An alliance has been formed between Airbus, Delta and mobile phone operators that will enable those operators to offer their services within the aircraft cabin. Named the Seamless Air Alliance, in addition to Airbus and Delta, members include OneWeb, Sprint, and Bharti Airtel, with Gogo due to join, and more operators invited to join. Together they will be able to use satellite technology to provide their customers with high speed, low-latency connectivity from ground, to air and back again.
According to the alliance, the service will also “significantly reduce” costs for operators and users as it eliminates the costs and hurdles of acquisition, installation and operation of the data access infrastructure by streamlining system integration and certification. The setup will provide open specifications for interoperability, increasing accessibility to the service for passengers, who in turn will benefit from a simple and integrated billing process.
“What if the best internet you ever experienced was in the air? Keeping this goal in mind, together, we will enable an affordable and frictionless experience for passengers everywhere,” said Greg Wyler, founder and executive chairman of OneWeb. “With the launch of our first production satellites set for later this year, we’re one step closer to bridging the global Digital Divide on land and in the air.”
“Easy-to-use, high-speed connectivity is part of the next revolution in aerospace,” added Marc Fontaine, Airbus’s digital transformation officer. “We’re excited to create this seamless experience for our airline customers and their passengers.”
