AEA Pilot's Guide 2020-2021 - 51

In the digital environment, where people can find an app that
meets their needs, or reveal one they didn't know they had, there
is no definitive marketing playbook. "To pick an incentive," said
Uczekaj, OEMs must "experiment because consumer expectations
are changing."
How they want to employ tablets is a prime example. When
introduced, everyone wanted to use the iPad in the cockpit. "Then
they started dealing with the limitations, reliability, the heat and
visibility aspects, having something loose in the cockpit that you're
trying to look at while you're flying, especially IMC," Uczekaj said.
"People see all these limitations, but they also see the power of it.
Now they want that power in their cockpit avionics."
Regulatory requirements are what separate the consumer's
personal and flying lives. "The two worlds are starting to collide,"
Uczekaj said. "It is a strong word, but it is a collision between
expectations in the cockpit and alternatives pilots have today in their
installed avionics. The FAA is looking at all of these things and how
they can improve safety in the cockpit without losing their oversight
and safety responsibilities. The regulatory world is changing, albeit
more slowly, but you can see it with the Part 23 rewrite, NORSEE
equipment, and STCs without TSO stuff."
What's clear to OEMs is that in the digital era, avionics consumers
can pick from a multitude of primary flight displays, navigators,
engine instruments, and integrated systems. "All these glass
cockpits are very flexible," Uczekaj said. "Therefore, our marketing
has to change, and we are experimenting on how to market to
avionics consumers as we go forward."
One experiment is the Aspen incentive of 10 hours of free
synthetic vision. Like all of the system capabilities, this option is built
into the system software, and the pilot unlocks it for the allotted time
with an SD card. Pilots who get hooked on synthetic vision during
the 10-hour freebee can buy the SD card that unlocks it forevermore.
"It has been quite successful," Uczekaj said.
Like moving maps, synthetic vision is standard on glass from most
avionics OEMs. "It has almost become a commodity; it's not there
yet, but everyone expects it," Uczekaj said. Software certification
rules are helping OEMs introduce new capabilities more quickly. An
avionics package used to last seven to 10 years, Uczekaj added.
"Now it seems like five to seven years because technology is moving
so fast, and people expect upgrades."
Connectivity is the next level. Aspen pioneered iPad connections
in 2011 and rare is the system today that doesn't offer this capable
commodity. "But it is still pretty basic," Uczekaj said. Increased
bandwidth will be the next revolution, bringing real-time weather
and other capabilities to the cockpit. Naturally, "cybersecurity plays
a role in that, but our industry has to move where our consumers'
expectations are, or we are going to lose the consumer." q

- 51 -

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AEA Pilot's Guide 2020-2021

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