Rockwell Collins today revealed it has secured an unnamed European launch customer for its Stage content delivery solution.
Installation of the system will be carried out later this year by Dassault Falcon Service on a Falcon 900 business jet.
Taylor Prosba, director of business jet cabin solutions at Rockwell Collins, says installation for the anonymous customer – a “European charter operator” – will begin in “September or October”, slightly later than originally planned.
The Falcon 900 will be the first traditional business jet platform to be equipped with Stage.
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However, the system has just been installed on a Boeing 747 BBJ by Aloft AeroArchitects, on behalf of an unnamed Middle Eastern customer. That aircraft is “done and ready to go back” into service, says Prosba.
Including the European Falcon 900 customer and the Middle Eastern 747 BBJ client, Rockwell Collins now has agreements in place with a total of five launch customers for Stage. With the system now installed and ready to fly, Prosba expects things to move “pretty fast” when it comes to signing up other customers.
“As we continue to add customers and platforms we will continue to grow in terms of STCs,” says Prosba.
Stage enables up to 70 passengers to stream and manage in-flight media content, including Hollywood digital rights management-protected movies and TV shows. It is a “bolt-on, wireless system”, which means it is “easy to install” and results in minimal aircraft downtime, says Prosba.
With a user interface that is “similar to Netflix”, he says Stage is provides an intuitive user experience. Rockwell Collins has a “list of people who have expressed an interest” in Stage, and its message at EBACE is: “It’s out there, flying, available and working.”
Source: Flight Daily News
