AEA Pilot's Guide 2020-2021 - 60

PILOT'S GUIDE
Whether they're amazing new technologies and capabilities to meet the needs of
the urban air mobility craze or panel upgrades and retrofits that will keep today's
aircraft flying into the future, one thing is for sure: The next 10 years in the avionics
business are going to produce the things that today's dreams are made of.

2030

An avionics odyssey

S T O R Y

L

B Y

ove it or hate it, technology is an amazing thing. In its
various forms, it has turned capabilities that were once
thought of science fiction into a routine, and in some
cases, annoying part of our everyday lives.
When it comes to avionics and electronics, technology has
certainly been the enabler for most everything new in aviation
over the past 40 years. Install the right apps and you can have
more flight information on your iPad than a new G-III had when it
rolled off the assembly line in Savannah, Georgia.
Today, with all the technology we have in hand and all it can
do, it can be hard to imagine the "next big thing." But, as the
editors of the National Enquirer used to say, "Inquiring minds want
to know."
So we assembled a panel of luminaries from some of the
leading avionics manufacturers and asked them to share
their thoughts and insights as to what the next 10 years may
bring. Our virtual panel included:
*	 Dan Schwinn, chief executive officer for Avidyne.
*	 Matthew Carrico, senior fellow for
Collins Aerospace Avionics.
*	 Bill Stone, senior manager of aviation business
development for Garmin.
*	 Jamie Luster, director of sales and marketing for
Genesys Aerosystems.
*	 Mike Stewart, vice president of advanced technology for
Honeywell Aerospace.
*	 Dror Yahav, CEO for Universal Avionics, an Elbit
Systems Co.

D A L E

S M I T H

Avionics News: How do you see the next 10 years
evolving in the avionics industry?
Schwinn: I see three things driving the industry. The first is
the need to keep the aging fleet productive. Since 2008, we are
seeing about a 1% aircraft replacement rate. That's just way too
low. So I think we, and other avionics manufacturers, will be very
busy meeting the ongoing need to develop solutions to bring
new capabilities to older airplanes.
Secondly, you're going to see connectivity products that will
give pilots and passengers all kinds of new options in smaller
aircraft from low-rate position reporting messaging to high-speed
broadband. I think it's a given in the U.S., and you'll probably see
it in a few other markets, as well.
Driven by that connectivity, the third is an exciting array of new
apps for pilots and passengers. Like back in 2010, we couldn't
conceive what capabilities these new apps would bring to aircraft
in 2020. Surely, there will be some amazing things.
Carrico: Over the next decade, we're expecting significant
advances in connectivity - beyond the aircraft itself. Our focus is
to establish a connected aviation ecosystem where the aircraft
just happens to be a very large node on an interconnected
network.
Look at what's already happened in our homes. We
all have televisions, tablets and smartphones with digital
applications and services that have transformed our lifestyles.
That type of change is coming into commercial aviation.
When we talk about redefining aerospace, optimizing the

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