The global travel industry has seen meaningful disruption over the past two and a half years. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed airlines, airports, and other key stakeholders in the customer journey to improve communication with the traveler and decrease friction throughout the experience. That said, the pandemic merely accelerated these trends, which were already part of the industry’s top priorities. Consequently, travelers are demanding real-time communication more than ever. A striking example, is the increase over the past few years of the take rate for internet service on board Intelsat’s commercial airline partners, despite fluctuations in overall passenger demand.
Connectivity is key to smoother travel
Virtually anything that creates a smoother traveler experience, from pre-flight health verifications, and biometric boarding to in-the-moment rebooking during disruptions, requires powerful, ubiquitous connectivity. The advent of the 5G network and the continued expansion of terrestrial and satellite networks means that customers and travel providers can remain connected no matter where they are and with meaningful bandwidth. However, in many ways the airplane is a final frontier—thousands of aircraft are still not equipped with In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC), and even for those that are, getting connected and getting online can be cumbersome.
The future of IFC
In the next five years, we expect the use cases for onboard connectivity to increase profoundly. Passengers will expect that stepping on board an aircraft is no different than going to the office or roaming with their mobile operator. Existing consumer players, such as Telcos, will respond to this expectation by working with airlines and In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) providers to ensure there are no interruptions to their “coverage” at 35,000 feet. Airlines will continue to leverage connectivity for constant communication with passengers and crew, including real-time optimization of flight operations and maintenance activities.
IFC as an enabler throughout the journey
For all these use cases, IFC providers will need to be proactive, consistently improving their service offering, not just in terms of coverage with bandwidth, but with seamless connectivity from one part of the journey to the next. Leaders in this space will have a robust offering that applies to multiple stakeholders and personas so that connectivity can power everything from operations to inflight service to disruption management. Differentiators will ensure their offering is not just robust but also transparent and frictionless to the user.
Aaron Goldberg
Director, Product Management
