A major US MRO provider, Duncan Aviation is heavily involved in connectivity system installation and upgrade. Senior Installation Sales Representative Justin Vena provides an overview of an increasingly interesting market place
“Conversations around connectivity have changed since Starlink became available two years ago,” says Justin Vena, Senior Installation Sales Representative at Duncan Aviation and recognised industry connectivity expert. “Before that, customers would call saying the principal wanted better connectivity in the aircraft and we’d ask what they wanted to do with it. After Starlink became available, we had more people saying, ‘We need a quote for Starlink’. Sometimes that would segue into the conversation about what they wanted to do with it, but for many people the fact Elon Musk said it was the best choice for an airplane was enough.”
The quality of early Starlink installation kits was widely criticised, but the installation kit subsequently designed and certified by Nextant delivers a more familiar aviation-grade product. Warranty claims using the Nextant kit have been minimal and the connectivity good, meaning that a great deal of Starlink’s industry momentum is down to those Nextant kits and STCs.
Of course, there are other high-quality alternatives to Starlink although Vena says finding the correct solution is not always down to how it is likely to be used. “Sometimes a solution isn’t validated by the authority an aircraft flies under. We’re still waiting on EASA certification for the Starlink STC on the Global 5000, for example. There is demand for the installation, but if the aircraft is maintained under EASA airworthiness regulations then we need to have that accreditation before we can install it. That means Starlink isn’t an option for a Global 5000 under EASA regulations right now and we’d need to have conversations with those customers.” He also cautions that operators should check the Starlink website to ensure that they comply with in-motion aviation approval, which respects the rights of countries to regulate the systems allowed to transmit in sovereign airspace.
“More options are coming to market though, and over the next year things will get interesting because there’ll be more solutions competitive in performance to Starlink, especially since it’s the user experience that’s really important. Consider the Gogo Galileo HDX solution. That delivers speeds up to 60+Mbps compared to Starlink’s advertised 200+Mbps. But numbers don’t tell the whole story.
“When Gogo first talked about ‘experience’ years ago, I kind of wrinkled my nose, because I’m an engineer and I wanted performance data. But then my experience at home, when I paid extra to upgrade to fibre, changed my mind. I had really fast internet for the first time, and speed tests confirmed I was getting what I paid for, but in terms of experience there was no difference because I didn’t need the extra bandwidth for my usage. So, for an airplane with maybe eight people on it, where they are emailing, working and maybe doing a couple of bands of streaming, Galileo HDX is going to be amazing and so is Starlink, but do you need the extra bandwidth?”
Since no connectivity solution is 100% reliable, Vena says customers should consider their future support needs. Acknowledging the very low number of warranty calls for Starlink and the Nextant kit, he also highlight’s Gogo’s reputation for providing exceptional support: “Sooner or later, you’re going to need support and Gogo’s award winning service is now combined with SD’s after their merger; SD was known in the industry as the best – they are amazing. They take care of you 24/7, wherever you are in the world.”
The market for satellite connectivity is likely to become even more interesting when Amazon’s Project Kuiper begins delivering inflight service. JetBlue, its first airline customer, expects to connect in 2027. Vena says: “I want to believe that having more solutions will just make the market even better, but I wonder how far Kuiper will go into the niche business aviation market that will already be well served. We’ve got GEO Ku and Ka services, Starlink and now Gogo Galileo really picking up steam. With more STCs emerging, by next year there will be several robust solutions available. I wonder, in that market, how much appetite there will be to create Kuiper STCs for business aviation? I guess the airlines will be the focus first, but I expect to see a few business aviation STCs.”
Vena explains that engineering companies think carefully about which and how many STCs to bring to market. Developing an STC is neither cheap nor simple, as he explains: “With the LEO STCs, the birdstrike testing requirement is very expensive. It’s expensive to model, but if you have to test, you need to mount the hardware on a piece of fuselage from the aircraft, fire gelatine packs at it under controlled conditions to simulate birdstrikes and then do an engineering analysis on the results. What will the Kuiper antenna will look like? Will it be big enough to need birdstrike testing?”
Another complication arises when requirements differ between authorities. Vena notes that the FAA required birdstrike testing for the Gogo Galileo HDX, while Transport Canada and EASA were happy to accept modelling.
Rarely nothing
Today, it is rare for Duncan Aviation to see an aircraft with no connectivity at all. “We still see a few international aircraft with only Swift Broadband and occasionally we see ‘pre-buy’ airplanes that don’t have anything, or a previous owner was happy with something very basic and the new owner wants something better. I’ve also seen aircraft coming out of Europe equipped with Swift 64 that hasn’t worked for a while, which is kind of like having no system at all.”
Replacing old hardware can mean additional work compared to installing fresh, but Vena says there are ways around the challenges. “With Swift 64, for example, there’s no reason we need to remove the old equipment if the owner is happy. If you do remove it, then you need to confirm that no other systems needed it for their functionality. We see Gogo upgrades where we are removing and replacing legacy systems, but if the installation has already been updated, then we are more likely just adding to it.”
Gogo’s upgraded LTE network switches on in May next year, at which point aircraft equipped with legacy systems will lose connectivity. Vena confirms that around 2,000 aircraft have yet to be updated for the new standard, a minimum modification for which, he says, is the Gogo C1 box that replaces those legacy units and maintains service at the same level. For customers with AVANCE boxes installed, only a modification is required for LTE. Meanwhile, Gogo 5G is also coming and while Vena says Gogo has faced challenges bringing the system to market, he is hopeful of seeing it available late in 2025, although some potential customers are waiting to see if the market shifts towards Gogo Galileo instead.
Like many in the industry, Vena is concerned that customers waiting to decide will not only miss out on upgrade incentives but fail to get an MRO slot before the May deadline. Duncan Aviation has comprehensive engineering capability in-house for installation, upgrade and STC generation work, but Vena agrees that a last-minute rush for Gogo ATG upgrades will stretch the industry’s MRO capacity. “Our main locations in Provo, Lincoln and Battle Creek can do any connectivity solution. We also have around 30 avionics satellite shops that are capable of upgrades, not every system, but different ones depending on the location.
“At least four are currently doing Starlink installation, which requires a fairly big structural modification. With Starlink and Galileo, the ratio of structures to wiring work is inverted compared to traditional installations. In the past, connectivity installs were maybe 65% wiring and 35% structures, but with Starlink and Galileo it’s more like 70% structures and 30% wiring. Our satellite avionics shops are set up in the traditional manner with only a couple of ‘structure techs’, so it’s only the bigger ones that are able to do Starlink right now.”
Considering Vena’s example of a jet equipped with obsolete Swift 64, does an upgrade to Starlink or Gogo Galileo typically go together with a cabin systems upgrade? “It depends on how long the aircraft can be down for. Sometimes it is just the connectivity upgrade, but a Starlink or Galileo install typically takes a month and whenever possible we couple it with an inspection, when the airplane might be down for longer anyway, and then we’ll talk about interior, CMS [cabin management system], paint and so on.”
Ultimately, Vena acknowledges, passengers don’t care what connectivity system is installed, so long as it works, which means making wise choices and best matching a solution’s capacity requirements and aftermarket support with the experience a customer wants.