THE CLIENT PROBLEM
Our client, a large airline had selected a wireless Internet service provider in the cabin and had operated the system for nearly two years. The service performance met many passenger expectations, however some customers reported outages, slow response times and other inconsistencies. Passenger dissatisfaction lead to customer complaints and costly passenger refunds which negatively impacted its brand perception. Attempts by the internet service provider to diagnose the cause and take corrective action were only partially successful.
THE SEATEC SOLUTION
A SeaTec team with deep expertise in airborne networking and air-satellite-ground communications conducted an independent assessment of the connectivity system and its performance.
A rigorous analysis involving interviews with 30+ airline and vendor personnel and reviews of design, test and in-service data; physical layers (satellite coverage footprints, communications waveforms / modulation, antenna patterns, antenna tracking and control, and airborne antenna calibration; Internet Protocol and traffic shaping software including both ground stations and airborne elements; airline and network system provider supply chain component reliability trends. equipment installation design and i on-airplane ship set inspections, assessing application of best practices.
Our team conducted a root cause analysis through in-lab and on-wing testing by developing and configuring an on-board Wi-Fi user emulation capability.
SeaTec findings and a detailed recover plan was provided and endorsed by the customer’s engineering and marketing teams and the internet provider.
THE CLIENT BENEFIT
Cabin wireless internet service improved and routine outages, slow response time and other inconsistencies were eliminated.
Cabin internet related customer complaints and refunds were avoided.
Customer service improved.
