Viasat has agreed to enter a partnership with Teledyne Controls to offer real-time connected flight deck services for commercial airline operators.

The collaboration is intended to reduce operational expenses for Viasat in-flight connectivity (IFC) commercial airlines with the removal of manual data off-loading processes and enhanced data analysis.

Aviation operations are increasingly dependent on data as airline operators seek to streamline operations using actionable insights derived from advanced analytics.

Viasat commercial aviation vice-president Don Buchman said: “Commercial aircraft generate large volumes of data, and our goal is to help airlines use this data more effectively by removing the expensive manual, post-flight data acquisition process, as well as create an environment where communications and analysis happens between the flight deck and ground operations teams—all in real-time.”

The partnership will see Viasat integrate its IFC system with Teledyne’s Aircraft Interface Device (AID). This will enable commercial airlines to eliminate off-load Quick Access Recorder (QAR) data.

Aircraft communications addressing and reporting system (ACARS) messages will be directly fed to the operators in real-time from the flight deck.

It further allows commercial airliners to improve flight operations by detecting critical maintenance issues, thereby minimising aircraft on ground (AOG) time.

Teledyne aircraft solutions senior director Murray Skelton said: “The combination of Viasat’s in-flight connectivity service with Teledyne’s aircraft interface device is delivering tremendous cost savings along with data benefits to commercial airlines.”

“In working with Viasat, we can securely offload over 80% of ACARS data in real-time, which allows airlines to improve quality assurance programmes and reduce costs associated with sending messages over expensive very high frequency (VHF) radio systems, especially when over water.”

Qantas Airways is currently benefitting from connected flight deck communications. It has deployed advanced satellite connectivity of Viasat combined with GroundLink avionics software of Teledyne across its domestic fleet of B737 and A330 aircraft.