rai19 wrote: hotgirl, I posted this before:
Here is what Flyht's CEO said about Aireon in the April 2017 Investor letter:
"The flight tracking requirements are attracting product entrants into the aviation technology space and Aireon’s space-based ADS-B is probably being the most discussed. Is this technology disruptive and problematic for FLYHT? I believe not. Flight tracking certainly is a value proposition for the FLYHT solution, but it is not the central value proposition. The Automated Flight Information Reporting System’s (AFIRS
TM) core value proposition is real-time data streaming to reduce airline operating costs, streamline airline operations and proactively enhance safety, preventing accidents and potentially saving lives. Aireon and other competing tracking solutions essentially do none of these functions.
---- So, if an aircraft is equipped with ADS-B, the service provided by the Aireon data will provide information “where” the aircraft is; provided you pay for the service that Aireon and their partners will provide. However, the service will not provide awareness about what is happening onboard the aircraft or the aircraft’s operational state. This service will not indicate “how” the aircraft is; it’s operational state and whether the aircraft’s systems are operating within normal parameters. The service will also not explain “what” is happening onboard the aircraft; is the aircraft flying within normal parameters, e.g. speed, roll, pitch, yawl, etc.? ADS-B is not a communication channel that can be modified or altered to send the rich information to benefit flight operations and maintenance that FLYHT’s AFIRS can send. AFIRS can provide real-time data from specific systems on board the aircraft, Aireon cannot since the ADS-B system implements an ATC reconnaissance function with a very specific and limited intended function.
There are many different tracking technologies that will allow compliance to certain aspects of the ICAO mandates, whether it is Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), or ADS-B, or space based ADS-B, or ADS-C – a Future Air Navigation Systems (FANS) surveillance function that will report aircraft location to operation centers. There are also technologies, like FLYHT’s, that can be installed and provide tracking in addition to or in lieu of these other technologies. However, none of these other technologies satisfy both the Autonomous Distress Tracking (ADT) requirements as well as the Timely access to Flight Data requirements, like FLYHT’s AFIRS. There are no other solutions with the extensive list of AFIR’s Supplemental Type Certificates which effectively serve as a barrier to entry. They don’t provide rich exceedance reports for aircraft systems and engines. They don’t allow real-time remote diagnostics to be performed on an aircraft while it is flying to understand a problem and avoid an accident. None of these technologies allow a ground operator, a pilot or an autonomous trigger to begin streaming the contents of the flight data recorder. They simply do not provide a complete picture of situational awareness like FLYHT’s technology does."