industry: how to make use of the vast amounts of data generated by aircraft, both for enhanced security and for deeper insights into their operations.

“Typically, where you see the line drawn is between IT systems (information technology, like your tablets and corporate laptops) and operational technologies,” Anderson said. Operational technologies, or OT, pertain to avionics systems on the aircraft. Their role isn’t just informational; they enact physical outcomes on the aircraft. This distinction is crucial because while IT systems usually offer a wealth of observable data, the same cannot be said for OT.

Serial bus networks, such as ARINC 429 in commercial aviation or MIL-STD-1553 in military applications, are paramount to avionics communication. These serial buses underpin most avionics systems globally, and Shift5's goal is to provide "observability" to these previously unexposed networks.

“Once you have access to those serial buses, you can actually vacuum up all of this data and you can serve multiple use cases,” according to Anderson.

A stark contrast exists between the visibility we have on data transiting our regular corporate IT infrastructure and the data generated by multimillion-dollar aircraft. Often, critical avionics data, rich with insights, remains unobserved and disappears after its generation. This "missing visibility" is what Shift5 aims to address.

The first panel discussion at this year’s Connected Aviation Intelligence Summit was moderated by Dan Parsons, Associate Editor of Avionics International. Bobby Anderson of Shift5; Kim Blakely, Senior Manager, Flight Operations, CNS Pgm and Tech at United Airlines; Mark Canada, Partner at Dialexa; Nate Hicks, Vice President, Product Management at GE Digital; and Bret Peyton, Managing Director Standards, Fleet & Operational Control at Alaska Airlines, all contributed their perspectives to the discussion on “The Connected Future: Exploring the Next Stage of Connectivity in Airlines, Predictive Maintenance, and Enhanced Operations.”

Kim Blakely of United Airlines highlighted the airline's proactive steps to identify connectivity issues onboard their flights. To achieve this, United Airlines' mobility engineering and CDR teams are collaborating with pilots to log information directly from their Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs). In parallel, they are working closely with Apple to analyze these results and develop potential solutions.

Addressing the topic of retrofitting older aircraft with new technologies, Bret Peyton of Alaska Airlines, commented, “I think one of the one of the biggest challenges is the mixed fleet capability.” While their incoming 737 Max aircraft are fully equipped and connected, their legacy next-generation fleet lags behind, prompting complex cost-benefit analyses on the decision to equip planes with aircraft interface devices. Peyton hinted at the potential to bypass certain devices by leveraging onboard Wi-Fi for connectivity.

Nate Hicks of GE Digital, remarked during the panel discussion, “We have a few projects that are specifically dedicated towards decoding flight data and then enabling outcomes for operators on top of that decoded flight data.”

GE assists operators in integrating data from various sources such as operational data warehouses, QAR devices, and engine controls. Through a meticulous process of collating, decoding, cleansing, and presenting this data, GE empowers operators to refine their safety management and fuel efficiency programs.

Bobby Anderson of Shift5 emphasized the complexities of sourcing accurate data from aircraft, especially given the variables of aircraft age and sensor locations. Shift5's strategy zeroes in on guiding both airlines and military customers to precisely pinpoint and extract essential data without overwhelming the system. Capturing every frame of data across those protocol buses is vital, offering invaluable insights for both cybersecurity and preventative maintenance.

Mark Canada from Dialexa, an IBM company, emphasized the vast potential that AI and ML bring to aviation. To fully leverage these technologies, he stressed the importance of effectively organizing the extensive data drawn from flights and various systems. By laying down this foundational framework, organizations can more seamlessly integrate and experiment with advanced tools like large language models, such as GPT. This structured approach, in Canada's view, is pivotal for aviation entities to proactively harness AI's capabilities. “Creating some of those foundational capabilities is what's required to really allow you to play offense,” he said.

Following the panel discussion, the audience heard from Andrew Drake, Manager of Aviation Cybersecurity at NetJets. He spoke on the topic of integrating connectivity and security in aviation operations. He emphasized that it’s crucial to strike a harmony between operational requirements and maintaining the security of aircraft.

“Our crews really do rely on connectivity—they aren't at their desk like I am every day,” Drake said. “So they really rely on connectivity to be able to get things like flight schedule information, weather, information, and dispatch.”

Air Canada’s Norm Haughton, Director of In-Flight Digital Entertainment, Wi-Fi, Media Sales & Analytics, joined Mark Holmes of Via Satellite in a fireside chat on in-flight connectivity services and the airline’s vision of a “connected” aircraft.

This year, we launched free messaging across the entire platform,” Haughton said. “And essentially, it's one of those things where we're managing for the lowest common denominator, because we want to make sure we have a consistent product across our fleet.”

Angela Saffin, Portfolio Leader for Analytics Solutions and Digital Aviation Solutions at Boeing Global Services, delivered the next presentation: “Make Machine-Learning and Predictive Maintenance Part of Your Daily Operation.”

“We really believe in the future of data-informed decision-making that translates into reducing risk,” she said. “It's decreasing costs and increasing performance through data.”

“Engineers are going to be able to use data science, machine learning, and programming to actually make better decisions,” Saffin added.

The following panel discussion continued the focus on machine learning. Jon Merritt, Associate Director of Flight Deck & Electronic Flight Bag Applications at Collins Aerospace, moderated the discussion on how artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies can improve the aviation industry. Panelists from Collins, UPS, and United Airlines participated in the conversation, sharing whether their team is interested in ML/AI technologies and how they might be used.

The final panel discussion that took place on the first day of the summit was titled, “The Connected Skies: Unveiling the Distinct Approaches of Bizjet Operators Towards Connectivity and Sustainability in Comparison to Commercial Airlines. Panelists included Natalia Vargas Bejarano, Director of Aftermarket Product and Digital Strategy & PMO at Bombardier; Andrew Drake, Manager of Aviation Cybersecurity at NetJets; Sean Reilly, Vice President of Air Transport Management & Digital Solutions at SmartSky Networks; and Ray Rennert, New Product Development Program Manager at Gulfstream Aerospace.

Day 1 of the CAI Summit closed out with a presentation from Avi Tenenbaum, CEO of Cyviation. He discussed how to implement proactive cybersecurity measures and how awareness initiatives and risk assessments can improve the industry’s resilience to cybersecurity incidents.

The second day of the summit featured a panel discussion titled “Exploring the Rise of LEO Satellites: Assessing the Economic Potential and Impact on Aviation.” The conversation included several executives who shared their predictions for how airlines will adopt LEO. Jason Sperry, OneWeb’s Head of Business Aviation, expects the aviation and airline community to achieve a majority of traffic over LEO by 2030.

Ronald van der Breggen, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Rivada Space Networks, agreed that LEO will be significant. “It’s all about the user,” he said. “It’s not about what the airlines want, or the capabilities of the satellite companies. It’s about the end user.”

Phillippe Schleret, Telesat’s vice president of Aviation, shared that they are looking to create a very consistent customer experience at a lower cost. “The beam-hopping technology [of LEO] allows us to bring very large amounts of capacity, where it’s needed when it’s needed,” he said.

Another panel discussion on Day 2 of the CAI Summit was “Unlocking the Value of Passenger Connectivity: Exploring Innovative Approaches and Economics for Airlines in a Free Connectivity Model.” Panelists talked about how airlines will pay for the investment in satellite technology.

Andre Patrick of Air Canada said that free Wi-Fi is still a moving target for airlines. From his perspective, the hospitality industry is driving customer expectations. “When you go to a hotel, you connect for free,” he said. “You don’t have to think about it. I think that mentality is coming to the airlines.”

Brittany McSweeny, senior CX Connectivity consultant for Southwest Airlines, remarked, “Being able to provide a consistent, reliable experience where customers are able to work from the sky is really important to us.”

Angela Vargo, head of Brand Marketing for Breeze Airways, talked about how connectivity is part of the airline’s strategy to build its brand. “When you are starting an airline from scratch, you think about everything,” she said. “I’m building a brand loyalty program and a Wi-Fi experience all at the same time. So as a result, all of these things are going to be very highly integrated. There is no wall. Because a lot of what airlines have had to do is kind of shoehorn existing technologies into their IFC model.”

Check out aviationtoday.com for more in-depth coverage of this year’s Connected Aviation Intelligence Summit.