BOMBARDIER OFFERING WORLDWIDE HIGH-SPEED INTERNET CONNECTIVITY SINCE 2016

On November 4th, 2016, Bombardier’s flagship jet, the Global 7500 successfully completed its first flight, opening a new era of Ultra-Long-Range flights. Another key industry breakthrough was achieved a few days before by Bombardier when the first Global aircraft equipped with Ka-band High-speed Internet connectivity entered service.

Bombardier’s Ka-band system, powered by Honeywell JetWaveTM Satcom hardware was the first aircraft manufacturer’s line-fit and retrofit offering to take full advantage of Inmarsat’s global Jet ConneX (JX) broadband solution.

Business jet passengers have always expected to be connected, productive, and entertained anywhere they fly. In 2008, Bombardier introduced Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadBand (SBB) cabin and cockpit connectivity solution. With speeds of up to 432 kbps, SBB was perfect for consulting emails and basic web browsing. This service also included separate telephone channels allowing owners to make phone calls directly from the aircraft.

In 2016, with the subsequent growth in satellite networks, Bombardier was able to introduce Inmarsat’s Ka-band highspeed connectivity solution (up to 20 Mbps) on the Global 5000 and Global 6000 platforms. Bombardier became the first business jet manufacturer to offer Inmarsat’s Ka-band after the company was awarded an installation Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) from Transport Canada in March 2016.

In 2017, Bombardier extended its Ka-band solution to the Challenger 650 aircraft becoming the first manufacturer to offer the worldwide broadband connectivity solution in the Large jet segment, Medium category. The Ka-band technology was also available as a retrofit through the Bombardier service network for hundreds of in-service Challenger 600 series jets. The Ka-Band offering was further extended to the supermidsize Challenger 300 and 350 in 2021, with the certification of ViaSat Ka-band In-flight connectivity solution.

Mischa Loeffler, Manager, Product Sustainability & Strategy, Bombardier, answers EWM questions on the company factory installed offering

Can you give us an overview of Bombardier’s current

Factory-installed In-Flight connectivity offering?

Bombardier currently offers a breadth of cabin connectivity solutions available for installation before aircraft delivery. The Global 7500, the flagship of the industry, is delivered with global Inmarsat Ka-band highspeed cabin connectivity, bringing up to 20 Mbps of data to the aircraft. For the Global 5500 and 6500 platforms, Inmarsat SwiftBroadBand is a Standard feature, while Inmarsat Ka-band high-speed connectivity is offered as an option.

On the Challenger 650, Bombardier offers global Inmarsat Ka-band high-speed and Inmarsat SwiftBroadBand lowspeed as well as regional Gogo ATG 4G connectivity solutions as production-fit optional features.

The Challenger 3500 options offering includes ViaSat Kaband high speed and Gogo ATG 4G. By offering several concurrent connectivity solutions on each platform, Bombardier customers can also choose two independent systems unlocking redundancy for increased availability. Bombardier recognized the growing demand for constant availability of connectivity on business aircraft. As such, Bombardier is continuously working to provide solutions that will exceed its clients’ expectations and is working on connectivity services for Challenger 3500 aircraft – stay tuned.

Bombardier business jets are known to feature some of the smartest cabins in the industry. Can you tell us some aspects of the connectivity system integration with the cabin systems?

Bombardier’s state-of-the-art cabins feature wireless connectivity, a multitude of HDMI ports throughout the cabin, and a large selection of high-speed connectivity solutions; customers can easily stream content through their smart devices, using the cabin’s wi-fi to enjoy homelike entertainment. Cabin Management System (CMS) integration allows the customer to control their Connectivity Systems settings directly through the CMS app and, through Bombardier’s cabin call app, to make and receive calls directly on their own mobile phones.

In a world where we’ve never been so connected, cabin connectivity is becoming a critical part of the traveler experience, how do you ensure the availability and ontime support of these complex systems?

All Bombardier products are covered by warranty and 24/7 Customer Support. Furthermore, in 2021, Bombardier selected Collins Aerospace as a Preferred Service Provider (PSP) for cockpit and cabin connectivity services, providing a streamlined customer experience from sign-up to training, operations, and troubleshooting. Collins Aerospace brings decades of experience offering cockpit and cabin connectivity services and provides a wide array of competitive service packages across several of our platforms i.e., SBB, Ka-band, and Ku-band, with the exception of ATG. Through this partnership, Collins Aerospace representatives are now co-located at our Laurent Beaudoin Completion Centre, Customer Response Centre, and at our service facilities to ensure customers get assistance with their connectivity needs quickly and efficiently.

Can you give us an overview of Bombardier’s in-service connectivity retrofit offering?

Bombardier is constantly adding improved products and services that allow in-service aircraft to evolve to meet future requirements, such as adding further enhanced situational awareness features and improved connectivity solutions for optimized cockpit safety or cabin connectivity. These solutions are available through Service Bulletins (SB) that extend the in-production development to in-service aircraft. The aftermarket offering is also further extended with Bombardier STCs and 3rd party developed STCs.

How can customers plan their connectivity systems installation or upgrade?

Each owner/operator has an assigned Regional Sales Manager (RSM) that will provide, when requested, a turnkey solution regarding upgrades applicable to different Bombardier platforms. The RSM and their team will provide the best solution at the most competitive pricing taking into consideration customers’ needs and their aircraft-specific configuration.

A connectivity installation or upgrade is a scheduled event and must be planned accordingly with the RSM to ensure a seamless installation experience. Many customers will combine this installation with their upcoming major inspection, but it can also be performed as a standalone upgrade.

As more customers opt to upgrade their aircraft cabin connectivity systems, we often recommend they make the most of their downtime by making other additional upgrades such as installing the free-of-charge Smart Link Plus box currently on offer at Bombardier service centers worldwide. The Smart Link Plus service, Bombardier’s health management program, when connected to the internet, provides aircraft operators with valuable insights that can be used to save time and money.

Worldwide parts shortages, especially for connectivity hardware, have been a big issue facing business jets operators wanting to upgrade their systems, how does Bombardier address that?

Parts shortages are a challenge that is not unique to Bombardier but affects the whole aerospace industry. Vendor supply challenges are driven by both labor and piece part shortages; labor being the main driver. In cases where there are shortages, customers tend to order extra parts to mitigate risk. Bombardier has been able to mitigate many supplier issues by making the decision in early 2021 to increase its inventory. This was followed by a second increase in 2022. We also implemented a supplier intervention team that sent Bombardier specialists on-site to our vendors.

Bombardier is at the forefront of the “Connectivity enabled” digital transformation of the industry. Can you walk us through the recently introduced Smart Link Plus connected aircraft program?

The Smart Link Plus program, Bombardier’s health management program, has infinite benefits for Bombardier customers. With Smart Link Plus, customers will have the unique ability to make real-time data-driven decisions in-flight to effectively dispatch, troubleshoot and track their aircraft service needs, enabling them to make detailed maintenance decisions quickly and effectively. The Smart Link Plus box is an advanced Health Monitoring Unit that generates crucial aircraft data enabling flight and maintenance crews to quickly and efficiently prioritize and proactively troubleshoot essential fault notifications on aircraft with in-flight alerts, increasing an aircraft’s operational efficiency.

The Smart Link Plus connected aircraft program, including the Smart Link Plus box, was first introduced on the Bombardier flagship Global 7500 aircraft and customers continue to benefit from its advanced data-driven capabilities. Now, close to 100% of current Global 7500 aircraft customers have enrolled in Smart Link Plus services, and Bombardier has begun to retrofit in-service Challenger and Global aircraft.

With Smart Link Plus, ground crews can use the myMaintenance application to independently monitor an aircraft while in-flight anywhere in the world, from their personal device, and assist in finding the root cause of a fault notification. This can be done without having to distract the flight crew. While in-flight, the Smart Link Plus service automatically sends takeoff, landing and in-flight fault notifications together with contextual data. Full flight data is automatically transmitted and accessible once the aircraft has landed. Access to full aircraft systems data provides additional information required to troubleshoot more complex faults.

Additionally, with the customer’s permission, Bombardier’s 24/7 Customer Response Centre (CRC) and dedicated team of experts and specialists can support troubleshooting efforts using Bombardier’s myMaintenance data visualization tool and organize additional support as required.

Achieving the full benefits of the Smart Link Plus program can be done in three easy steps: customers must first ensure the Smart Link Plus Box is installed; then the customer must sign into the Bombardier myMaintenance app to enable data consultation from their own device. Finally, the full benefit of the connected aircraft program requires that aircraft be equipped with a SATCOM or ATG cabin internet system to enable in-flight functionalities. Customers are required to subscribe to an annual connected aircraft service package.

As more customers opt to upgrade their aircraft cabin connectivity systems, we often recommend they make the most of their downtime by making other additional upgrades such as installing the free-of-charge

Smart Link Plus box currently on offer at Bombardier service centers worldwide.