APEX Experience 7.3 June/July 2017

airline passenger

volume 7, edition 3 | june – july 2017

Picture This The movies that move us to travel

official publication of the airline passenger experience association

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Give your passengers what they crave.

Live and on-demand entertainment

Premium content with global reach

Ultra-fast internet service

‌from the comfort of their own devices

To satisfy their craving, visit globaleagle.com

Ad Directory

apex experience

Advertisers’ Directory Airbus www.airbus.com > See pages 64 and 65 Astronics Advanced Electronic Systems www.astronics.com > See pages 15 and 81

Dawson Media Direct www.dawsonmd.com > See page 25 and select pages from 108 to 126 Entertainment In Motion www.skyfilms.com > See page 121

Astronics Armstrong Aerospace www.astronics.com > See page 107

Global Eagle Entertainment www.globaleagleent.com > See pages 4 and 5

BAE Systems www.baesystems.com > See page 17

Images In Motion www.iim.com.sg > See page 123

BBC Global News www.bbc.com > See page 128 Betria Interactive LLC www.flightpath3d.com > See page 28 Bluebox Aviation Systems www.blueboxaviation.com > See page 76 Bookmark, A Spafax Group Company www.bookmarkcontent.com > See page 23 Carlisle Interconnect Technologies www.carlisleit.com > See insert after page 34 castLabs www.castlabs.com > See page 26 Deutsche Telekom www.telekom.com > See belly band and page 51 digEcor www.digecor.com > See page 39

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Inflight Peripherals Ltd. www.ifpl.com > See page 55 and 95 Inmarsat www.inmarsat.com > See page 11 Interactive Mobility www.interactive-mobility.com > See pages 46 and 47 Linstol www.linstol.com > See page 117

volume 7, edition 3 june – july 2017

Pascall Electronics www.pascall.co.uk > See page 96 Penny Black Media www.pennyblackmedia.com > See page 115 Phitek Systems Ltd. www.phitek.com > See page 68 Reaktor www.reaktor.com > See page 73 Rockwell Collins www.rockwellcollins.com > See page 21 Skycast Solutions www.skycastsolutions.com > See page 58

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Non-Theatrical www.ebvnt.disney.com > See front cover reverse gatefold Warner Bros. www.warnerbros.com > See page 113 West Entertainment LLC www.westent.com > See pages 8 W.L. Gore and Associates GmbH www.gore.com > See page 86 Zodiac Aerospace www.imsco-us.com > See page 48

Skyline IFE www.skyline-ife.com > See page 127 SmartSky Networks LLC www.smartskynetworks.com > See page 6 and 7

Lufthansa Systems www.lhsystems.com > See page 31

Sony Pictures Releasing Corporation www.sonypicturesinflight.com > See pages 110 and 111

LSG Group www.lsgskychefs.com > See page 41

Telefonix Inc. www.telefonixinc.com > See page 56

Panasonic Avionics Corporation www.panasonic.aero > See outside back cover

TRT World www.trtworld.com > See page 131

Paramount Pictures www.paramount.com > See page 2 and 3

Visit us at apex.aero

ViaSat www.viasat.com > See page 18

Airline Passenger Experience Association

Reliable, high-speed inflight Wi-Fi lets data-hungry passengers stream, chat and browse in the air just like they do at home.

But seamless passenger connectivity means more than Facebook.

For airlines it’s a platform to launch service innovations like personalised IFE – new ways to create brand engagement that drive loyalty and market share.

Set a new benchmark for passenger experience with the world’s first truly worldwide inflight broadband. Find out more about GX Aviation at inmarsataviation.com/wifi

CEO’s Letter

apex experience

Visit us at apex.aero

Dear Members, With your help, both APEX and IFSA have made incredible strides this year championing our respective areas of airline passenger experience. In the coming months, we will share more about APEX and IFSA joining together to accelerate airline industry growth.

worldwide leadership APEX and IFSA have commanded keynote sessions at AIX/WTCE Hamburg, Aircraft Interiors Middle East, Hamburg Aviation Conference, ITB Berlin, Aviation Festival Americas and SITA Air Transport IT Summit. The first half of the year culminated with APEX MultiMedia Market in Berlin growing in year-over-year attendance with a sold-out event floor and IFSA regional events gaining significant industry presence.

top speakers for apex tech APEX TECH attendees on June 13–14 in Los Angeles will advance our industry and hear presentations from airline

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thought leaders including Delta Air Lines’ Joe Kiely, JetBlue Technology Ventures’ Raj Singh, Qatar Airways’ Babar Rahman, and United Airlines’ Tarek Abdel-Halim.

awards event hosted by The Points Guy Brian Kelly, APEX will be honoring airline members via the Official Airline Ratings in addition to bringing back the APEX Passenger Choice Awards!

keynotes for expo

ifsa compass awards at expo

While the impressive roster of speakers is still being finalized, we can now officially announce JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes, Emirates President Sir Tim Clark, Oneworld CEO Rob Gurney, United VP Marketing Mark Krolick, and many other top industry leaders highlighting our combined EXPO as the largest airline passenger experience event.

expansive apex awards at expo On Monday, September 25, APEX and IFSA will hold highly coveted awards events. The APEX Board of Directors is pleased to announce the selection of Emirates President Sir Tim Clark for the APEX CEO Lifetime Achievement Award for globally advancing the airline passenger experience. At the

On behalf of IFSA, I am so excited to announce the launch of the IFSA Compass Awards that will be held in an intimate setting concurrent to the APEX Awards. Visit ifsanet.com for more details on the awards.

We look forward to connecting, creating and advancing our industry alongside you.

Best regards,

> Joe Leader ceo, apex/ifsa

Airline Passenger Experience Association

Presidents’ Letters

apex experience

Follow us @theAPEXassoc

Dear APEX Members,

Dear IFSA Members,

The APEX Board of Directors met earlier this year to develop a forward-thinking strategic plan for its members. Working with an independent facilitator, the Board developed strategies that will take APEX to new heights over the next several years.

Board members, along with APEX staff, are working on tactical action plans to address the following five strategies:

Summer is here, which means preparation for our 2017 Conference and Expo in Long Beach, CA, September 25–27, is in full swing. Once again we expect a sold out show floor, and a busy and productive time for all of our members, filled with networking, education and social events.

Our co-location with APEX and AIX ensures more attendees and larger teams from our airline member companies, as well as new opportunities to meet with industry colleagues. We are excited to team up with APEX this year for a fantastic day of education on Monday, September 25, as members of both organizations get to gain critical insight into the future of onboard services.

While we prepare for Expo, our IFSA Foundation volunteers are getting ready to award scholarships to deserving students and current onboard service professionals furthering their education.

I’m thrilled to let you know that IFSA Foundation has once again surpassed its fundraising goal.

Through the generous donations from almost 30 member companies, we will be able to award over $140,000 in scholarships this year! We will announce this year’s winners in August so please stay tuned!

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the 2017 Conference and Expo in Long Beach, CA!

1. Attract new members by providing tremendous value to our current and new segments.

2. Increase retention by actively sharing what we achieve and stand for.

3. Be known as the PaxEx experts by speaking out proactively.

4. Drive the future of the passenger journey by continuously delivering to members knowledge and development opportunities.

5. Engage partners and members by offering attractive events and benefits.

The Board will meet in June to discuss the 2018 actionable plans/budget, including first-step tactics for the 2020 strategic plan. Once finalized, the high-level plan will be posted on the members’ section of apex.aero.

Best regards,

> Brian Richardson apex president american airlines

> Jane Bernier-Tran ifsa president

To contact the APEX team, please visit > CONNECT.APEX.AERO/ CONTACTUS

Airline Passenger Experience Association

volume 7, edition 3

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Board News

apex experience

Visit us at apex.aero

From Your APEX Board The APEX Board of Directors uses this space to inform members about ongoing Board work and decisions.

In addition to APEX association information in the magazine, the Board sends e-mails regularly to update the membership and to be as transparent as possible. > Brian Richardson president American Airlines

> Éric Lauzon vice-president Air Canada

another successful multimedia market

> Dominic Green secretary Inflight Dublin

> Joan Filippini treasurer Paramount Pictures

The APEX MultiMedia Market visited a new city – Berlin! The sold-out event saw 210 members, including representatives from 15 airlines. Attendees participated in two intense days of meetings and inspiring sessions. Members also took part in an impressive networking event at the historical Charlottenburg Palace, which featured the legendary MultiMedia Quiz. Big thanks to Andy Grant from Emirates for being the quiz guru from afar, and to APEX president Brian Richardson for emceeing.

emirates, jetblue, qatar & united to speak at apex expo > Linda Celestino past president

> Kevin Bremer Boeing

Etihad Airways

Speakers from APEX airline members Emirates, JetBlue, Qatar and United are booked for APEX’s opening day of EXPO on Monday, 25 September in Long Beach, CA. APEX EXPO will be co-locating with IFSA Conference and Expo and AIX Americas Expo 26–28 September. Have you saved the dates? Stay tuned for more details, including registration, in the weeks ahead.

apex award nominations

> Maura Chacko Spafax

> Michael Childers Lufthansa Systems

APEX, the most influential member-based organization dedicated to elevating the entire airline passenger experience, will recognize the industry’s most influential advancements from the past year. Will your company or one of your partners be a deserving contender?

Nominations for the 2017 APEX Awards opened in May 2017.

2017–2018 elections

Finnair

> Ryanne Van Der Eijk KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

PHOTOS: MEHRAN TORGOLEY

> Juha Järvinen

Many thanks to members who submitted nominations for APEX’s Board of Directors. Members can vote for the new Board during the month of August 2017. The 2017–2018 APEX Board will be announced at APEX EXPO in Long Beach, CA. Thanks to Nominations Committee members Lee Casey, Mark Horton and Brian Richardson.

> Ingo Wuggetzer Airbus

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volume 7, edition 3

Airline Passenger Experience Association

IN-SEAT

POWER

SYSTEMS

BE A SUPERHERO TO YOUR PASSENGERS. CHOOSE EMPOWER®

IN-SEAT POWER SYSTEMS AND YOUR PASSENGERS

WILL SEE YOU IN A WHOLE NEW WAY—AS A SUPERHERO!

• THEIR FLIGHTS WILL FLY BY AS THEY REMAIN PRODUCTIVE AND ENTERTAINED, SIMULTANEOUSLY POWERING AND CHARGING THEIR LAPTOPS, TABLETS AND OTHER MOBILE DEVICES WHILE IN USE. AND YOU’LL THRILL YOUR MANAGEMENT, CABIN CREW AND MAINTENANCE STAFF WITH THE MOST RELIABLE, MOST REQUESTED IN-SEAT POWER SYSTEM, WITH PATENTED POWER MANAGEMENT; THE LIGHTEST, MOST COMPACT FORM FACTOR; AND THE HIGHEST AVAILABLE POWER FOR 110 VAC AND USB. • CONTACT ASTRONICS, THE INDUSTRY LEADER, AND SEE HOW IT FEELS TO FLY LIKE A SUPERHERO.

ASTRONICS ADVANCED ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS | US Office +1.425.881.1700 | Europe Office +41.61.303.8828

www.astronics.com

Social

apex experience

APEX in Action APEX members were pleased to see familiar faces at Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg and at APEX MultiMedia Market in Berlin, where old friends came head-to-head for quiz night.

Visit us at apex.aero

Like us on Facebook to see more social photos > FACEBOOK.COM/ APEX.AERO

1. It’s time for networking!

APEX MultiMedia Market (MMM) attendees gathered for coffee and cookies between appointments.

2. The Encore Inflight team keeping things light at their booth during MMM. 3. Fox Networks Group previews content to an interested audience.

4. An engaging discussion happening at Ampersand Entertainment’s booth.

5. The winning team fom quiz night, with Audrey Kamga (in turquoise) as its frontwoman.

1

6. Luke Jones, TripIt; Massimo Pascotto, SAS; Cyril Jean, PXCom; Joe Leader, APEX; and Sonali Amarasingham, Qatar Airways; at the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin.

7. Mareijn Willems, Fokker Services; and Kevin Clark, Bluebox Aviation Systems; at Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX).

8. Gogo’s 2Ku antenna on display at AIX in Hamburg.

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Do you have social photos that are fit to print? E-mail submissions to > EDITOR@APEX.AERO

Airline Passenger Experience Association

PHOTOS: ZACARIAS GARCIA: MAXIM SERGIENKO

6

5

16

4

3

9. Anaïs Marzo da Costa, Airbus, posing with three Crystal Cabin Award trophies.

Love at first flight Our IntelliCabin products are improving the passenger experience with innovative, scalable in-seat power solutions for every seat class.

We know what passengers love: a fully charged device to enjoy entertainment or interact with the world below. ÂŽ

www.baesystems.com/intellicabin

CONNECT UP! YOUR FLIGHT PATH TO THE CONNECTED AIRCRAFT

In-flight Internet

Onboard Entertainment

Flight Operations

WEB www.viasat.com/airlines

ViaSat operates the world’s highest-capacity satellite

EMAIL insidesales@viasat.com

broadband network. Plus, our innovative software and

PHONE +1 760 476 4755

network and is on track to deliver the first truly global, mobile apps deliver greater passenger choice with onboard entertainment, and crew benefits with flight operations apps.

Wherever you are on the flight path to the fully-connected aircraft, ViaSat can help you realize your vision to enable meaningful data flow between pilots, cabin crew, passengers and the aircraft itself.

Let’s connect up!

Contents

apex experience

Follow us @theAPEXassoc

Main Attractions

volume 7, edition 3 june – july 2017

Follow cinephile sightseers to world-renowned film sets, animals and kids on their unaccompanied journeys, and glowing floor paths and cabin scents as you enter the airplane cabin.

69 Traveling Animals Furry friends vacation, too

ILLUSTRATIONS: GABRIEL EBENSPERGER: FABRIZIO MORRA; FRANCISCO OLEA PHOTO> DELTA

> FEATURES

> IN PROFILE

77

66 Mark Rasmussen

Going the Distance

VP and General Manager, Mobility Intelsat

Low-cost carriers are looking to fly further

49 Setting the Scene The motion pictures that move us to travel

59 Learning by Design Doing TU Delft students offer up the next generation of ideas

Airline Passenger Experience Association

84 Vacation Mode

42 Ed Bastian

Taking time off is good for you and your employer

CEO Delta Air Lines

90

82 David Dicko

Anatomy of a Special Layover For Lufthansa Technik, connecting an aircraft takes a matter of days

CEO SkyLights

74 Grace Lau Aquisition and Distribution Director Emphasis Video Entertainment

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Contents

apex experience

Comfort & Ambience Entertainment & Connectivity Catering & Services

Visit us at apex.aero

volume 7, edition 3 june – july 2017

> INDUSTRY

> APEX

12 CEO’s Letter 13 Presidents’ Letters 14 Board News

38

When Data Weighs In

32 29

Illuminating Innovations

STG Aerospace’s Wales facility is lighting up with ideas

30

Scented Cabins

Fragrance branding breathes fresh air into the passenger experience

Video Bites

Snackable content that passengers can savor before and after feature films

Could credit card companies take some weight off airlines’ shoulders?

102 APEX News 106 IFSA News

> LISTINGS

10 Advertisers’ Directory

34

Virtually Speaking

Chatting with an airline bot doesn’t have to be robotic

36

Connectivity’s Cost Savings

40

Food Brand Association

108 Movie Listings 129 #APEXPOTD

Giving passengers a taste of what they love on the ground

In-flight connectivity adds up to dollars and sense for airlines

> STANDBYS

97

130

22 Editor’s Letter

Travelogue: Unaccompanied Minor

Throwback: Fairey Tale

24 Featured

Contributors

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Airline Passenger Experience Association

ILLUSTRATIONS: JORGE DE LA PAZ; OSCAR MATAMORA; KATIE CAREY; KUO CHENG LIAO; FABRIZIO MORRA; MATHIAS SIELFELD PHOTOS: STG AEROSPACE; DELTA; LIM KOK WEE; GETTY IMAGES

16 APEX in Action

One of our 40 million secure, daily connections.

To her, it’s everything.

Over 14,000 commercial aircraft rely on Rockwell Collins to stay connected, ensuring safe and efficient operations. Imagine what we can do for your

CABIN CONNECTIVITY > IFE systems for today and tomorrow

passengers – engaging, entertaining and empowering

> Global broadband connectivity

them – even beyond the cabin. Because when you

> Applications and value-added services

connect them to their world, they connect with yours.

rockwellcollins.com © 2017 Rockwell Collins. All rights reserved.

Editor’s Letter

apex experience

Visit us at apex.aero

Looking Up David Dicko believes his company’s AR headset, SkyLights Theater, can simulate the experience of going to the movies, plucking us from our airplane seat straight into a virtual cinema.

For another immersive experience, try walking in the shoes of an unaccompanied minor. Ari Magnusson recalls a 30-hour multi-leg flight from London to Singapore to Cairns he took as a 10-year-old in the 1990s. His travelogue, “Unaccompanied Minor,” is a reminder that the passenger experience is about more than screens: His most vivid memories were the sights, sounds and scents he encountered along the way. Young Ari may have been immersed in his Game Boy, but he looked up from the screen every now and then.

And there’s so much to look out for!

Aircraft cabin suppliers are playing to passengers’ senses through colored lighting, as Richard Rawlinson discovers in “Illuminating Innovations,” and fragrance, as Vanessa Bonneau sniffs out in “Scented Cabins.” Or as Jordan Yerman points out in “Traveling Animals,” furry, feathered and scaled friends can be spotted flying, too – maybe you’ll see an alpaca on your next flight?

> Caroline Ku managing editor

ILLUSTRATION: FABRIZIO MORRA

Seeing Tilda Swinton glide across the screen like a swan, dressed in Dior, against the rugged landscape of some sun-drenched Mediterranean island in A Bigger Splash made me wonder, could that be my next vacation?

Moving pictures, each threaded together by a delicious plotline – whether viewed on the silver screen, tablet screen or seatback screen – can instill in viewers a yearning to travel.

This issue’s multipart feature, “Setting the Scene,” examines the films, TV shows and documentaries that have had this allure on audiences. In some cases, “set-jetting” has become a victim of its own success. Some locals find it invasive; just ask Icelanders about Game of Thrones fans.

With low-cost, long-haul routes – including IAG Group’s Barcelona–LA, Lucky Air’s Kunming–Moscow, AirAsia X’s Kuala Lumpur–United States and others – springing up, flying to a fantastic far-flung place on a whim may not be such a hard decision anymore.

In “Going the Distance,” by Marisa Garcia, executives from Norwegian, Scoot and WestJet talk about how air travel is becoming more accessible.

But even with summer around the corner, not everyone is taking time off. In “Vacation Mode,” Kristina Velan reveals why many Americans are staying put, or choosing to tack on a couple of days of fun to a business trip instead. If travel isn’t an option, perhaps augmented reality (AR) can be our gateway to a getaway.

Former-pilot-turned-startup-founder

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Airline Passenger Experience Association

Let Your Data Soar

20%

58%

of airline executives

of airline executives

priority.

consumer behavior and

view Big Data as a top

view Big Data as one

competitive edge.

priorities.

At Bookmark we believe that your data is the start of a better brand journey.

SOURCES

LOS ANGELES

of airline executives

prioritize insights in

Airlines collect vast amounts of data – an untapped source of rich brand storytelling. We can help you leverage this resource by using your data to tell your brand stories, enrich your community relationship marketing, and audit your content.

LONDON

61%

MONTREAL

NEW YORK

of their top three

30Ă—

Amount by which high quality infographics are more likely to be read than text articles.

Better Bookmark Content and Communications A SPAFAX GROUP COMPANY

bookmarkcontent.com/products SANTIAGO

SHANGHAI

SINGAPORE

TORONTO

http://www.business2community.com/brandviews/shelley-media-arts/infographics-still-effective-2-01819462#MhpXjF2cFg5luTKS.97 http://www.airnguru.com/blog/are-airlines-making-the-most-of-big-data

Masthead

apex experience

Visit us at apex.aero

Featured Contributors

See Katie’s work on page > 32

See Zacarias’ work on page > 16

Katie Carey is an illustrator who creates images for people with a sense of humor. Her snackable content of choice is “at least three cute puppy videos every day.”

When flying, she packs an iPad loaded with whatever content she’s currently hooked on and her sketchbook in case a good idea materializes mid-flight.

Zacarias Garcia is a Spanish photographer and videographer based in Berlin. He says his favorite movie genre is thriller, but adds, “perhaps in flight I watch more comedies and action films than I usually do.” If he could sit next to anyone on a flight, it would be Robert De Niro!

volume 7, edition 3 june – july 2017

APEX Experience Magazine 575 Anton Blvd, Ste 1020 Costa Mesa, CA 92626 +1 714 363 4900 > Publisher Al St. Germain al.stgermain@spafax.com COVER ILLUSTRATION

BY FABRIZIO MORRA

EDITORIAL

PRODUCTION

> Director Maryann Simson

> Production Director Joelle Irvine

maryann.simson@apexmedia.aero

> Managing Editor Caroline Ku caroline.ku@apexmedia.aero

> Deputy Editor Valerie Silva valerie.silva@apexmedia.aero

> Digital Editor Kristina velan kristina.velan@apexmedia.aero

Read Richard’s work on page > 29

Richard Rawlinson divides his time between Bristol and London as a freelance journalist and is also working on a novel. In flight, he tends to watch films he missed at the cinema. If he could go anywhere right now it would be Italy, “for its cultural cities, beautiful countryside and sunny weather.”

> News Editor Ari Magnusson > Research Assistant Ella Ponomarov > Contributors Vanessa Bonneau, Marisa Garcia, Jason Kessler, Jasmin Legatos, Richard Rawlinson, Katie Sehl, Howard Slutsken, Jason Steele, Jordan Yerman ART > Art Director Nicolás Venturelli nicolas.venturelli@apexmedia.aero

Read Jordan’s work on pages > 32 & 69

Jordan Yerman is a writer and photographer. On a flight, he likes to snack on “TV shows he’s never watched before and will never watch again.” As for what movie inspired him to travel? “Seeing Star Wars as a child planted the idea of visiting the jungles of Guatemala.”

> Graphic Designer Angélica Geisse > Contributors Katie Carey, Jorge De la Paz, Gabriel Ebensperger, Zacarias Garcia, Kuocheng Liao, Óscar Matamora, Fabrizio Morra, Francisco Javier Olea, Mathias Sielfeld, Richard Theemling

> Production Manager Felipe Batista Nunes > Assistant Copy Editor Deanna Dority > Fact Checkers Tara Dupuis Leah Jane Esau > Proofreaders Katie Moore Robert Ronald ADVERTISING > Sales Director Steve O’connor steve.oconnor@apexmedia.aero

+44 207 906 2077 > Ad Production Manager Mary Shaw mary.shaw@spafax.com

> Ad Production Coordinator Joanna Forbes joanna.forbes@spafax.com

Bookmark Content and Communications, A Spafax Group Company > CEO, Bookmark Raymond Girard > Senior Vice-President, Product, Bookmark Arjun Basu

FSC-FPO

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Airline Passenger Experience Association

Premium passengers increase the time spent reading print more than digital media when they travel Print Newspaper Print Magazine Digital Newspaper Digital Magazine Other Digital News Sources

We asked a group of premium frequent fliers about their reading habits on the move. Turns out they love to read, and all that time in transit offers the ideal chance. Digital devices make it easy to tap into global news and views, airside or airborne, but print is still their favourite read.

That’s why DMD do both. Our multimedia expertise helps you keep pace with passenger preferences to deliver just the right newspaper & magazine offer – where, when and how they like it. Our service evolves with your needs and theirs, to ensure a balanced and future-proof print/digital product for all your avid readers.

global@dawsonmd.com dawsonmd.com

DMD Premium Passenger Media Usage Survey Atmosphere Research Group 2016 | Survey sample: 400 frequent long haul fliers in first and business class, to and from the USA.

Simplify your video entertainment workflow

DRM LICENSING

CONTENT PROCESSING

PLAYER SDKS

Lightweight and fast IFE licensing backend for protecting studio content

Prepare video streaming formats in the cloud for speed and scalability

Feature-rich playback app options for bring-your-own device or onboard screens

Learn more at castlabs.com

Meet us at APEX TECH 2017 in June Join our CEO’s panel session on IFE content standards

PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES

Follow us @theAPEXassoc

apex experience

Welcome

Up Next: APEX EXPO APEX and AIX for the long haul: > APEX.AERO/COLOCATION

Airline Passenger Experience Association

Following last year’s successful co-location of APEX EXPO and AIX Asia in Singapore, conference delegates are in for another collaborative show September 25–28, this time also joined by the International Flight Services Association (IFSA). With a long-term co-location partnership inked for the next three fall events, APEX EXPO in Long Beach, CA, is bound to be the start of something sunny. volume 7, edition 3

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Ambience

apex experience

Follow us @theAPEXassoc

Illuminating Innovations When cabin lights go down, innovations from STG Aerospace light up.

by Richard Rawlinson

PHOTO: STG AEROSPACE

STG Aerospace’s Innovation and Engineering Centre in Cwmbran, Wales, is illuminating with ideas. Patents designed at the facility include its color-changing mood lighting system; its square-beamed LED reading light, which minimizes light spill onto neighboring seats; its blueglowing photoluminescent emergency floor-path marking system, which is proving a popular replacement for the customary green color, now deemed too distracting due to its Halloween and Ghostbusters connotations; and its photoluminescent emergency and information signage, which reduces weight when it replaces halogen-lit, plastic-boxed exit signs.

Airline Passenger Experience Association

“Being at the cutting edge of research into how lighting affects people, physiologically and psychologically, is central to our product development philosophy,” says Nigel Duncan, STG Aerospace’s chief executive officer.

The facility includes laboratories that develop and test lighting for color, intensity and durability. The photoluminescent floor-path marking, for example, must endure flammability testing, resist liquid spillage and damage caused by stiletto heels. A goniophotometer is used for measuring the size, space and shape that lighting takes up, and an integrating sphere is used to analyze color.

The LED reading light, part of STG’s liTeMood range, is an affordable plugand-play replacement for Boeing 737NG incandescent reading lights. They reduce power consumption by 70 percent and are up to 30 kilograms lighter than original fluorescent lighting.

“Traditional lights can flow into the passengers seated on either side of

“How lighting affects people is central to our philosophy.”

Nigel Duncan STG Aerospace

you, and this square-beamed light is designed to shine precisely on your personal space,” Duncan says. “Its high quality also allows you to see what you’re reading more easily, as it reduces the glare on magazines, e-books and tray tables.”

Duncan adds that the color-changing mood lighting may also boost the onboard retail environment. “Airlines are constantly looking for ways that they can improve their revenues,” he says.

“It creates a more contemporary cabin ambience that narrows the gap between legacy aircraft and those installed on the latest systems. Findings also suggest it is an important factor in influencing the retail environment.”

For STG Aerospace, contracts for lighting retrofits aimed at upgrading commercial airline fleets make up a large part of the company’s growth.

China Eastern Airlines has enlisted STG to retrofit 125 of its 737NG aircraft and linefit its upcoming Boeing aircraft deliveries with saf-Tglo SSUL PatternMatch floor-path marking.

“We must also consider all the other needs of our airline customers,” Duncan says. These include “the cost and convenient speed of retrofits, the weight reductions to decrease fuel consumption, and how our lighting integrates with cabin design and corporate brand identity.”

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Ambience

apex experience

Visit us at apex.aero

Scented Cabins Custom airline fragrances could soon fill cabins and tickle passengers’ noses.

by Vanessa Bonneau illustration Óscar Matamora

Airlines have long used scent to advance their brand. All Nippon Airways’ “Refresh” aromatherapy card delivers the smell of woodland trees and herbs to ease passengers into sleep. Singapore Airlines’ hot towels are perfumed with “Stefan Floridian Waters,” a blend of rose, lavender and citrus. And now Zodiac Aerospace has a cabin scent diffusing system breathing fresh air into the passenger experience.

“None of the fragrance solutions currently on the aircraft market meet needs,” says Jean-Marc Lemaitre, CEO at Pacific Precision Products, a Zodiac company that specializes in oxygen systems.

Zodiac’s FIVE is the first fragrance diffusing system for private and commercial aircraft that complies with both Federal Aviation Administration and European Aviation Safety Agency regulations. Safe to use in flight, its fragrances are designed by ScentAir, a leader in scent marketing.

“How we deliver scent in the cabin is just as important as the scent selection,” says

Signature Scents Untitled, Garuda Indonesia Concoction of essential oils extracted from native Indonesian plants and spices, including clove and nutmeg “Refresh,” All Nippon Airways Blend of 12 natural scents, including cypress, black pine, mint and rosemary “Landing,” United Airlines Hints of orange peel, bergamot, cypress, black pepper, black tea, sandalwood, cedar, amber, leather, patchouli and more

30

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Not everyone’s sweet on scents: > APEX.AERO/ SCENT-SENSITIVITY

Ed Burke, VP of Customer Strategy and Communications, ScentAir. “The FIVE delivery platform has a high degree of control in terms of intensity and locale within the cabin.

Typically, passengers will be greeted with a subtle, elevated scent as they board.”

Tracy Pepe, whose company Nose Knows Design creates custom scents for the hospitality industry and others, is seeing an increase in the use of natural-based fragrances, as well as the growing practice of combining scents and experiences. “Adding scent to taste, touch or sound can help relate the overall experience back to the brand,” she says.

United Airlines’ signature “Landing” cabin fragrance features hints of orange peel, bergamot, cypress, black pepper, black tea, sandalwood, leather and more. The scent is part of the airline’s strategy to relax and reinvigorate their passengers. “We’re working to create a comprehensive sensory experience that consists of a custom scent,

a curated music playlist and subtle mood lighting,” says Maddie King, Corporate Communications, United Airlines.

But scents can cause sensitivities, Pepe says, so fragrance levels will be important to monitor in the closed space of an aircraft cabin – something that United Airlines takes into consideration. “We’re careful to make sure that the amount of scent infused is appropriate for the space, so that the fragrance is delicately present – subtle but never too assertive,” King says.

Materials used by ScentAir are nonallergenic and meet or exceed worldwide fragrance regulatory standards, Lemaitre says. FIVE’s dry evaporative technology means the fragrance experience can quickly be shut off if necessary and won’t linger in the cabin. For Lemaitre, the goal is simple: “Zodiac sees an opportunity for airlines to use FIVE to replicate the success that ground-based markets have had with scent marketing.”

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Entertainment

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Video Bites Short videos make for appetizing in-flight entertainment snacks that passengers can savor before and after a feature film.

by Jordan Yerman illustration Katie Carey

More than 300 hours of content are uploaded to YouTube every minute, drawing in close to five billion views per day – not counting platforms such as Vimeo, Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram. Far from jumping the shark, web content has jumped offline to reach what is arguably still the apotheosis of cultural validation – curated distribution on preprogrammed channels. This includes entertainment on airplanes. If a feature film is a full meal, web videos are the tapas of in-flight entertainment (IFE), and passengers are hungry.

“For long hauls, passengers know they can invest in a full movie, while on short hauls, people may want something that fits better,” says Philip Corke, VP of Business Development for Gone Viral TV, which delivers short-form web-native videos to offline channels.

“Our product is better suited for short flights, or flights with enough time after a full-length movie to still invest in something [shorter].”

There’s also the fear that a flight could land before a movie ends, leaving the viewer hanging in suspense. “Most people want to watch something all the way through,” says Kevin Clark, CEO of Bluebox Aviation Systems, adding that snack-sized IFE is particularly palatable for quicker jaunts. “Movies become less relevant and shorter content items are more appealing.”

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Despite the proliferation of in-flight Wi-Fi and IFE offerings that cater to personal electronic devices, passengers aren’t simply hitting YouTube mid-flight and bingeing on puppy videos. Trends suggest in-flight Wi-Fi is still too expensive for that.

Short-form video for IFE passes through a gatekeeper who must program for a general audience – meaning PG-rated content. Corke says he shies away from featuring videos that contain swearing and drugs, as well as religion and politics.

“We see how it has performed online, giving us a better read of its success.”

Philip Corke Gone Viral TV

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Entertainment

“There’s quite an attraction in blending content with ancillary revenue.”

Kevin Clark Bluebox Aviation Systems

Viveka Nilsson, international sales and marketing manager of PIAS Comedy, also notes that edginess is a factor in selecting content for IFE sales. Sex, politics and religion are edgy, Nilsson says, which is precisely why comedians like to talk about them. Since PIAS offers content ranging from mild to spicy, it’s able to convey the language and tone of each piece to airlines on a granular level.

Web videos come with the advantage of predicting popularity among

Airline Passenger Experience Association

passengers: “It’s still not an exact science for independent networks, and we still rely a lot on our customers to provide viewer statistics,” Corke says.

“The great thing about our content, versus that on a traditional TV channel, though, is that we [see] how it has performed [publicly online], allowing us to get a better read on its success than a traditional program.” Gone Viral TV’s roster of content creators boast a combined 52 billion online video

views, as well as more than 300 million subscribers. Analytics keep getting better, Corke adds, which makes the curation process easier.

Having sealed content deals with carriers such as Air France and Brussels Airlines, PIAS Comedy is expanding its IFE presence. For Nilsson, that means looking beyond raw numbers. Selecting artists for IFE distribution, she says, “is more similar to the music business than to the film business. We look at the long-term career of the artist – that’s the ethos.”

Clark points out that short-form content also creates transition points, similar to commercial breaks between videos, that lend well to ancillary revenue opportunities. “There’s quite an attraction in blending content with ancillary revenue,” he says, be it sponsored content, advertising or destination-based multimedia.

“If you have snackable content, you’re playing to the mindset that the passenger may watch something for 15 minutes and then go and do something else,” Clark says. And that could be a segue for an in-flight purchase.

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Connectivity

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Virtually Speaking Chatting with an airline bot doesn’t have to feel robotic. In fact, an airline’s bottom line goes up when its passengers feel it isn’t.

Hallo

Mildred Lufthansa debut: 2016 developer: Lufthansa

by Katie Sehl illustration Kuocheng Liao

Mildred has an impressive profile. Before taking time off to raise her two children, she worked in public relations for a German charity organization. The daughter of diplomats, she’s lived all over the map, from France to India, but she calls Bonn, Germany, home. In November last year, she landed a job with an airline and it’s a perfect fit, especially since she knows its every route – she’s Lufthansa’s new chatbot.

Jenn Alaska Airlines

Hi

debut: 2008 developer: Next IT fun fact: Sam, Jill, Alli, Val, Jess and Alex were names considered before Jenn was chosen.

The brainchild of Ivonne Engemann, a developer on Lufthansa’s Factory Sales and Digitalized Customer Experience team who programmed Mildred almost entirely on a three-hour train ride, the chatbot was created to assist customers with flight bookings as well as with general questions in English and German on Facebook Messenger. Using Wit.ai for the natural language processing platform and three APIs to source information, the virtual assistant can “intuit” where a customer is located and connect landmarks with cities.

So, if you’re hoping to see the Eiffel Tower in the spring via Tokyo, Mildred can help.

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fun fact: Mildred studied communications science in school.

Despite her charm, when it comes to chatting, Mildred is all business. “Some users ask [her] to tell jokes, but she is a serious German,” says Torsten Wingenter, head of Digital Innovations, Lufthansa. Likewise, her name, which was suggested by Engemann’s husband, was chosen because it sounds traditional and on brand, and resonates with German and English customers.

Lufthansa’s choice to create an avatar diverges from the approach taken by KLM and Icelandair, both of which use a tailfin as the profile picture for their Messenger bots. Alaska Airlines’ Jenn, the US airline industry’s first chatbot, developed with Next IT in 2008, takes a more photo-realistic approach. “Back then, adoption was a little bit lower and people were less familiar with the technology,” says Cleat Grumbly, senior vice-president of Next IT. “If you didn’t make it look like a person, they would type in keywords like a search.”

Sofia Oi

TAP Portugal debut: 2015 developer: Artificial Solutions fun fact: Sofia likes it when you say “LOL.”

Making the chatbot respond like a person is also key to developing trust, Grumbly says, which is why Jenn has answers to a host of off-topic queries about her favorite food, pet and drink (Copper River salmon, a husky named Denali and coffee, but of course). Good rapport also leads to good sales. “We’ve seen an interesting lift on reservations in the travel sector where people who use the virtual agent will spend more money,” Grumbly says. Julie, Next IT’s avatar for Amtrak, generates a monthly average of 30 percent more revenue per booking than real-life reps, and saves the rail company $1 million in customer

Hola

Ana Copa Airlines debut: 2012 developer: IntelliResponse Systems fun fact: Ana speaks English, Spanish and Portuguese.

service-related costs per year. Many of Next IT’s customers, including Alaska Airlines and Amtrak, find cost savings using the technology internally as well.

Oddly, one of the questions virtual assistants get asked most frequently is whether they’re married – a query Grumbly says female avatars are asked more than male counterparts, and in the airline business, there are only female avatars. Copa Airlines’ bot, Ana, responds to the question with, “I’m engaged with my professional future. Can I help answer any question about Copa Airlines?” Jenn reminds suitors that she is not human, and when told she’s “hot,” deflects by sharing Alaska’s vacation packages to warm and sunny destinations.

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Connectivity

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Connectivity’s Cost Savings

2 Real-Time Weather Updates

For passengers, sending an e-mail or streaming a movie in flight are some of the perks of a connected aircraft.

But airlines benefit, too: Digital operations and real-time data add up to cost savings in dollars and sense.

Flight paths are determined based on the weather conditions of each flight, taking into consideration upper air winds, temperatures, payload, etc.

illustration Fabrizio Morra

1 Flight Delays Flight delays cost the airline industry $40 billion per year, due to the need for extra gates, ground personnel, fuel, etc.

Visit us at apex.aero

According to NASA’s Weather Accident Prevention Project, weather is a contributing factor in about 30% of all aviation accidents. Turbulence is the greatest cause of airline injuries and costs airlines $100 million each year.

3 Real-Time Credit Card Verification Between 3% and 10% of onboard transactions are lost to card fraud, equivalent to a loss of $100 million in onboard sales per year; 90% of these lost sales could be recovered with real-time credit card verification, resulting in savings of $90 million and an increase in onboard sales.

If delays could be reduced by 25% as a result of condition-based monitoring, savings would be in the region of

$10 billion.

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Cabin crew could verify if a passenger has sufficient funds, resulting in fewer bounce-back fees, and enabling airlines to raise the floor limit and promote more high-value items.

Further ancillaries could be generated from greater personalization and more convenient payment technologies like NFC.

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Connectivity

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4 The Breakdown:

Electronic Flight Bags

-------------------------------1

20%

Cost savings in flight delays brought by condition-based monitoring equipment: $10 billion

of airlines still use paper-based flight bags.

-------------------------------2

Cost savings in fuel brought by real-time weather updates: $200 million

-------------------------------3

Recoverable sales brought by real-time credit card verification: $90 million

The average weight of a paper flight bag – 12,000 sheets of paper per pilot – is 30 lb versus up to 5 lb for a tablet or laptop.

5 Telemedicine Airlines could save money by obviating the need for costly diversions to reach a medical professional.

-------------------------------4

Cost savings in fuel burn brought by electronic flight bags: $35 million

-------------------------------5

Cost savings brought by telemedicine: $33 million

The average cost of an in-flight emergency due to rerouting, extra fuel and potential crew swaps is $75,000–$100,000.

Telemedicine could prevent 10% of medically related flight diversions, amounting to $33 million in savings.

Source: Courtesy of Valour Consultancy

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Services

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When Data Weighs In

Could credit card data take the weight off airlines’ shoulders when it comes to passengers of size?

by Jason Steele illustration Jorge De la Paz

Knowing the weight of each passenger in advance could help airlines better accommodate so-called passengers of size. Hawaiian Airlines generated controversy when it began weighing passengers during a six-month survey to find out why fuel burn was much higher on flights to American Samoa, a territory with high rates of obesity.

According to a recently disclosed patent application from 2015, MasterCard believes it can provide accurate data on passenger weight to airlines, based on account holders’ purchase history, including clothing and shoe sizes. Often, overweight passengers are required to purchase an additional seat, and may even be asked to deplane if they are unable to fit entirely within their own

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seat. But some airlines approach weight issues differently.

Hawaiian Airlines now restricts seat assignments on flights to American Samoa to control weight distribution. Uzbekistan Airways weighs passengers, it says, to determine whether they fall into adult or child groups. And then there’s Samoa Air’s “pay by weight” policy, which has hardly caused a fuss among its passengers.

Chris Langton, CEO of the private airline, says passengers are always intrigued by this policy, but quick to understand the concept. “They see that this rationale makes perfect sense,” he says.

Currently, most consumer credit card transactions only include basic information, such as merchant name, transaction amount and date. Further information on items purchased, called Level 3 data, is only sent to government and institutional cardholders for their own tracking and reconciliation. With enough purchase data, it might be possible to estimate the weight of each passenger, but several obstacles would remain.

First, consumers would be giving up a tremendous amount of privacy if payment

With enough purchase data, it might be possible to estimate the weight of each passenger. networks and card issuers were tracking and sharing that kind of purchase data.

Also, airlines would have to be on board with this solution, which may be in search of a problem.

Southwest Airlines encourages passengers of size to purchase a refundable extra seat ahead of time or to discuss their needs with an agent at the departure gate. A spokesperson for the airline says, “This policy works well for us and we don’t expect to make any changes in the near future.” While using credit card data to estimate passenger size may be a fascinating concept, it’s unlikely to be implemented anytime soon.

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Catering

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Food Brand Association

Restaurant brands bring a touch of familiarity to dining on board.

by Jason Kessler

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served meals from Luvo, a brand that prides itself on “wholesome, delicious meals made with real ingredients.” Luvo’s in-flight snacks and meals have been part of Delta’s branded catering strategy since 2014, and now they’ll be offered on select routes as part of the airline’s new complimentary Main Cabin meal program.

Restaurant brands are joining consumer brands in the aircraft cabin, pushing out the decades-long trend in celebrity chef partnerships. In Hong Kong, for example, carriers are luring customers with Michelinstarred restaurants – not chefs – from iconic hotel chains. Cathay Pacific introduced a menu from the Ritz-Carlton’s Tosca back in February, while Hong Kong Airlines aims to bring authentic Cantonese cuisine to the skies with dishes from Hoi King Heen of the InterContinental Grand Stanford. Both airlines are fighting for the valuable traffic out of Hong Kong International Airport, and partnering with big brands only helps to sweeten the pot.

FROM TOP: Luvo’s healthy sesame chicken wrap for Delta Air Lines; a dish from Hoi King Heen for Hong Kong Airlines; and Italian cuisine from Michelin-starred Tosca for Cathay Pacific

“Bringing familiar brands on board and crafting exclusive in-flight menus are just a few ways airlines have taken an innovative approach to their catering services,” says Jane Bernier-Tran, president of the International Flight Services Association.

“Quality food and beverages are key when it comes to customer satisfaction, and airlines and caterers are going the extra mile to ensure a memorable, appetizing experience.”

Ultimately, brand loyalty can never be attributed to a single factor, but giving passengers a taste of what they love on the ground can only help bring them back the next time they book a flight.

Airline Passenger Experience Association

PHOTOS: DELTA AIR LINES; HONG KONG AIRLINES; CATHAY PACIFIC

Brand association is a powerful force for airlines, but what happens when carriers use outside brands to boost their own popularity?

If EVA Air’s partnership with Hello Kitty is any indication, collaborations can work wonders.

That’s why airlines across the globe are looking for the right brand partners to cultivate customer loyalty. Nowhere is that more apparent than in airline catering departments.

Delta Air Lines is among the carriers leading the brand integration charge. After extensive testing, the airline concluded that brand recognition of outside products serves to strengthen the in-flight experience, and that’s significantly reflected in its recent catering changes. According to Delta spokesperson Catherine Sirna, the testing proved that “More choices, beloved brands and larger portions matter to our customers.”

That’s why Delta’s premium cabins feature Union Square Hospitality Group meals, its Comfort+ flyers get a Yasso frozen Greek yogurt bar on select flights and health-conscious economy passengers are

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PHOTO: DELTA AIR LINES

C-Suite

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C-Suite

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Ed Bastian Chief Executive Officer Delta Air Lines

Dignity, community inclusiveness and service – these are values Ed Bastian holds close to his heart in life and in his career as CEO of Delta.

by Jasmin Legatos

D

elta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian isn’t one to toe the line; but then again, good leaders rarely do. As a young auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York, he uncovered a multimillion-dollar fraud that senior executives had missed. Others in his position might have kept quiet, not wanting to ruffle any feathers – Bastian did the opposite. By the age of 32, he had made partner. “[That situation] taught me that you’ve got to trust your instincts. You’ve got to be fearless with things that are important,” he told the Atlanta Journal Constitution in 2014. Almost 20 years after that event and after stints at Pepsi and Frito-Lay, he landed at Delta Air Lines in 1998, first as vice-president, Finance and Controller, and then as senior vice-president. He was climbing the ranks when, in 2004, he quit his job over strategic differences. “[The executives] were making some really dumb decisions,” Bastian told Bloomberg last summer. In the post-9/11 world, airlines were struggling and looking for ways to stay competitive. He advocated taking the hard road, which in his view meant filing for bankruptcy protection and starting fresh. Delta’s leadership wanted to bring the company’s airfares in line with low-cost competitors like AirTran Airways, and planned to cut pay, benefits and staffing to do it. “I was vocal internally and left,” Bastian says. He took a position as senior vicepresident and chief financial officer at Acuity Brands, an Atlanta-based lighting company.

But six months later, at the behest of then-CEO Jerry Grinstein, he was back at Delta as CFO. The airline did file

Airline Passenger Experience Association

for Chapter 11, and Bastian led the restructuring, taking over the top job last May when former CEO Richard Anderson retired. In June 2016, Delta posted record profits and earned 110 cents for every dollar charged by its competitor – up from 90 cents about a decade ago. “Consumers have choice. When you sell 200 million tickets a year like we do and consumers are willingly paying a 10-percent premium, it means you’re doing a pretty darn good job and I’m proud of that,” he said in an interview aired on National Public Radio’s Marketplace.

lifelong values Bastian’s “stick-to-your-guns” sensibility makes sense when you consider his upbringing and education. Born in 1958 in upstate New York, he is the oldest of nine children and learned from a young age to be independent. His father was a dentist and ran a practice out of their home; his mother worked alongside her husband as a hygienist.

“My parents set high expectations, which had something to do with my internal drive,” he says. Bastian, like his brothers and sisters, attended Our Lady of Lourdes, a private Roman Catholic high school. Though he had dreamed of becoming a baseball player, he went on to study accounting and graduated with a bachelor of Business Administration from St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, New York. Founded in the mid-1800s by Franciscan Friars, the school emphasizes individual dignity, community inclusiveness and service – values that, Bastian says, have informed his career and his life. >

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C-Suite

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TOP: Bastian takes a selfie during Delta’s Velvet Rope Tour in March, in Atlanta, GA. BOTTOM: Bastian hands a check to Toys for Tots.

ticket agents before takeoff. “For many employees, it might be their only chance to spend 10 minutes with the CEO of their company. Every opportunity I get is a great honor for me,” he said on Marketplace.

Bastian sums up his job in five words: “Taking care of our people.” As explained in his CEO profile on Delta’s website, this thinking reveals his philosophy that happy employees mean happy customers, and a successful business means happy investors. For every Valentine’s Day, for the past 12 years, Delta Air Lines has distributed about 20 percent of its profits to 80,000 employees in what is dubbed Profit-Sharing Day (In 2017, that came to about $1.1 billion). It’s Bastian’s favorite part of the job.

we the people Working for an airline can sometimes be a thankless job.

Staff on the ground can face disgruntled passengers, and yet, employee satisfaction at Delta is remarkably high.

This past March, the airline landed on Fortune’s annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” – the first airline to make the cut in a dozen years. It’s got a strong corporate culture to thank for that distinction, one that’s governed by the Rules of the Road. First published in 2007 for executives, and subsequently passed down to all staff, Rules of the Road outlines the company’s core values, which are honesty, respect, perseverance and care for customers, community and one another.

New hires receive a letter welcoming them to the “family,” and frontline employees are given the opportunity to speak with senior executives through a program called Velvet 360. Bastian, who says he spends about 50 percent of his time flying in the main cabin, always takes the time to speak with the flight crew and

“You’ve got to be fearless with things that are important.”

Ed Bastian Delta Air Lines

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“Valentine’s Day is a big day at Delta Air Lines. It’s the day we give our employees money they have earned by taking great care of our customers and making Delta the most reliable, customer-friendly airline,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post.

And customers continue to embrace the brand.

Last August, during peak travel season, a technical outage resulted in hundreds of canceled flights around the world. You would expect the airline’s customer satisfaction scores to have tanked, but instead, they went up. Delta’s corporate culture led employees to face the unpleasant situation with empathy; the company also offered passengers stuck for more than three hours $200 vouchers, while Bastian took personal responsibility for the ordeal in a video message to customers: “I’m sorry that it happened,” he said. “This isn’t who we are.”

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Delta celebrated its 13th Global Build with Habitat for Humanity in Mexico in March.

PHOTOS: DELTA AIR LINES

global citizen Though Bastian firmly believes in taking care of your own, he also believes that Delta has a responsibility to its community. Last fall, 2,400 of the company’s employees pitched in to build eight homes for Habitat for Humanity, each in one of Delta’s hubs – in addition to the 227 they have already helped build or rehabilitated around the world during the airline’s more than 20-year association with the nonprofit, where Bastian served as a board member.

Bastian is also a big champion in the fight against human trafficking, an issue he says the aviation industry unwittingly facilitates. Together with his wife, he started the Bastian Center for the Study of Human Trafficking at Indiana Wesleyan University and encouraged Delta customers to donate their SkyMiles to help survivors of this crime return home (Delta pledged to match the first three million miles donated).

“This is not a comfortable or easy topic, and it’s one that many companies would rather not address,” Bastian wrote on LinkedIn. “But at Delta, we pride ourselves on being different, and recognize that our moral guidebook … obligates us to speak and make an impact. For us, combatting human trafficking is more than just a cause, it is a movement and a moral obligation as citizens of the world.”

Whether it’s charity or competition, Delta (and Bastian) are thinking globally. In recent years, the company announced joint ventures with Aeroméxico and Korean Air, and bought a $450-million stake in China Eastern.

It also has equity stakes in Brazilian airline GOL and Virgin Atlantic. Though the company is still growing

Airline Passenger Experience Association

domestically – four percent in 2016 – there aren’t new cities [being served] or airports being constructed, Bastian told Bloomberg shortly after he was appointed CEO. “If you’re looking to grow in the future, it’s outside the US,” he added, pointing to cities like Shanghai, which could one day become a hub for the airline.

forward thinking Fact: Bastian didn’t step on an airplane until he was 25 years old. Today’s generation, his four kids for instance, think nothing of hopping on a flight for a night or weekend away. “Air travel has become the fabric of our society … It changes not only our lifestyles but how we compete in terms of bringing us, as a global company, to many parts of the world we would not have seen before,” he said in the Marketplace interview.

But if Delta is going to take on a larger role on the global scale, it’s going to do it the Delta way. Throughout his tenure at the company, Bastian’s maintained that the airline is not a low-cost carrier. Delta’s investing in product by replacing its fleet with newer, fuel-efficient models (and in many cases paying cash), bringing in new equipment like international wide-bodies, offering better amenities (it’s testing out new snacks) and working in close concert with people on the ground. “Long term, I think we have the ability to be the best airline in the world,” he added.

Though Bastian didn’t grow up with a particular penchant for aviation, you get the sense that this industry or, more specifically, Delta, has morphed into a passion.

When he returned to the company in 2005, he took a pay cut and a big risk. But Bastian isn’t afraid of risks: “If I could have afforded it, I would have done the job for free.”

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IFE

Setting the Scene Feature films and TV series are inspiring audiences to take the show on the road. illustration Fabrizio Morra

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IFE

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Starstruck Oscar-nominated movies are encouraging cinemagoers to make the leap from the theater seat to the airplane seat.

by Jasmin Legatos

The week Oscar-nominated musical La La Land was released, travel booking website Lastminute.com saw interest in Los Angeles jump 21 percent over the previous week. Searches for Calcutta, where Lion partially takes place, saw a 70 percent rise on Hotels.com after it was nominated. And despite having won the Academy Award for Best Picture 40 years ago, Rocky still has a grasp over Philadelphia: The steps before its Museum of Art, which the titular character triumphantly climbs, remain one of the city’s most popular attractions.

Numbers like these are cementing the idea that cinema can be a strong marketing tool. A UK study found eight out of 10 Britons get their vacation inspiration from the silver screen and about 20 percent actually make the trip. No country knows this better than New Zealand: The Lord of the Rings movies have injected multibillions of dollars into the tourism industry, with 10 percent of visitors citing the award-winning series as the motivating factor for their visit.

Meanwhile, Discover Los Angeles, the city’s marketing organization, has developed a campaign around La La Land that invites visitors to follow in the footsteps of the film’s protagonists at landmarks such as Griffith Park, Hermosa Pier and Colorado Street Bridge. And if you felt compelled by the rugged coastlines, vacant beaches and swirling Tasman Sea featured in Lion, Tourism Tasmania shows where travelers can soak in the stunning landscapes of the Australian island state featured in the film.

Not all films have this effect on tourism. Erik Sellgren, author of Film-Induced Tourism: The Effect Films Have on Destination Image Formation, Motivation and Travel Behaviour, told the BBC in 2014, “The success stories are often those that give the audience a cohesive experience – with a great story, backdrop and characters – but also bring some novelty to the table and focus quite a lot on one place or area.”

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IFE

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Thrones Seekers Fans of the hit TV series Game of Thrones are following their favorite characters across the Seven Kingdoms.

by Jordan Yerman

Winter is coming... and so are Game of Thrones tourists.

HBO’s megahit has had a huge impact on European tourism, as fans fly to shooting locations in corners of the continent not often thrust into the spotlight. A welcome tourism boost can become a deluge, though, particularly in sparsely populated areas.

Game of Thrones can claim some credit for Gatwick Airport’s long-haul traffic surge as fans invade the show’s Northern Ireland sets. “The Game of Thrones effect is well and truly established,” the airport reports. Of all the airport’s destinations, Belfast saw the biggest increase in passenger numbers, up 388,486 passengers (83 percent) from 2015.

As Littlefinger said in the show itself, “Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder.” This is true for Osuna, Spain, which had been reeling from the 2008 global financial crisis, with most of its young people having decamped to larger cities, until Game of Thrones entered the scene.

The Andalusian town of 18,000 saw an immediate influx of 5,000 tourists, with fans packing its restaurants and pubs beyond capacity. And the fans keep coming.

Game of Thrones tourism may be a boon for economically faltering parts of Europe, but someone in Iceland may soon have to hold the door: In 2016, visitors from the US alone nearly overtook the local population – 325,000 as of last September, versus 332,000 Icelanders – and Game of Thrones fans are believed to have helped lead the charge.

Iceland’s skyrocketing popularity has put a strain on its ability to house all those tourists, while a boom in Airbnb offerings has impacted affordability for locals.

An Icelandic National Broadcasting Service poll found respondents supportive of higher taxes on tourists to Iceland to fund a more robust hospitality infrastructure.

TV tourism can be fun for travelers and host locations alike, but it may lead to too much of a good thing as outside forces put pressure on local economic development. Fortunately, no evidence suggests that set-jetting tourists are traveling with dragons hungry for local livestock. Yet.

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IFE

Plan for Japan A TV series has its Southeast Asian viewers acting on their plans for Japan.

by Caroline Ku

J-Trip Plan, a TV series that shows viewers how to experience Japan like a local, has inspired viewers in Southeast Asia to make the leap from “thinking about it” to actually taking that trip.

Through WakuWaku Japan (WWJ), an entertainment channel that distributes Japanese programs to Southeast Asia, SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation and NHK World, the broadcasters of J-Trip Plan, have noticed a surge in travel bookings at major Japanese travel agencies. Demand for sightseeing tours is growing among repeat visitors to Japan. As a result, SKY Perfect is ramping up regional tourism broadcasting to build on the phenomenon.

Each 30-minute episode of J-Trip Plan introduces the audience to the country through an activity, such as cherry blossom viewing in Kyoto, papermaking in Fukuoka Prefecture, biking along the Setouchi Shimanami Kaido Expressway or even exploring the surroundings of Narita and Kansai airports.

WWJ broadcasts a variety of Japanese programming such as anime, drama and movies across Southeast Asia, and now SKY Perfect is working with local governments to strategically select upcoming sets for their show: Japanese regions that have direct flights to Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand. Last year, the producers even ramped up distribution to 10 countries, including the United States.

With the abundance of low-cost flights in Southeast Asia, travelers can afford to make a booking even hours before takeoff. According to the Asia-Pacific Digital Traveller Report by Criteo, two out of five travelers from Singapore book their trip on a whim. “We were watching a travel series that featured Munich, and my wife happened to have leave to clear, so we made the decision spontaneously,” Alvin Tan, a traveler, told the Strait Times. Normally, last-minute trips are made to regional destinations, but with low-cost carriers now flying to overseas destinations, the decision to book a trip can be left up in the air.

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IFE

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Bollywood Bound Director Zoya Akhtar is making Mediterranean sunbathers out of Indian filmgoers.

by Valerie Silva

Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar has arguably done more for the outbound Indian tourism industry than fathers do for their unwed sons in Bollywood matchmaking comedies. At the helm of two major blockbusters set in Europe, Akhtar has unwittingly honed the silver screen into the travel marketer’s biggest dream. By exporting Bollywood’s cultural lexicon to European ground, she presents a template for Indian transnational mobility.

In doing so, she’s influenced a growing subset of the country’s tourists, of which the United Nations predicts there will be a total of 50 million by 2020.

Akhtar’s most recent success, Dil Dhadakne Do (DDD), brings us the Mehra siblings aboard a 10-day Mediterranean cruise to celebrate their parents’ 30th wedding anniversary. The film presents a vision of first-class travel and consumerism that is out of reach to the majority of its Indian viewership, but according to Nandana Bose, professor of Film Studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, this is at the heart of what makes DDD a box-office success. “[Akhtar’s] cinematic representations of elitist recreational consumption tap into aspirational and competitive tendencies of middle-class India,” Bose writes. Several Indian travel agencies reported a marked increase in demand for cruise vacations following the film’s release in June 2015, suggesting that Bose isn’t out to sea with her analysis.

This isn’t the first time Akhtar has made waves in the tourism industry. Her 2011 film, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD), about three friends on a road trip across Spain, has been credited with nearly doubling the number of Indians visiting Spain in the year following its release: India’s ambassador to Spain at the time, Vikram Misri, notably said the film “was single-handedly responsible for making Spain a household name in India.” And travel agencies still advertise tours to locations featured in six-year-old ZNMD, offering tailored packages combining many of the tourist activities seen in the film.

Be it a cruise liner or a Buick Skylark, modes of transportation are central to Akhtar’s films; and so viewers could interpret the younger Mehra sibling’s fascination with flight, in DDD,, as a clue to how Bollywood fans will explore the Mediterranean next.

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007 Was There James Bond was a jet-setter. One with a license to kill, yes, but a jet-setter nonetheless.

by Howard Slutsken

Writer Ian Fleming’s Agent 007 burst onto the movie screen in 1962’s Dr. No, in an era when the glamor and cachet of jet travel had permeated the public psyche.

Long before social media, the idea of connecting the world through high-speed air travel was popularized by the movies, television and magazines of the time.

The rich and famous were featured flying to far-flung destinations in what seemed to be the blink of an eye.

So it only made sense for Bond, ably played by Sean Connery, to travel on a Pan American World Airways Boeing 707 to exotic locations in search of nefarious criminals. Pan Am was the iconic jet-setter airline, and its 707 aircraft were featured in the early Bond movies, either climbing away with black exhaust spewing from their turbojet engines or landing in a cloud of smoke.

Then, in 1973’s Live and Let Die, 007 entered the wide-body age. In his first outing as Bond, actor Roger Moore flew on one of Pan Am’s Boeing 747s to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, arriving at the airline’s UFO-shaped and futuristic – for the time – Worldport terminal.

James Bond movies have been highly successful, no matter the actor playing the titular role (Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, hasn’t been able to play his dream role as the spy, but still makes a cameo in Casino Royale). Passengers can usually find at least one of the movies in the series available during a trip and the franchise’s popularity certainly isn’t waning – according to a 2016 Qantas Airways survey, Spectre (released in 2015) was the airline’s most watched in-flight film.

For those who want to channel their inner Q, there are any number of websites and blogs listing the locations that appear in every 007 movie. From Monte Carlo to Macau, and Rio to Rome, travelers can create an itinerary that follows in Bond’s footsteps, crisscrossing the globe.

But – 007 and 707? Must be a coincidence! Isn’t it, M?

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Learning

Learning by Design Doing TU Delft’s collaborations with the likes of KLM and Zodiac Aerospace are providing its Industrial Design Engineering students with hands-on experience while offering the industry a window into the next generation of ideas.

by Katie Sehl | photos Richard Theemling Airline Passenger Experience Association

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Learning

T

U Delft may be the oldest Dutch public technological university, but its Industrial Design Engineering department has never been too bothered by tradition when it isn’t useful. The faculty headquarters is designed like an arena, with a wraparound balcony on the second story that encircles and overlooks the main area that connects to a number of classrooms, workshops, offices and labs, including a Consumer Research Product Evaluation lab, ModelMaking and Machine lab and a Physical and Ergonomics lab.

When the building opened in the 1970s, the central area was used as a workshop for large pieces of machinery, giving the work of engineers pride of place. The heavy equipment may no longer be there, but the machinations of designers at work are still front and center via regular exhibitions and collaborative work sessions in the space. The ground floor library isn’t filled with books, instead, a variety of materials supplied by around 200 companies can be touched and toyed with.

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“We’ve got a really hands-on approach,” says Katinka Bergema, a postdoc researcher in the Department of Product Innovation Management where she specializes in networked innovation, collaboration, aviation and baggage. To help students get their hands dirty, the faculty facilitates collaborations with relevant companies such as Airbus, Boeing, Zodiac Aerospace, KLM, BMW and even Adidas. “We collaborate intensively with the industry to make our work relevant and provide students with a real-life contact to work in,” she says.

“The naivety of the students, in the positive sense, helps to not only see the limitations of all kinds of solutions, but to see the opportunities it creates,” Bergema explains. “Students don’t care whether they need organization A or B, or department A or B, or about all the politics involved. They just want to have a solution and involve who they need to. This helps to actually realize their ideas.”

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“We’ve got a really hands-on approach.”

Katinka Bergema TU Delft

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Learning

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extracurricular curriculum Approximately 120 students work on aviation projects each year in different courses and degrees. In the elective course Service Design Process run by Christine De Lille, Froukje Visser and Julia Debacker, students are challenged to design new services from the perspectives of stakeholders while prioritizing the needs of passengers and crew. Through guest lectures and excursions to partner company sites, students develop an appreciation for industry tools and standards, and learn at an early stage how to pitch their ideas to large organizations.

The course, which takes 35 students at a time, can be so popular that students are asked to provide a statement on why they’re interested in signing up.

One project developed in the course, “Sense the Transitions,” a multisensory, interactive in-flight entertainment (IFE) experience, nabbed a Crystal Cabin Award in 2014. Developed for long-haul flights, the concept draws upon research that revealed up to 50 percent of screen time in flight is devoted to watching the flight map. >

Students learn at an early stage how to pitch their ideas to large organizations.

Attendees at a TU Delft open house get a taste for how Industrial Design Engineering students at the university learn – with balloons!

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Learning

In partnership with Zodiac Aerospace, AnnaLouisa Peters, Karan Shah and Dorine van Meeuwen developed a location-responsive geotainment system that displays footage of the places passengers fly over. Different thematic channels such as culture, nature, cuisine or history and pop-ups with useful tips and factoids allow viewers to delve into topics that interest them.

For his master’s thesis, Xander van der Broek decided to investigate the hand luggage surplus problem KLM brought to TU Delft. With carry-on baggage becoming more popular, the airline found that one in every seven of its flights could not accommodate the amount of bags passengers were bringing. Through studies conducted with the airline and Luggage lab, van der Broek analyzed the potential luggage capacity of each aircraft type in KLM’s fleet and was able to pinpoint why the problem occurred on specific flights.

In his research he observed that the practice of gate-checking excess baggage not only aggravated passengers, but gate agents 62

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tended to overcompensate and check more bags than necessary, so he used his capacity data to develop a gate-check calculator tool to help agents be more accurate. His study also found that passengers were willing to check their hand luggage if it didn’t incur any fees, a finding that he used to recommend methods for decreasing the inflow of carry-on bags.

the x factor The “real world” experiences students have access to in these courses is undoubtedly a powerful recruiting tool for TU Delft where overall enrollment has steadily been on the rise. For students, the competitive advantage of earning a diploma and enhancing their curriculum vitae simultaneously has led a majority of graduates to find employment within three months. Some students even graduate with a patent filing to their name: In 2015, 80 inventions and 39 patent applications were submitted, 22 contracts were signed on the basis of patents and 33 patents were commercialized.

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“The industry is focusing more and more on passenger experience.”

Christine De Lille TU Delft The hardheaded and somewhat unconventional pragmatism of TU Delft’s Industrial Design Engineering faculty is impacting the way its corporate partners research and innovate as well. “The industry is realizing the potential of design,” explains Christine De Lille, assistant professor at the university. “Aviation organizations are focusing more and more on passenger experience, on technology as a means, and on the future. Design is a key way to integrate all these aspects and translate this into hands-on solutions.”

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De Lille cites a thesis project by Basil Vereecke, conducted in partnership with Zodiac Aerospace, as an example. With the goal of helping Zodiac shift to user-centered design practices, Vereecke helped develop the Zodiac Experience Lab, with an expanded product development and R&D department, in Alkmaar, Netherlands, where it is now frequently in use. There is now a second location in Toulouse, France.

The department’s strongest and probably most reciprocal corporate partnership has been with KLM. The decades-long history between the two organizations was recently formalized with the announcement that

“Working with TU Delft has helped us get to the core of a problem quicker.”

Marissa Gubler KLM

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Learning

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the department would enter a five-year collaboration agreement. “About 20 months ago, we stopped having meetings at KLM,” says Sander Stomph, KLM’s director of Operational Excellence. “Instead we created different spaces where employees, clients, TU Delft students and the KLM X team could experience the best solution to change something, or find the best way to launch a project.”

Last year, around 175 TU Delft students worked on-site with KLM on tackling different problems, including prototyping new versions of the My Flights section of its website at boarding gates, or developing an improved communications system for flight crew. In turn, KLM employees – including many TU Delft alumni – are visiting the university to learn and connect on their shared philosophy of “design doing.” In working together on these projects, the teams translated KLM’s agile design sprints into a five-step solution process called KLM X. The process, says Stomph, involves not just theorizing about design and having numerous meetings, “but actually doing things that make the KLM and passenger experience better.”

Last year, around 175 TU Delft students worked on-site with KLM.

“Working with TU Delft has helped us get to the core of a problem much more quickly and move faster to the ideation phase, which in turn means that we can actually implement the solution faster,” says Marissa Gubler, a product owner in the Digitizing Passenger Operations division at KLM. Gubler and her team worked with master’s students on a digital solution called PLUG aimed at improving gate crew communications and leading to time savings of 90 percent. Now in use, Gubler expects communications to be 80 percent more effective.

The benefits for the students, university and company in these collaborative partnerships are clear, but Bergema and De Lille insist that at the end of the day, design is about the end user. “We put the passenger and the future central to the work we do,” says Bergema. “Since we’re not a party with commercial interest, we can easily bring all stakeholders together and take developments to the next step.”

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“Everyone likes to be the king of their own little domain, and connectivity lets them rule from 30,000 feet.�

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Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike, Phil Knight FAVORITE AIRCRAFT:

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E

very job has a cool factor.

What’s yours?

I’m helping to connect moving things – and the people who travel in them – with highspeed access anywhere, anytime. Think about it: It really wasn’t all that long ago that you strapped in for a flight and were forced into a total communications blackout from gate to gate.

What trends do you have your eye on right now?

I’m monitoring the development of low Earth orbit satellite constellations. The potential merger of Intelsat and OneWeb could transform aero broadband with low latency, fiber-like broadband and polar connectivity that would ensure passengers remain connected for a full flight on international routes. That cannot be done today.

What do you think is the most overlooked aspect of the passenger experience?

Hands down it’s hydration. What if we put sensors in every seat? Those sensors could monitor passengers’ vitals and alert the flight attendants when their body temperature is elevated and they may be thirsty. It might be a bit futuristic, but with the advent of the Internet of Things, it’s not out of the realm of applications that have the potential to improve air travel.

Why is connectivity important to the passenger experience?

It brings the universe to your airline seat.

Everyone likes to be the king of their own little domain, and connectivity lets them rule

from 30,000 feet. Instead of wasting time during travel, they can communicate with others, access information and make things happen from the air.

What’s your crazy idea to improve the passenger experience?

For me, a climate-controlled sleeping pod would be the ultimate. I’m a little bit Goldilocks – I like the temperature and the noise level to be just right when I rest.

How do content and entertainment expectations change for people when they travel?

People who don’t otherwise consume a lot of content in their daily lives develop an appetite for it on a long flight, frankly, because there’s less to do and plenty of time to kill. It’s a way to transport someone’s mind away from their immediate surroundings and into more familiar or more entertaining places. On the flip side, those who normally consume more content are going to be looking for their favorites and expect to find them. They want the experience to mimic their living rooms or offices.

What have you used in-flight Wi-Fi for?

One time, I was able to connect to Slingbox, which lets you watch your TV from anywhere over the Internet. I logged in and started flipping through the channels, then noticed a text from my wife. She couldn’t understand why the channels on our TV at home kept randomly changing. Of course, it was me! I thought it was cool, but my wife, not so much. volume 7, edition 3

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Animals

Traveling Animals Just as humans jet-set around the globe at cruising altitude, so too do animals – and they do so in multitudes.

by Jordan Yerman | illustrations Gabriel Ebensperger

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Animals

L

ola’s little black nose leads her from the crate into the crisp autumn air. Her fuzzy white paws sink into the damp grass. Hair falling into her eyes, the tiny West Highland terrier cautiously explores her new home. A little under three months old, Lola has flown alone for hundreds of miles from Smithers, British Columbia, to Vancouver to join her adoptive family. Just as humans jet set around the globe at cruising altitude, so too do animals – and they do so in multitudes.

like herding cats Globally, the exact number of pets in the air is hard to pin down. The US Department of Transportation recorded 523,743 animals transported on commercial flights in 2016 – some of which were accompanied by human passengers and others which flew unattended. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as many as 44 percent of American

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households own a dog and 35 percent own a cat, and more than half of the 1,100 pet owners surveyed by TripAdvisor in 2013 said they would be taking their animal friends along for travel in the following 12 months.

Still, the pet travel experience remains a headache: Besides the wide variance of international animal travel regulations, airlines also have divergent rules. Some airlines will allow you to bring your hunting falcons into the cabin, while others won’t even allow dogs or cats.

On Emirates flights between Dubai and certain parts of Pakistan, only falcons, service dogs and, of course, humans are permitted in the cabin. At the other end of the spectrum are the Mexican street dogs that make their way to Canadian foster homes with passengers flying from Mexico to Canada as carry-on, in a carrier tucked underneath a seat, or via the cargo hold in the belly of the plane.

The US DOT recorded 523,743 animal journeys in 2016. flying fish Lufthansa Cargo’s Live/td program, with its Animal Lounge at Frankfurt Airport, promises a premium-class experience for its nonhuman passengers. “To make it as comfortable as possible for the animals, they are shielded from the sight and sound of each other,” says Marco Klapper, Lufthansa Cargo Live/td product manager.

Lufthansa even has special black light examination areas for ornamental fish, around 80 million of which are shipped every year (along with 2,000 horses, 8,000 pigs, and 70

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Animals

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14,000 cats and dogs). “Ornamental fish are packed in plastic bags containing water and oxygen,” Klapper says. “These bags are further loaded into a cardboard box with Styrofoam as protection against temperature variations.

This means that the fish are traveling in total darkness during their journey. After arrival in Frankfurt, it is mandatory to check the condition of the fish. To avoid shock reactions caused by bright light, this process takes place under black light.”

Larger zoo animals such as rhinoceroses and hippopotamuses fly as well, Klapper notes, mostly for international booty calls: “The background for zoo transports is usually for breeding purposes.”

Air Canada Cargo also prides itself on shipping a range of animals that captures the imagination: from one sugar glider to 17 orphaned alligators. “It’s all hands on deck when you get a shipment like that,” Johanne Cadorette, Air Canada Cargo’s

marketing and communications manager, says with a laugh. Air Canada Cargo has moved approximately 65,000 animals, including cats, dogs, earthworms and alpacas, in the last five years.

PetStop, the hub for Air Canada’s animal transport network, is staffed by specialists in animal husbandry and first aid. These, Cadorette says, are highly sought-after positions that only those truly passionate about working with animals can hope to obtain. “In terms of higher-level care,” she adds, “we work with a veterinary consultant.

He advises us if ever there’s a medical situation that arises.”

Air Canada ships lots of animals for conservation and animal rescue groups.

Cadorette mentions Air Canada’s role in bringing a flock of Jacob sheep, a breed that long ago left Israel, back to their homeland.

“In all,” she notes, “119 individual sheep, transported on 10 pallets over 10 flights, were handled out of our YYZ cargo facility.”

Airline Passenger Experience Association

It was the largest animal airlift in Israeli history – one might even say that the sheep made baah-liyah.

they ship horses, don’t they?

The ARK at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) is the world’s first privately owned, round-the-clock animal terminal and airport quarantine – it’s designed to handle the import and export of any type of animal.

The facility includes 14.4 acres of land (since it accommodates horses) and climatecontrolled shuttling to and from aircraft.

“With the opening of Pet Oasis and Equine Export, the ARK at JFK welcomed rabbits, horses, birds, dogs and cats,” says ShinJung Hong, vice-president of Nicholas & Lence, which handles communications for the ARK. “More is to come.” In case you were wondering, mares and stallions are loaded in a certain order to prevent them from joining the mile-high club. > volume 7, edition 3

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the flying menagerie Pretty much any animal can fly, if given enough preparation and support. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has regulations for everything from antelope to dolphins. You can even pack a swarm of bees. Samuel L. Jackson fans, rejoice: There are regulations for snakes on a plane that don’t involve just dumping them into the ventilation system. Even venomous snakes can be safely flown if properly stowed in rigid

Pretty much any animal can fly, if given enough preparation and support. and clearly marked containers. Cadorette says that tropical animals, with their sensitivity to temperature changes, require extra-special care as they make their way from Point A to Point B. “It’s not that they’re difficult,” she says, “but there are far more considerations in how they’re handled.”

Any animal that flies in the cargo hold must be comfortable in a crate and should get some exercise before boarding. IATA discourages using sedatives, since they increase the risk of in-flight injury to the animal. If you really want to go down the rabbit hole (complete with rabbits), you can download the entire animal guideline package from IATA’s website.

stay!

As per US law, airports serving more than 10,000 passengers per year must provide facilities for pets to powder their noses.

But, some airports go above and beyond.

Portland International Airport opened 72

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an indoor pet restroom past security, so animals traveling on connecting flights won’t have to hold it in. Still, the airline experience is just one aspect of having a nonhuman loved one as a travel companion: Traveling to and from the airport, getting around a destination and finding pet-friendly accommodations are also hurdles that pet owners must clear.

As such, some people simply might not be able to bring their animals along. For those seeking a quick getaway but who are unable to travel with their furry friends, some airports – such as Chicago O’Hare, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson and Montreal’s Trudeau – feature pet hotels either on-site or nearby.

The woman who adopted Lola hoists the little dog up to eye level before bringing her in for a hug, the first of many over the years to come. This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, made possible by technology, process design and good old-fashioned puppy love.

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“I would love to have a mini-gym on board. What about mahjong rooms for fun?�

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Grace started at Hong Kongbased Emphasis Video Entertainment, a supplier of Asian film and short feature programming for worldwide airlines, as a part-time receptionist, straight out of university, 17 years ago. Today, she establishes relationships with producers in the region to provide a gateway for access to premium content and services.

To read Grace’s full Q&A, visit > APEX.AERO/ GRACELAU

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D

id you choose the airline industry or did it choose you?

I joined Emphasis as a part-time receptionist right after I graduated from university. I had no long-term plans, until one day I was told by management that there was a new opening and they thought that I might be the right candidate.

If you weren’t doing your current job, what would you love to be doing?

I would love to be a full-time mother. My boy is one year old, and my daughter just turned three. I treasure spending time with them, as they are growing up very fast. I don’t want to miss any stage of their lives.

If you could change one thing about the architecture of aircraft, what would it be?

I would like to have a mini-gym on board for stretching. Keeping the blood circulating is essential for passengers on long-haul flights in economy.

What’s your crazy idea to improve the passenger experience?

How about having mahjong rooms for fun?

This activity would surely make time pass faster – of course, the rooms would have to be sound-insulated.

How important is social media for an airline in the digital age?

Very important in the case of disruptions to flight schedules, in particular for announcing contingency plans to passengers in real time.

After you’ve settled in your airplane seat, what’s the first thing you do?

Check the entertainment guide. I can’t really sleep on a plane and the only entertainment to kill time is watching movies or TV content.

(I am not one to read books or listen to music.)

I can keep watching from takeoff to landing.

What’s the most memorable service experience you’ve received on a flight?

I was in business class on a Cathay Pacific flight from HKG to LAX. I needed to pump my breast milk on both outbound and inbound flights. There were two mothers among the flight crew who really understood my situation and concern. They attended to my needs and offered much assistance. It was a wonderful experience and I still remember it.

What did you do the first time you used in-flight Wi-Fi? Replying to company e-mails was surely a major task. Being able to use WhatsApp really facilitated my work and helped me kill time. I also enjoyed using Facebook and browsing the Internet to the extent that I almost forgot to watch my favorite in-flight movies and TV programs.

Your top three films of all time?

Infernal Affairs, Cold War, Ghost.

What’s the one item you can’t travel without?

It’s unfortunate that I have to say my cell phone. It is not only important to my travel but also my daily life. Seems that it is more essential than money and credit cards. volume 7, edition 3

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Wireless

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Wireless IFE systems – Bluebox wIFE and Bluebox Wow – offer fitted and portable wireless options for streaming IFE content to both passenger and airline-owned devices.

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Roundtable

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Going the Distance The Panel > Brendan Sobie chief analyst CAPA

> Thomas Ramdahl chief commercial officer Norwegian

> Leslie Thng chief commercial officer Scoot

> Bob Cummings executive vice-president, Commercial WestJet

How are low-cost carriers, known for their no-frills, streamlined operations and point-to-point networks, extending into long-haul operations?

by Marisa Garcia | illustration Nicolรกs Venturelli

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A

irAsia attributes the low-cost carrier (LCC) model to Rollin King and Herb Kelleher, the founders of Southwest Airlines: They advocated flying one aircraft type, keeping overheads down and aircraft turnarounds up and eliminating nonessentials such as loyalty air miles. Their thinking was, “If you get your guests to their destinations when they want to get there, on time, at the lowest possible fares, and make darn sure they have a good time in doing so, people will fly your airline.”

LCCs have flourished in Europe and the Asia Pacific where population is dense and international destinations are a short flight away. But how far can an LCC fly on its no-frills business model? CAPA chief analyst Brendan Sobie says Asia, by nature of its location and demographics, has been a testing ground for the low-cost, long-haul (LCLH) model.

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Low-Cost Long-Haul Leaders Norwegian, AirAsia X and Jetstar Airways lead in weekly departures among LCLH airlines.

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Norwegian

172

AirAsia X

106

Jetstar Airways

72

Scoot

58

Eurowings

46

Azul Airlines

44

Cebu Pacific

42

WestJet

34

WOW air

28

flydubai

“Asia is an important market we hope to expand further.”

AirAsia X could fly its 10 Airbus A350-900s to Europe and the US.

While AirAsia’s mainline operates in Southeast Asia, its long-haul subsidiary, AirAsia X, takes passengers as far as Sapporo, Japan; Tehran, Iran; and come June, Hawaii, marking the first time an Asian LCC will fly to the United States. AirAsia X has also recently announced that its roKKi in-flight entertainment system will be getting a connectivity boost from Inmarsat’s GX Aviation. The initiative will help AirAsia X transition into what its CEO, Ben Ismail, calls a “truly digital airline” – a title not restricted to legacy carriers with premium classes.

LCCs are taking passengers from Southeast Asia to Europe, too. Scoot, the low-cost 78

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Thomas Ramdahl Norwegian

Source: OAG Schedules Analyser

Airline Passenger Experience Association

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subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, has introduced Athens as its first European destination. “Our guests have long requested Scoot to operate long-haul flights to Europe and beyond,” says Leslie Thng, chief commercial officer, Scoot and Tigerair. “We also saw room in the market for us to operate services between Singapore and Athens, as we will be the only airline operating direct flights between the two cities. Athens is itself an attractive destination and a convenient gateway to other attractions in Greece and the rest of Europe.” It seems the longer the flight, the more amenities and destinations are being added back to the LCC experience.

long-haul aircraft

PHOTOS: AIRBUS; NORWEGIAN

Old notions that LCCs should fly a single aircraft type to increase productivity are also being scrapped. “Once an airline gets to a certain size, it needs [other] aircraft types [to better] serve its markets,” Sobie says, alluding to the adoption of short- and

apex experience

“We have given great thought to our product and services to elevate low-cost travel.”

Leslie Thng Scoot long-haul aircraft. And newer aircraft are enabling LCCs to go the distance.

Norwegian has made inroads in the battle for transatlantic traffic, connecting Europe to the US; Oslo to Bangkok; and recently London to Singapore. Bjorn Kjos, Norwegian’s CEO, said in a statement that travel should be affordable for everyone, and Singapore opens up another destination for its passengers.

“Asia is an important market we hope to expand further,” says Norwegian’s chief commercial officer, Thomas Ramdahl. “We are able to offer low fares thanks to our lean organization and brand-new, fuel-efficient

Roundtable

aircraft. New aircraft are a win-win for the customers, the environment and the company’s costs, and are key to offering affordable fares for all.”

Norwegian’s Boeing 787 Dreamliners, deployed on its US routes, are equipped with seatback screens. “Our passengers love this feature. It is a state-of-the-art system [with] movies and TV shows, but also games and an interactive 3-D map with travel tips for their destinations,” Ramdahl says. “In addition, the screens work as a snack bar: Passengers can order food and drinks on the screen, swipe their [credit] card and have their order delivered to their seat by our attendants.”

As an LCC in the Asia Pacific, Scoot, which boasts an all-Dreamliner fleet, sees its choice of aircraft as a competitive strategy. “Scoot has given great thought to configuring our cabin product and services to elevate and transform the low-cost travel experience, paving the way for when we finally launch long-haul flights,” Thng says. “This has been largely enabled by our state-of-the-art 787 Dreamliners with improved humidity and cabin pressurization, the largest windows of any modern jet, 20 percent less engine noise and more overhead compartment space. >

Norwegian celebrated a milestone in March: four million passengers carried betweeen the US and Europe.

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Roundtable

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Campbell Wilson, chief executive officer of Scoot, which is known for its uniform fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

These all add up to making long-haul flights more comfortable. Our in-flight Wi-Fi plans, in-seat power and ScooTV in-flight streaming entertainment service … will help customers keep themselves entertained and connected while on board.”

Canada’s WestJet, which serves mid- to long-haul routes in the Americas and Hawaii, introduced flights to Gatwick last year that are served by two-class Boeing 767 aircraft. “With our high load factors, we were seeing many leisure travelers flying to Europe for the first time from Canada,” says Bob Cummings, executive vice-president, Commercial, WestJet. “We see an opportunity for more business travel between Canada and Europe and have further plans to build our business traveler value proposition and penetration into long-haul.”

To attract those business flyers, WestJet’s LCLH model includes access to WestJet Connect, its wireless in-flight entertainment and connectivity platform, powered by Panasonic Avionics, which will be completely

“We see more business travel between Canada and Europe.”

Bob Cummings WestJet 80

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rolled out this year. “The system covers over 96 percent of where there’s flying on Earth,” Cummings says. “It was imperative that we offer a consistent experience across our network, which spans from the United Kingdom to Hawaii, [requiring] coverage over water. Satellite was really the only option that would provide the experience our guests would love.”

Similar to how LCLHs are adopting more than one aircraft type into their fleets, they’re also installing multiple in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems. Ramdahl says Norwegian will fit its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft with Wi-Fi and plans to do the same on its Dreamliner deliveries in the near future. On the airline’s Dreamliners, the premium cabin is popular among business travelers for its price, which, Ramdahl says, is lower than comparable airlines. “For us, it is important to give our customers the freedom of choice and make sure that their journey is as smooth and efficient as possible.”

Cummings says the airline has seen an approximate 45-percent uptake of WestJet Connect, with positive customer feedback.

WestJet’s premium economy cabin, Plus, has also been well received. This has

given WestJet confidence that there is an underserved market for budget-conscious passengers who are willing to pay a little more for comfort on LCLH flights. Still, the airline is being cautious of its offerings so that it can remain competitive on fares and operation costs. “We will build our business product and sales approaches prudently from here, along with other elements of our long-haul plan,” Cummings says.

Scoot has plans to grow its European destinations, with synergies between Scoot and Tigerair serving as a competitive advantage. Thng says the Scoot brand is focused on meeting the needs of “the youngat-heart and value-seeking,” who are less likely to splurge on amenities that do not significantly enhance the in-flight experience.

“While macroeconomic conditions and security concerns are themes that impact the aviation industry, LCCs have enabled travel to be a part of the lifestyle of an emerging middle class, not just an entitlement of the wealthy,” Thng says. “Unlike most LCCs, Scoot has invested from the start in configuring its products and services … while maintaining a strict watch on costs to ensure we continue to deliver great value airfares.”

Airline Passenger Experience Association

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

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Q&A

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“Everyone talks about personalization, pretends they’re doing it, but no one really knows how.”

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Q&A

> FAST FACTS FREQUENT FLIGHT:

CDG–SFO

NOW WATCHING:

Silicon Valley and Planet Earth II (on SkyLights Theater)

David Dicko

NOW LISTENING TO:

S-Town (podcast) SEATBACK OR PED?

Both. I look for the largest screen with the latest releases.

FAVORITE SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORK:

Quora

CEO SkyLights

PHOTO: COURTESY OF SKYLIGHTS

David began his career as an airline pilot, flying Airbus A320s and Boeing 777s for Air France. He then joined the airline’s management, taking roles in marketing, and corporate strategy and innovation.

After 10 years, he left the airline to start SkyLights with Florent Bolzinger. Their mission is to jump-start the adoption of immersive in-flight entertainment using virtual reality headsets.

To read David’s full Q&A, visit > APEX.AERO/ DAVIDDICKO

Airline Passenger Experience Association

D

id you choose the airline industry or did it choose you?

It chose me. Ever since I was two years old, my eyes were fixed on the sky. I grew up traveling between Africa and the US to see family. The Boeing 747s I flew on have always been synonymous with excitement.

What’s the career path you considered but never followed?

I was always very interested in philosophy, science and epistemology. I wrote a book that describes the effects of scientific paradigm shifts on the evolution of Western philosophy and culture. It’s a fascinating subject and I hope to publish it one day.

Every job has a cool factor. What’s yours?

As a tech entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, I’m constantly meeting people who want to build the future: whether it’s a next-gen supersonic plane or the future of cinema.

What do you think is the most overlooked aspect of the passenger experience?

1) We should have solved the waiting/ queuing problem already! As passengers, it feels as if we’re being moved en masse.

We’ve gotten used to it, but there’s an opportunity to do better. 2) Personalization.

Everyone talks about it, even pretends they’re doing it, but no one really knows how.

What’s your crazy idea to improve the passenger experience?

SkyLights. It offers passengers an immersive cinematic experience they will not forget.

With the latest video headset technology,

passengers are transported to a private movie theater where they can enjoy 2-D, 3-D and 180-degree films and TV series on a high-resolution, wide-angle cinema screen.

What’s your first travel memory?

Coming out of a Boeing 747-200 at LAX and seeing my grandparents waiting for me when I was two years old. After I passed customs with my luggage, I remember the strange ramp I climbed. I could see hands waving frantically, then heads, then people, then my grandparents. The arrivals area at Tom Bradley International Terminal has hardly changed!

What’s the best seat on the plane?

0A – the captain’s seat.

Favorite snack and go-to drink order on board?

I’ll name two! For medium-haul flights, United’s nailed it with its Dutch caramel waffles. They’re so good and clever: crumbfree and super-compact. For long-haul flights, the crispy chocolate crepes from Brittany served as snacks on Air France flights.

If you could fly anywhere right now, where would it be?

Let me change the question: If I could fly anything right now, it would be the Boeing 747-200, the plane that brought me to aviation. And I’d fly the famous Hong Kong Kai Tak approach, which was closed in the early 2000s.

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Bleisure

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Vacation Mode

As human beings, we’re always doing. Research suggests we should check in to a flight more often, in order to check out.

by Kristina Velan | illustrations Francisco Javier Olea

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Association

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Y

ou say you need a vacation, but will you take one? If you work in the United States, there’s a good chance the answer is no. And that’s not just because the US is the only developed country that doesn’t guarantee any minimum annual leave, meaning it’s up to employers to decide how much paid vacation and public holidays their employees are entitled to. According to a 2016 report from the US Department of Labor, between 51 and 79 percent of workers had access to paid vacations, but a study

by Bankrate.com released in the same year showed that over half of Americans who did receive paid vacation didn’t take all of it.

no vacation nation Over the past decade, the United States has become known as the “No Vacation Nation.”

A survey by Skift found that 34 percent of Americans didn’t take a single day off in 2016.

Reasons for this trend include fast-paced work environments, fear of layoffs and avoidance of backlog that accumulates during time off. Workaholism has become so ingrained in American culture that even though companies like Netflix, Virgin Group and LinkedIn have implemented unlimited vacation policies, Americans with these benefits still don’t take more than a couple of weeks off per year.

Fortunately for the airline industry, less time off hasn’t necessarily translated into

Airline Passenger Experience Association

apex experience

less time in the air. According to Southwest Airlines spokesperson Thais Hanson, the airline saw record load factors in 2016: “At Southwest, we haven’t seen anything in our customer data that suggests that leisure travel is off. In fact, our leisure customer trends have been strong.” Statistics from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) show that business has been good for North American airlines over the past several years, with profits increasing from $1.7 billion in 2011 to $20.3 billion in 2016. The seven years before that period were marked by fluctuations between positive and negative profit margins.

A plausible explanation, supported by Skift’s research, is that those who are least likely to take time off work are also less likely to be able to afford flight tickets. Or, perhaps, the line between business and leisure travel is becoming blurred, much like the vision of an overworked employee who needs a break from the computer screen.

mixing business and leisure “Bleisure” has been used to describe the tendency to mix business and leisure travel.

Data collected by Booking.com revealed that 49 percent of business travelers extended their trip to a different city or country in 2016, with nearly one-third of this group intending to do the same in 2017. >

Bleisure

34%

of Americans didn’t take a single day off in 2016.

49%

of business travelers extended their trip to a different city or country in 2016.

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Bleisure

78% agreed that incorporating leisure into business travel adds value to a trip.

“Business travel is increasingly seen as an opportunity to expand horizons.”

Ripsy Bandourian booking.com “Business travel is increasingly seen as an opportunity to expand horizons, find inspiration and progress in a career,” explains Ripsy Bandourian, director of Product Development, Booking.com. “Today’s laptop and latte breed of employee is increasingly mobile and fluid with their travel plans,

Airline Passenger Experience Association

looking to strike a balance between business and leisure travel.”

Data shows that bleisure trips have become more common in recent years. Six out of 10 international respondents to a survey conducted by BridgeStreet Global Hospitality were more likely to travel for bleisure in 2014 than they were five years earlier. Seventy-eight percent agreed that incorporating leisure into business travel adds value to their trip, suggesting that pleasure-seekers need look no further than their next business trip.

getting tripped up While Americans’ aversion to taking time off from work doesn’t appear to be affecting the airline industry, it can be detrimental to physical and mental health. In an article detailing the importance of taking vacations for personal well-being, Susan Krauss

Whitbourne, professor of Psychology and Brain Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, writes that “Chronic stress takes its toll in part on our body’s ability to resist infection, maintain vital functions and even avoid injury …

Mentally, not only do you become more irritable, depressed and anxious, but your memory will become worse and you’ll make poorer decisions.”

Most office jobs require at least medium- to high-level memory capacity and decision-making skills, so by refusing time off with the goal of furthering their careers, employees may actually be negatively impacting their performance at work. Krauss Whitbourne explains that vacations can break the stress cycle, citing that time away from the office allows employees to gain perspective on problems that the daily grind is preventing them from finding solutions to. >

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Bleisure

relax, do it Virgin Group’s adoption of an unlimited vacation policy in 2014, which applied to employees of the parent company in the UK and US, was met with skepticism. Bloomberg questioned whether the move might actually deter employees from taking time off, and the Independent suggested that it was really more of a PR stunt meant to enhance Richard Branson’s image as an innovative leader.

While the policy has not yet been extended to Virgin Group’s airline subsidiaries, Virgin Atlantic launched a #GetOutOfOffice campaign in September of last year. Targeting the British working population, a third of whom are not taking their total annual leave allowance, according to statistics cited by Virgin Atlantic, the campaign included a tongue-in-cheek video about how the office is the country’s most popular holiday destination.

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apex experience

Employees would be right to take Virgin Atlantic’s advice and get out of the office – not only for their own well-being, but also for the health of the economy. In 2016, France, which is among the top countries in the world in terms of paid leave, with over 30 paid days off per year, including vacation and public holidays, ranked higher than the UK on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s list of countries by GDP and productivity. According to a 2015 study published in the Harvard Business Review, “Leaders in countries with more paid vacation days actually tend to seem slightly more likely to work at a faster pace, have a higher quantity focus and feel more impatient.”

Richard Branson once said: “We are human beings, not human doings – so let’s start acting like it, by taking the time simply to be and appreciate the beauty of the world.” Maybe if we spent more time

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6/10

respondents were more likely to travel for bleisure in 2014 than they were five years earlier.

surfing the waves instead of the web, and lounging in hotel sheets rather than filling out spreadsheets, we’d be more efficient in the workplace and more appreciative of our world and the people in it – at home, at work and abroad.

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MRO

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Anatomy of a Special Layover With a little logistics management and network tooling, it now takes Lufthansa Technik teams days – not weeks – to get an aircraft connected. But to complete the installation with minimal intervention, engineers had to pull a few tricks out of the tool kit.

by Katie Sehl

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MRO

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P

assengers tend to think about layovers as a suspension of time, a drawn-out period of dawdling at the airport, or a pocket-change discovery of extra minutes and hours that can be used to buy a little more vacation time.

A pause, an interlude, a yellow light on the road home. For maintenance crews working behind the scenes at airports, a layover means go – a get in, get out race against the clock to complete the necessary repairs or installations as quickly as possible so that the airplane can return to the skies. Extra days spent on the ground accrue financial penalties for the airline, which loses another revenue day by having its aircraft out of service.

Lufthansa Technik’s Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) teams are accustomed to managing aircraft layovers like clockwork. Airplanes come into hangars right off the runway, wheels and engines

PHOTOS: KATIE SEHL

“There is just a massive amount of complexity that needs to be taken care of.”

Lukas Bucher Lufthansa Technik

Airline Passenger Experience Association

As of March this year, Lufthansa Technik has equipped 57 airplanes for connectivity, with 177 airplanes scheduled for revisions.

Early Numbers Lufthansa’s trial of GX Aviation in early 2017 yielded the following: > Penetration rates of usage rose to 35% on certain routes. > More than 60 TB of data was consumed.

still hot when work begins. But when the MRO arm of Lufthansa Group landed the job of installing hundreds of aircraft with Honeywell-Inmarsat Ka-band connectivity equipment, its efficiency standards were put to the test. “It takes project management,” says Lukas Bucher, head of Connectivity Programs, Lufthansa Technik. But more than that, “It takes what I refer to as ‘complexity management,’ because there is just a massive amount of complexity that needs to be taken care of.” >

> Over 3,800 individual flights operated with GX Aviation.

> GX Aviation was available for more than 5,000 flight hours. > Over 51,000 devices used the service.

Source: Inmarsat Aviation

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MRO

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Speeding up layover time has been a core element of Lufthansa Technik’s program to equip aircraft for Wi-Fi.

By spring 2018, around 300 A320s will have visited a Lufthansa Technik site to be equipped with Wi-Fi. By spring 2018, around 300 narrow-body Airbus A320 aircraft from Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Germanwings and Eurowings will have visited one of Lufthansa Technik’s 10 production lines at one of the company’s base maintenance sites to get equipped with Wi-Fi. With the first installation on a Germanwings A319 in June last year, the MRO team had a luxurious 14 days with the aircraft to work out the kinks involved in getting it online.

After completing its second installation that August, Lufthansa Technik team managers realized that, in addition to getting installation times down, the company was facing another logistical challenge: scheduling airplanes. “We’re working with a live operation,” Bucher says, “and because of emergencies, weather or maintenance needs, you’re always reacting to schedule

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changes.” Before engineers could even get their hands on airplane number three, the delivery schedule had been revised more than 70 times.

tooling the network As of this past March, Lufthansa Technik had equipped 57 airplanes, trimmed its installation time from 14 days to a lean four days and had 177 scheduled revisions in the books. To accommodate the airlines’ ever-changing schedules, the MRO team developed an airplane-swapping strategy that relies on its network of sites at airports in Berlin, Shannon, Budapest, Sofia and Malta. So, if an aircraft initially bound for an installation in Budapest suddenly requires maintenance in Malta, a team there can be made available to cover the Wi-Fi component, too.

“The masterpiece is when you’re able to hold the right material, with the right people, with the right job cards and the right skills and experiences in the right locations,” Bucher says. Two employees ensure that all the sites have a basic material kit – comprising an A320 harness, line replaceable units (LRUs), brackets, sealant and modular components – at the ready.

At an estimated $250,000–$500,000 per installation, and with downtime as one of the essential cost factors, speeding up layover time has been a core element of Lufthansa Technik’s program. Preparation is key: Before the airplane enters a hangar, installation pieces are shuffled, documentation is streamlined, the harness is terminated, wires are preconnected and as many parts as possible are preassembled onto baseplates.

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MRO

To accommodate ever-changing airline schedules, the MRO team relies on its network of sites at airports in Berlin, Shannon, Budapest, Sofia and Malta.

Running the Specs > Tail Antenna System Max Bitrates To aircraft: 4.5–12.0 Mbit/sec From aircraft: 0.7–1.8 Mbit/sec

> Fuselage Mount Antenna Size: 37" swept volume x 9" high Weight: 82.6 lb

> Tail Mount Antenna Size: 13" x 12" x 13.7" Weight: 10.0 lb Source: Inmarsat Aviation

Airline Passenger Experience Association

connecting the components The installation of Inmarsat’s high-throughput Ka-band satellite equipment takes place primarily in three sections of the airplane.

On the equipment shelf rack in the aircraft’s bay, three LRUs are installed, along with a Lufthansa Systems BoardConnect server, a modem manager, an airplane programming module as well as other components that are mounted and hooked up by one person in three shifts.

Equipping the inside of the cabin requires the removal of a few overhead compartments and roof panels. Weighing about 4.5 pounds, the bin box, which was designed by Lufthansa Technik engineer Nils Beyer, holds two system relays and the decoder unit, and has the capability of

resetting the Wi-Fi system. “The only thing we have to do is drill a hole into the bin, mount it and it’s done,” Beyer says. Only one shift and two technicians are needed to mount the bin box in a front cabin overhead compartment and run the wire harness down to the rear of the fuselage.

From front to rear, four wireless access points (WAPs) are mounted on the roof of the cabin, each taking approximately 20 minutes to install. Much like a router, a WAP distributes the signal from the antennas to passenger devices, each one capable of serving the nearest 50 users. Also inside the cabin is the KANDU, an electrical power source that controls the positioning for the antennas. This unit gets hot, up to 140°F, which is why it’s vented and kept tucked away from passengers. >

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Each Ka-band satellite operates 89 spot beams in addtion to 24 steerable beams that can connect with aircraft.

tricks of the trade Atop the fuselage is the crownpiece of the connectivity outfit: the antenna and radome – or the “hump,” as industry parlance has it. The 82.6-pound Honeywell JetWave antenna moves at one degree of precision to intercept and receive beams from Inmarsat satellites. Each Ka-band satellite operates 89 spot beams in addition to 24 steerable beams that can connect with aircraft, and because the antenna was designed with a dual receiver, it can connect with two beams simultaneously so that there’s no drop in transmission as it makes the handover from one beam to another. The antenna and the KRFU Ka-band frequency unit are protected by a lightweight fiberglass radome, optimized to

withstand lightning and bird strikes.

Lufthansa Technik’s installation process meets the requirements of ARINC standard 791, but Bucher thinks they’ve done one better – or seven, to be more precise.

Typically, mounting the baseplate and antenna requires thousands of rivets to be drilled into the fuselage – nothing that compromises the structural integrity of the aircraft, but it does a lot of structural damage nonetheless, and makes potential upgrades trickier. By redesigning the baseplate and attaching points so that it fits with the existing aircraft structure, Lufthansa Technik technicians can get away with drilling only seven mounting points, avoiding the need for intercostal support pieces. “The beauty of that is there are no additional holes and no additional structure required,” Bucher says. “But if you ‘mis-drill,’ then you have a problem.” To avoid drilling mistakes, engineers use a special tool called a Christmas tree that positions the

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mounts based on Airbus’ manufacturing fixation points. “From there on, it’s a low-risk job,” he says.

the daily mission Getting an aircraft fully connected in days is a feat – but like a good pit-stop crew in a race to complete all 300 or so Lufthansa Group aircraft as quickly as possible, every task, technique and shift is being scrutinized for time-saving improvements. “We achieved a four-day install for the first time in January, and there’s still more that we can do to get that even faster,” says Bucher.

Out in the hangars Lufthansa Technik crews refer to connectivity installations as special layovers – but they still treat them like they would treat any other layover.

“Keep the airplane flying – that’s the mission of the day,” says Benno Lissen, head of Maintenance at the Frankfurt site. “And the mission of the night is to make it clear for the next day.”

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Travelogue

Unaccompanied Minor A seasoned traveler recalls the people, places, sights and sounds encountered on a 30-hour journey from London to Singapore to Cairns when he was 10 years old.

by Ari Magnusson | Illustration Mathias Sielfeld

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Travelogue

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fter waving goodbye to Grandpa, I was escorted through the departures hall by a Heathrow Airport employee. I wore a laminated plastic pouch with “UM” labeled in bold font. These are intended to make sure young ones are easy to spot if they go astray. But this wasn’t my first time as an unaccompanied minor; I’d flown a few times between the UK and Iceland.

In 1995, London’s main airport was a claustrophobic maze framed by low ceilings.

Long hallways were lit with dim strip lighting, and terminal signage was a hue of yellow that, were it a paint color, would be called, “Budget Grocery Store Gold.”

Modern-day Heathrow Terminal 5 it was not.

But for 10-year-old me at the time, none of this mattered.

As I was whisked to the boarding gate, the enormity of the trip and traveling alone began to sink in. In less than 30 hours, I’d be reunited with my mom, whom I desperately missed. But I’d also be living in a country that was as far as geographically possible from what I considered home.

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It was late at night, but outside the glass windows of the terminal sat the Qantas Boeing 747 I was about to spend the next 13 hours inside. I was allocated a right-side aisle seat in the middle row of the economyclass cabin. Next to me were two Singaporean ladies who barely spoke English, but their gesture of offering me some glacial mints meant they were fine in my book.

There were no seatback displays or on-demand in-flight entertainment. Back then, you watched whatever was being shown on the overhead screens. So, by age 10, I was already bringing my own device – a Nintendo Game Boy. I occupied myself for several hours playing Jungle Strike, a new video game my dad had bought me as a parting gift, pretending to be a Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter pilot on the hunt for Carlos Ortega (apparently a notorious South American drug lord). Four hours into upholding the Monroe Doctrine, I was zonked. We were cruising 35,000 feet above the western shoreline of the Caspian Sea and I drifted into sleep.

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By age 10, I was already bringing my own device – a Nintendo Game Boy.

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A sulfurous aroma woke me up somewhere above central India; a breakfast of sausage and eggs with orange juice was being served. Tray table down, I peeled back the metallic foil on the steaming aluminum container, as hundreds of us did in tandem.

Not long after a flight attendant collected my empty breakfast tray, she asked whether I’d like to visit the pilots. Of course I did!

I followed her past the curtains dividing economy and business class, then up the staircase to the upper deck, where the spacious lie-flat seats seemed to me like sky thrones. Inside the cockpit, the two pilots sat surrounded by dials and gauges. It looked far too complicated. If I could control an Apache chopper from a Game Boy, why did they need all this? The pilots told me we’d soon pass an aircraft 1,000 feet below. In a blink-or-you’llmiss-it moment, the jet zipped past in the opposite direction.

With less than four hours left before landing, I’d transitioned into “Are we there

Airline Passenger Experience Association

apex experience

Gazing at the flight path map was a lesson in world geography..

yet?” mode. Jungle Strike had long ceased to be a time killer and there were no movies being shown. But gazing at the flight path map was a lesson in world geography. I etched into memory names like Bangalore, Madras, Bay of Bengal. Pixel by pixel, we got closer to Southeast Asia. When Qantas screened one of those destination videos, I knew we weren’t far. Its opening shot was a statue of a Merlion spewing a torrent of

Travelogue

water: “Welcome to Singapore: The Lion City.”

One of the perks of being a UM passenger is before landing, a crewmember moves you to an empty seat in the business-class cabin. This is to ensure UMs are first to get off the airplane and can be easily handed over to ground staff. It felt like my 15 minutes of fame as I stretched my legs while sitting on a luxurious leather seat.

After we disembarked, I was greeted by a young Singaporean lady tasked with escorting me and another slightly older UM to a transitory area. Inside Changi Airport, the hallways stretched as far as I could see. The carpet was a shade of green and brown, interlaced with a pattern that resembled something from those Magic Eye books that were popular in the 1990s. If I stared long enough, would a 3-D butterfly pop out?

Hyper-efficient air conditioners pumped a sweet-smelling scent that made it easy to forget I was in the tropics. As my nose adjusted to the floral whiff, we were brought to a cramped, windowless waiting room. >

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Why was the woman asking me if I was excited about flying to Rio de Janeiro?

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As a child, the author traveled frequently alongside his mother, who is a travel guide. Shown here, the two are at Monument Valley in Arizona.

was excited about flying to Rio de Janeiro?

And most of all, why was someone else’s name on the UM passenger details form she was holding?

“Excuse me Miss… but that’s not my name!”

She checked my passport photo. Her face froze. Suddenly, we were running back to the waiting room. The boy who was supposed to be on that flight was slouched in the corner.

His spectacles were slipping off his face and he was immersed in his Game Boy. I felt sorry for him as he was rushed off to his gate. We were about the same age.

We both had blond hair and round, chubby faces, and had been equally engaged by our eight-bit handheld devices – maybe not

such a surprise that Changi’s ground staff had us confused.

I waited a half hour before my name was called again; no false alarm this time. Soon my flight to Cairns via Darwin was boarding.

This was the home stretch.

After nearly 30 hours of travel, we were descending into Cairns, Queensland. Outside the airplane window, we pierced through thick clouds, and I got my first glimpse of the land below. It didn’t look anything like the dry outback I was familiar with from movies like Crocodile Dundee. Instead, it was a lush, verdant tropical rainforest. For a moment, I panicked: Was I actually misplaced on the flight to Brazil?

Airline Passenger Experience Association

PHOTO: COURTESY OF CATHY HARLOW

It was a global crossroads for bleary-eyed UMs, but it also felt like a vacuum that existed beyond the confines of space and time.

An elderly woman stood out from the crowd. Her lack of English was the reason she was here, or maybe it was something to do with the silence she broke by unleashing a roaring burp. She neither batted an eyelid nor displayed a hint of embarrassment.

Had she been banished from the adults?

Joking aside, it was an early lesson in public etiquette, namely that it varies depending on where you are in the world.

The woman who had greeted me upon disembarking was back to help me board my second flight. We reached the departure gate, where there was a long line of people waiting with their passports and boarding passes in hand.

Something wasn’t right though. Why was there a Singapore Airlines – not Qantas – logo emblazoned at the check-in gate? Why was the woman asking me if I

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Tweeting from one of our upcoming events? Be sure to use the designated hashtag so other members can join the conversation!

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Three Questions About the APEX/IFSA Partnership

As APEX and IFSA prepare to co-locate at EXPO in Long Beach in September along with Aircraft Interiors Americas, APEX president Brian Richardson and IFSA president Jane Bernier-Tran discuss the state of their renewed strategic partnership.

1 How has the APEX/IFSA relationship progressed since the announcement of closer alignment?

BR: Since the announcement, APEX and IFSA have worked closely to find ways to fold in more catering and service elements within APEX events, as well as at industry events where APEX has spotlight roles.

Airline Passenger Experience Association

JBT: IFSA has enthusiastically embraced this more integrated relationship with APEX. A key development for that has been the expanded role of Joe Leader as CEO. He has helped to identify opportunities for smarter collaboration between our two associations.

2 How will this year’s EXPO be different than past co-locations for your association?

BR: The service sector is crucial to the full passenger experience, which is why we believe our relationship with IFSA will attract greater numbers of senior airline decision makers, as well as offer more diverse products, service and information. This will better position APEX events against the backdrop of assertive for-profit show competition.

JBT: IFSA continues to grow its international presence from year to year. By elevating our longstanding relationship with APEX, particularly at EXPO, IFSA can grow while enhancing our ability to advocate on issues impacting our sector.

3 Where does the APEX and IFSA relationship go from here?

BR: As APEX builds off this year’s successful collaborative efforts, we recognize that having IFSA more formally represent the foundation of our catering and services sector helps to further expand and strengthen our global identity representing the entire airline passenger experience industry.

JBT: With an excellent past working relationship with APEX, IFSA believes this partnership will foster greater global recognition, while growing our influence within the airline industry.

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Preview: APEX EXPO Awards and Honors official airline ratings and passenger choice awards The APEX Official Airline Ratings gathers passenger feedback to determine star ratings for airlines. Through APEX’s partnership with TripIt from Concur, travelers who use the TripIt mobile app will have the opportunity to provide anonymous feedback on their flight. Using a five-star scale, passengers rate their overall flight experience, along with five subcategories: seat comfort, cabin service, food and beverage, entertainment, and Wi-Fi. The ratings from the overall flight experience will be used as the basis for the airline’s Official Airline Ratings, with insights derived from the subcategories being used to determine the 2017 Passenger Choice Award winners.

apex awards Awards will be presented to airlines and/or their vendor partners for creating: > Best Original Audio: Outstanding audio station or audio collection > Best Original Video: A new video – in-flight safety video, airline promo video, etc. > Best Cabin Innovation: Thoughtful new cabin environment either in a new delivery or retrofitted aircraft, as well as a new class of service, i.e., economy, business, first > Best Passenger Comfort Innovation: Innovation in the world of passenger comfort, including seats, design, lighting, temperature control, air quality and more

PHOTOS: LIM KOK WEE

The airline industry’s most prestigious award event of the year, APEX EXPO’s Award Ceremony recognizes excellence in cabin comfort, entertainment, connectivity, overall experience and more. The following is a preview of the various awards and honors which will be announced at the APEX Award Ceremony on Monday, 25 September as part of APEX EXPO, which will be co-located with IFSA Conference and Expo and AIX Americas.

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Find out more at > apex.aero/events

> Best Personalization Innovation: Personalized passenger experience, including a service application, personalized IFE, catering experience, etc. > Best Video Curation: Curating a selection of carefully assorted video programming within a provided budget > Best In-Flight Entertainment Innovation: New in-flight innovation that is elevating the passenger experience via GUI design, features/applications, streaming, hardware, seat integration, etc. > Best In-Flight Connectivity Innovation: New in-flight innovation including interactive connectivity on board, unique Wi-Fi features/offerings, etc.

lifetime achievement award Presented to a senior level executive from an APEX member company, whose longterm efforts, dedication and sustained commitment in support of elevating airline passenger experience clearly establishes that individual’s career as a lifetime industry achievement.

outstanding contribution award Presented to an individual whose contributions, innovations or leadership have generated a significant and fundamental improvement to the nature of the airline passenger experience.

newcomer of the year award

ceo lifetime achievement award A highlight of the APEX Award Ceremony, this honor is bestowed upon an airline CEO who has advanced the passenger experience beyond their own airline with a positive ripple across the industry.

The award may only be given to an individual once and is reserved for airline CEOs at the pinnacle of their career, with a strong preference for the award to be given before retirement.

apex expo cool award The honor is voted on by member companies attending the conference and awarded on the third day of EXPO to an exhibitor. It recognizes the innovative APEX spirit showcased each year at EXPO.

Recognizes a specific achievement by a new APEX member.

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IFSA

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Celebrating Onboard Excellence and Innovation IFSA will celebrate creativity, excellence and innovation with its Awards Ceremony at the 2017 Conference and Expo in Long Beach, CA. The IFSA Compass Awards will recognize the outstanding contributions of our members to the onboard industry.

From exceptional in-flight service, to truly innovative food, our members are the driving force pushing the industry forward. The awards ceremony, held September 25 during the Welcome Reception, will present a wide range of awards, from Best Inflight Food, to Best Onboard Amenity, to Caterer of the Year, to name a few.

IFSA will be accepting award nominations through June 15, 2017. Nominations are open to all IFSA member companies. Entrants are welcome to nominate their own company, as well as submit nominations for multiple categories.

The IFSA Compass Awards will be voted on by membership, narrowing it down to finalists for each award category. Once the finalists are chosen and announced, a panel of four judges will choose a winner for each category. Attendees must be registered for the conference in order to attend the Welcome Reception and Awards Ceremony. To register and to learn more about nominations, please visit the IFSA Compass Awards webpage.

In addition to IFSA’s brand new awards program, we’ve put a new spin on the event’s notable Chef’s Competition. Make plans to check out our new live Cooking Demonstrations on the show floor featuring talented chefs from around the globe. These demos will happen on both days of Expo. More details can be found on ifsanet.com in the schedule of events.

Nomination Deadline June 15, 2017 > Best Inflight Food > Best Inflight Beverage > Best Onboard Amenity > Best Catering/Food > Service/Galley Equipment > Caterer of the Year > Airline of the Year > Supplier of the Year > PAX International Award

The IFSA Compass Awards will recognize the outstanding contributions of our members to the onboard industry.

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Airline Passenger Experience Association

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PowerBar provides convenient forward and aft facing outlet unit locations for passengers and is compatible with most economy class seat designs.

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What to look for in the months ahead

Coming Attractions *

13 Minutes

Minutes after Adolf Hitler’s anniversary speech on November 8, 1939, a bomb explodes in the Munich Bürgerbräukeller, killing eight people.

When a map of the targeted site is found on Georg Elser, he is sent to the Criminal Police, where he learns his attempt has failed – Hitler left the Bürgerbräukeller 13 minutes before the explosion.

DISTRIBUTOR: SONY PICTURES RELEASING CONTACT: RANA MATTHES * CARIBBEAN ISLANDS, LATIN AMERICA AND US, EXCLUDING BRAZIL, COLOMBIA, FRENCH GUIANA/ FRENCH, GUADELOUPE/FRENCH, MARTINIQUE/FRENCH, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES/DUTCH

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Alien: Covenant

Director: Ridley Scott Cast: Michael Fassbender, James Franco, Noomi Rapace, Guy Pearce, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Katherine Waterston, Jussie Smollett, Amy Seimetz Ridley Scott returns with Alien: Covenant, a new chapter in his groundbreaking Alien franchise.

The crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world. When they uncover a threat beyond their imagination, they must attempt a harrowing escape.

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Baby Driver

Director: Edgar Wright Cast: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Lily James, Jon Bernthal, Eiza González, Jon Hamm When a talented, young getaway driver meets the girl of his dreams, he sees a chance to ditch his criminal life and make a clean getaway. But after being coerced into working for a crime boss, he must face the music when a doomed heist threatens his life, love and freedom.

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The Bachelors

Director: Kurt Voelker Cast: J.K. Simmons, Julie Delpy, Odeya Rush, Charlie DePew After the loss of his wife, a mourning father moves with his teenage son across the country for a private school teaching job. Their lives begin to transform due to two unique women, who help them embrace life and love again.

DISTRIBUTOR: CINESKY PICTURES CONTACT: MARK HORTON

DISTRIBUTOR: SONY PICTURES RELEASING CONTACT: RANA MATTHES

DISTRIBUTOR: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX CONTACT: JULIAN LEVIN

DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS CODES

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I: OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA

W: WORLDWIDE

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PHOTOS: 13 MINUTES PHOTO BY BERND SCHULLER; © 2017 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED; ©2017 CTMG. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED; COURTESY OF CINESKY PICTURES

Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel Cast: Christian Friedel, Katharina Schüttler, Burghart Klaussner, Johann von Bülow

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i

Back to Burgundy

Director: Cédric Klapisch Cast: François Civil, Ana Girardot, Pio Marmaï, María Valverde Jean has spent the last decade traveling and cutting ties with his family and hometown in Burgundy. When he is called back home to be with his terminally ill father, he is reunited with his sister and brother. Together they learn the craft of winemaking while deciding the future of their family vineyard.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF PENNY BLACK MEDIA; © 2017 PARAMOUNT PICTURES; BRIGSBY BEAR PHOTO BY CHRISTIAN SPRENGER; © 2017 DISNEY/PIXAR; © 2016 SC FILMS

IFE

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Baywatch

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Brigsby Bear

Director: Seth Gordon Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Alexandra Daddario, Priyanka Chopra, Kelly Rohrbach, Ilfenesh Hadera

Director: Dave McCary Cast: Kyle Mooney, Beck Bennett, Claire Danes, Mark Hamill, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Greg Kinnear

Devoted lifeguard Mitch Buchannon butts heads with a brash new recruit, but together, they uncover a local criminal plot that threatens the future of the Bay.

Brigsby Bear Adventures is a children’s TV show produced for an audience of one: James. When the show abruptly ends, James’ life changes forever and he sets out to finish the story himself.

DISTRIBUTOR: PARAMOUNT PICTURES CONTACT: JOAN FILIPPINI

DISTRIBUTOR: SONY PICTURES RELEASING CONTACT: RANA MATTHES

DISTRIBUTOR: PENNY BLACK MEDIA CONTACT: CATHIE TROTTA

* EXCLUDING CANADA

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie w

Directors: Rob Letterman and David Soren Cast: Kevin Hart, Kristen Schaal, Nick Kroll, Ed Helms Two mischievous kids hypnotize their mean high school principal and turn him into their comic book creation, the kind-hearted and elasticbanded Captain Underpants, who helps his fellow classmates.

DISTRIBUTOR: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX CONTACT: JULIAN LEVIN

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Cars 3

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Director: Brian Fee Cast: Owen Wilson, Cristela Alonzo, Armie Hammer Blindsided by a new generation of racers, the legendary Lightning McQueen is suddenly pushed out of the sport he loves. To get back in the game, he will need the help of an eager, young race technician, plus inspiration from the late Fabulous Hudson Hornet, and a few unexpected turns.

DISTRIBUTOR: DISNEY STUDIOS NON-THEATRICAL CONTACT: MARTIN SANSING

Charming

Director: Ross Venokur Cast: Wilmer Valderrama, Demi Lovato, Ashley Tisdale, Avril Lavigne, G.E.M., John Cleese In this twist on fairy tale conventions, Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are all engaged to Prince Charming, who compulsively proposes to every woman he encounters. Prince Charming’s father gives him an ultimatum: Find true love before his 21st birthday or lose all claim to the throne.

DISTRIBUTOR: JAGUAR DISTRIBUTION CORP. CONTACT: FRANCE CAPOR * EXCLUDING NORTH AMERICA, CHINA, HONG KONG AND TAIWAN

* EXCLUDING CHINA AND KOREA

DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS CODES

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N: NORTH AMERICA

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W: WORLDWIDE

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The Circle

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Director: James Ponsoldt Cast: Tom Hanks, Emma Watson, Patton Oswalt, Bill Paxton, Karen Gillan, Ellar Coltrane Mae Holland lands a job with the world’s most powerful technology and social media company.

But after she joins a groundbreaking experiment that pushes the boundaries of privacy and ethics, every decision she makes starts to affect the lives and futures of her friends, family and that of humanity.

DISTRIBUTOR: PARAMOUNT PICTURES CONTACT: JOAN FILIPPINI

Colossal

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul w

Director: Nacho Vigalondo Cast: Anne Hathaway, Dan Stevens, Jason Sudeikis, Austin Stowell When reports surface that a giant creature is destroying Seoul, Korea, Gloria soon realizes that she is somehow connected to this distant phenomenon. As events spin out of control, Gloria must determine why her seemingly insignificant existence has such a colossal effect on the fate of the world.

DISTRIBUTOR: ENTERTAINMENT IN MOTION CONTACT: LYNDA HARRISS

Director: David Bowers Cast: Jason Drucker, Alicia Silverstone, Tom Everett, Charlie Wright, Owen Asztalos In Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, based on the record-breaking book series, a family road trip to attend Meemaw’s 90th birthday party goes hilariously off course – thanks to Greg’s newest scheme to (finally!) become famous.

DISTRIBUTOR: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX CONTACT: JULIAN LEVIN

* EXCLUDING US

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The Dinner

Director: Oren Moverman Cast: Richard Gere, Steve Coogan, Laura Linney, Rebecca Hall, Chloë Sevigny Paul and Claire are having dinner with Paul’s politician brother Stan and his wife Barbara, but as the evening progresses, dark secrets emerge about the couples’ children. The kids have committed a monstrous crime, and the parents must decide whether to do what’s right or protect their children.

DISTRIBUTOR: PENNY BLACK MEDIA CONTACT: CATHIE TROTTA

Everything, Everything

The Fate of the Furious

Director: Stella Meghie Cast: Amandla Stenberg, Nick Robinson, Ana de la Reguera, Anika Noni Rose

Director: F. Gary Gray Cast: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez

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The unlikely love story of Maddy, a smart, curious and imaginative 18-year-old who due to an illness cannot leave her home, and Olly, the boy next door who won’t let that stop them.

Maddy and Olly form a deep bond that leads them to risk everything to be together – even if it means losing everything.

DISTRIBUTOR: WARNER BROS. CONTACT: JEFF CRAWFORD

DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS CODES

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Now that Brian and Mia have retired from the game and the rest of the crew has been exonerated, Dom’s globe-trotting team has found a semblance of a normal life. But when a mysterious woman seduces Dom back into the world of crime, the crew face trials that will test them like never before.

DISTRIBUTOR: NBCUNIVERSAL CONTACT: CYNTHIA KLAR

I: OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA

W: WORLDWIDE

Airline Passenger Experience Association

PHOTOS: © 2017 EUROPACORP; © VOLTAGE PICTURES; © 2017 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED; DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, WIMPY KID AND THE GREG HEFFLEY IMAGE ARE TRADEMARKS OF WIMPY KID, INC. ILLUSTRATIONS ARE © 2010 WIMPY KID, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED; COURTESY OF PENNY BLACK MEDIA; ©2017 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

IFE

WB NON-THEATRICAL SALES // wbnts.warnerbros.com • JEFF CRAWFORD // jeff.crawford@warnerbros.com • ANGELICA McCOY // angelica.mccoy@warnerbros.com © 2017 Warner Bros. Pictures. All rights reserved.

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Faut pas lui dire (Don’t Tell Her) w

Director: Solange Cicurel Cast: Jenifer Bartoli, Camille Chamoux, Arié Elmaleh, Brigitte Fossey Why tell the truth and risk hurting the ones you love when lying is so easy? Laura, Eve, Anouch and Yael believe that the more you love the more you lie! So when three of them learn that Yael’s fiancé is having an affair with a man, they decide not to tell her. Will Yael see this omission as an act of love?

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A Ghost Story

Director: David Lowery Cast: Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara In this singular exploration of legacy, love, loss and the enormity of existence, a recently deceased, white-sheeted ghost returns to his suburban home to try and reconnect with his bereft wife.

DISTRIBUTOR: ENTERTAINMENT IN MOTION CONTACT: LYNDA HARRISS

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The Girl From the Song w

Director: Ibai Abad Cast: Lewis Rainer, Joséphine Berry, Charlotte Atkinson, Charlie MacGechan Eric is an aspiring musician whose life changes when he meets Jo, an impulsive, fun-loving girl. But then Jo disappears, and Eric finds out she is at the Burning Man Festival with her ex and troublemaking friend Penelope. Fearing he might have lost her forever, Eric embarks on a chaotic journey to win her back.

DISTRIBUTOR: O’BRIEN INTERNATIONAL CONTACT: JACQUELINE BRIENS

DISTRIBUTOR: ENCORE INFLIGHT LIMITED CONTACT: EDWIN CHEUNG

* EXCLUDING FRANCE, AUSTRIA, TURKEY, BENELUX, SOUTH AMERICA, SWITZERLAND AND GERMANY

* EXCLUDING NORTH AMERICA, LATIN AMERICA AND SPAIN

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Going in Style

Director: Zach Braff Cast: Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Alan Arkin, Ann-Margret, Joey King, Matt Dillon Lifelong buddies Willie, Joe and Al decide to buck retirement and step off the straight-andnarrow for the first time in their lives when their pension fund becomes a corporate casualty.

The three risk it all by embarking on a daring bid to knock off the very bank that absconded with their money.

DISTRIBUTOR: WARNER BROS. CONTACT: JEFF CRAWFORD * EXCLUDING AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, NEW GUINEA AND FIJI

Goon: Last of the Enforcers

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Director: Jay Baruchel Cast: Seann William Scott, Liev Schreiber, Jay Baruchel, Eugene Levy, Elisha Cuthbert, Alison Pill

Director: James Gunn Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker

Sidelined after one too many hits and now married with a baby on the way, former Halifax Highlanders player Doug “The Thug” Glatt hangs up his skates and settles into life as an insurance salesman. When Doug’s nemesis is made captain of the Highlanders he is compelled back into action.

Marvel Studios’ latest addition to the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise continues the team’s adventures as they traverse the outer reaches of the cosmos. The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mystery of Peter Quill’s true parentage.

DISTRIBUTOR: JAGUAR DISTRIBUTION CORP. CONTACT: FRANCE CAPOR

DISTRIBUTOR: DISNEY STUDIOS NON-THEATRICAL CONTACT: MARTIN SANSING

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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF O’BRIEN INTERNATIONAL; © 2017 SCARED SHEETLESS, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED; © ESCAC FILMS, S.L.U. 2017; © 2017 BLOOM MEDIA; ©2017 MARVEL

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QUALITY, INDEPENDENT FEATURE FILMS WWW.PENNYBLACKMEDIA.COM

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Heartbeats

Director: Duane Adler Cast: Krystal Ellsworth, Amitash Pradhan, Daphne Zuniga, Justin Chon, Paul McGillion This is the story of a feisty American hip-hop dancer who travels to India with her family for a wedding and falls in love – both with a new style of dance and with the determined young man who introduces it to her.

DISTRIBUTOR: JAGUAR DISTRIBUTION CORP. CONTACT: FRANCE CAPOR * EXCLUDING US

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The Hippopotamus

How to Be a Latin Lover

Director: John Jencks Cast: Matthew Modine, Russell Tovey, Emily Berrington

Director: Ken Marino Cast: Salma Hayek, Eugenio Derbez, Kristen Bell, Raquel Welch, Rob Lowe, Michael Cera

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Fired from his job as a theater critic, disgraced poet Ted Wallace jumps on the opportunity to lay low at his friends’ country manor. A series of unexplained miracle healings have recently occurred, and Ted sets out to prove the miracles are a hoax and to save a young man from a lifetime of embarrassment.

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Finding himself alone after 25 years of marriage, a man who made a career of seducing rich older women must move in with his estranged sister, where he begins to learn the value of family.

DISTRIBUTOR: ENTERTAINMENT IN MOTION CONTACT: LYNDA HARRISS

DISTRIBUTOR: TERRY STEINER INTERNATIONAL CONTACT: NADJA RUTKOWSKI

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

An Inconvenient Sequel

The Invisible Guest

Director: George C. Wolfe Cast: Oprah Winfrey, Rose Byrne, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Reg E. Cathey, Courtney B. Vance, Ruben Santiago-Hudson

Directors: Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk Cast: Al Gore

Director: Oriol Paulo Cast: Mario Casas, Ana Wagener, José Coronado, Bárbara Lennie

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Based on Rebecca Skloot’s critically acclaimed book of the same name, this film tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman whose cancerous cells were used to create the first immortal human cell line, resulting in medical breakthroughs that changed countless lives and the face of medicine forever.

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Former Vice-President Al Gore continues his tireless fight, traveling around the world to train an army of activists and influence international climate policy.

DISTRIBUTOR: PARAMOUNT PICTURES CONTACT: JOAN FILIPPINI

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Adrian Doria wakes up in a hotel room alongside the dead body of his lover Laura. With no possible explanation to exonerate him from the possible crime, Doria hires a prestigious lawyer who prepares witnesses. Over the course of one harrowing night, they work together in a frenetic race against time to clarify what happened.

DISTRIBUTOR: ENCORE INFLIGHT LIMITED CONTACT: EDWIN CHEUNG

DISTRIBUTOR: HBO CONTACT: KALLIOPE DIAKOS

* EXCLUDING NORTH AMERICA, LATIN AMERICA AND SPAIN

DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS CODES

116

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N: NORTH AMERICA

I: OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA

W: WORLDWIDE

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PHOTOS: © 2017 MYRIAD PICTURES; IAN SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY; © LIONS GATE ENTERTAINMENT INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED; COURTESY OF HBO; © 2017 PARAMOUNT PICTURES; ©2016 LA HABITACION CERRADA A.I.E., ATRESMEDIACINE S.L., THINK STUDIO S.L.U., COLOSÉ PRODUCCIONES S.L., ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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It Was Fifty Years Ago Today! The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper & Beyond w

Director: Alan G. Parker Cast: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison This documentary about The Beatles examines the year in which they stopped being the world’s number one touring band and instead became the world’s most innovative recording artists, pushing the boundaries of what could be achieved in the studio.

DISTRIBUTOR: PENNY BLACK MEDIA CONTACT: CATHIE TROTTA

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Kung Fu Yoga

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King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Kiseki: Sobito of That Day

Director: Guy Ritchie Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Astrid BergesFrisbey, Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen, Jude Law, Eric Bana

Director: Atsushi Kaneshige Cast: Tori Matsuzaka, Masaki Suda, Shioli Kutsuna

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When young Arthur’s father is murdered, Vortigern, Arthur’s uncle, seizes the crown.

Robbed of his birthright and with no idea who he truly is, Arthur grows up in the back alleys of the city. But once he pulls the sword from the stone, he is forced to acknowledge his true legacy.

Against his father’s will, Jin leaves home to pursue his dream of becoming a musician.

When Jin’s music career hits a snag, he discovers that it is his little brother Hide, and his fellow dental students, who should record an album. In fear of his father, Hide plans to do so without ever showing his face.

DISTRIBUTOR: WARNER BROS. CONTACT: JEFF CRAWFORD

DISTRIBUTOR: ENCORE INFLIGHT LIMITED CONTACT: EDWIN CHEUNG

* EXCLUDING AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, NEW GUINEA AND FIJI

* EXCLUDING JAPAN

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Lady Macbeth

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A Loving Husband

Director: Stanley Tong Cast: Jackie Chan, Aarif Rahman, Miya Muqi

Director: William Oldroyd Cast: Florence Pugh, Christopher Fairbank, Cosmo Jarvis, Rebecca Manley

Director: Kazuhiko Yukawa Cast: Hiroshi Abe, Yuki Amami, Miho Kanno

A Chinese archaeology professor teams up with an Indian professor to locate the lost Magadha treasure. In a Tibetan ice cave, they find the remains of the royal army that had vanished together with the treasure, only to be ambushed

by Randall, the descendent of a rebel army leader.

Rural England, 1865. Katherine is stifled by her loveless marriage to a bitter man twice her age, whose family is cold and unforgiving.

When she embarks on a passionate affair with a young worker on her husband’s estate, a force is unleashed inside her that is so powerful she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

For the first time in 25 years, Yohei and Miyoko begin to live by themselves after their son marries and moves out. One day, Yohei finds divorce papers that Miyoko has kept hidden, but he doesn’t have the courage to ask her about them. Through his involvement with his students, Yohei learns about family.

DISTRIBUTOR: JAGUAR DISTRIBUTION CORP. CONTACT: FRANCE CAPOR

DISTRIBUTOR: EMPHASIS VIDEO ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED CONTACT: GRACE LAU

DISTRIBUTOR: EMPHASIS VIDEO ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED CONTACT: GRACE LAU * EXCLUDING CHINA

* EXCLUDING JAPAN

DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS CODES

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I: OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA

W: WORLDWIDE

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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF PENNY BLACK MEDIA; © 2017 WARNER BROS. ENT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED; ©2017 KISEKI: SOBITO OF THAT DAY FILM PARTNERS; COURTESY OF EMPHASIS VIDEO ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED; © 2016 PROTAGONIST PICTURES; ©2017 “A LOVING HUSBAND” FILM PARTNERS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Marjorie Prime

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Mean Dreams

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Megan Leavey

Director: Michael Almereyda Cast: Jon Hamm, Geena Davis, Lois Smith, Tim Robbins

Director: Nathan Morlando Cast: Bill Paxton, Sophie Nélisse, Josh Wiggins, Colm Feore

Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite Cast: Kate Mara, Tom Felton, Edie Falco, Ramon Rodriguez, Common

A service that provides holographic recreations of deceased loved ones allows a man to come face-to-face with the younger version of his late father-in-law.

In this tense and electrifying coming-of-age drama, a 15-year-old boy steals a bag of drug money and runs away with the girl he loves while her violent and corrupt cop father hunts them down, embarking on a journey that will change their lives forever.

Based on the true-life story of a young marine corporal whose unique discipline and bond with her military combat dog saved many lives during their deployment in Iraq.

DISTRIBUTOR: SKEYE CONTACT: ISABELLE BÉGIN

DISTRIBUTOR: PARAMOUNT PICTURES CONTACT: JOAN FILIPPINI

DISTRIBUTOR: ENTERTAINMENT IN MOTION CONTACT: LYNDA HARRISS

* EXCLUDING US AND CANADA

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF SKEYE; © MISTERSMITH; © 2017 BLEECKER STREET; COURTESY OF SKEYE; © 2017 TIMELESS FILMS

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The Midwife (Sage femme) w

Director: Martin Provost Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Catherine Frot Claire is a wonderfully gifted midwife, with a natural talent for delivering babies. Close to the end of her career, she starts to question her skills amidst the more efficiency-driven methods of modern hospitals. One day, she receives a phone call from the mistress of her deceased father – 30 years after having disappeared without a trace.

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Monster Family

Director: Holger Tappe Cast: Emily Watson, Jason Isaacs, Nick Frost, Jessica Brown Findlay, Celia Imrie, Catherine Tate When the Wishbone family is cursed by an evil witch and transformed into their own monstrous party costumes, they must pull together to battle real-life beasts, reverse the curse and prove that even a vampire, a mummy, a werewolf and Frankenstein’s monster can eventually form one big happy family.

DISTRIBUTOR: JAGUAR DISTRIBUTION CORP. CONTACT: FRANCE CAPOR

DISTRIBUTOR: SKEYE CONTACT: ISABELLE BÉGIN

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The Mummy

Director: Alex Kurtzman Cast: Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis Thousands of years ago, a princess whose destiny was unjustly taken from her was mummified and entombed deep beneath the desert. She awakens in the contemporary world, bringing with her a malevolent grudge that has grown over millennia and terrors that will defy all of humanity.

DISTRIBUTOR: NBCUNIVERSAL CONTACT: CYNTHIA KLAR

* EXCLUDING US, GERMANY, AUSTRIA AND SWITZERLAND

* EXCLUDING FRANCE

DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS CODES

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N: NORTH AMERICA

I: OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA

W: WORLDWIDE

volume 7, edition 3

119

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Obit

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My Cousin Rachel

Director: Roger Michell Cast: Rachel Weisz, Sam Claflin, Holliday Grainger, Iain Glen

A dark romance, My Cousin Rachel tells the story of a young Englishman who plots revenge against his mysterious, beautiful cousin, believing that she murdered his guardian. But his feelings become complicated as he finds himself falling under the beguiling spell of her charms.

DISTRIBUTOR: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX CONTACT: JULIAN LEVIN

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Paris Can Wait

Director: Eleanor Coppola Cast: Diane Lane, Alec Baldwin, Arnaud Viard A lonely Hollywood producer’s wife embarks on an impromptu, adventurous road trip through France with a travel companion who helps to reawaken her senses and lust for life.

DISTRIBUTOR: CINESKY PICTURES CONTACT: MARK HORTON * EXCLUDING NORTH AMERICA AND FRANCE

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales w

Directors: Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg Cast: Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Brenton Thwaites, Geoffrey Rush Anti-hero Jack Sparrow finds the winds of illfortune blowing strongly his way when deadly ghost sailors, led by the terrifying Captain Salazar, escape from the Devil’s Triangle bent on killing every pirate at sea – notably Jack.

DISTRIBUTOR: DISNEY STUDIOS NON-THEATRICAL CONTACT: MARTIN SANSING

DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS CODES

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I: OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA

Editorial obituary writers deposit the details of extraordinary lives into cultural memories. This is the first documentary to explore the world of these remarkable writers and their subjects, focusing on a small team at the New York Times.

The film poses essential questions about life, memory and the inevitable passage of time.

DISTRIBUTOR: TERRY STEINER INTERNATIONAL CONTACT: NADJA RUTKOWSKI

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Pop Aye

Director: Kirsten Tan Cast: Bong, Thaneth Warakulnukroh, Penpak Sirikul, Chaiwat Khumdee, Yukontorn Sukkijja, Narong Pongpab On a chance encounter, a disenchanted architect bumps into his long-lost elephant on the streets of Bangkok. Excited, he takes his elephant on a journey across Thailand in search of the farm where they grew up together.

DISTRIBUTOR: ENCORE INFLIGHT LIMITED CONTACT: EDWIN CHEUNG * EXCLUDING NORTH AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA

W: WORLDWIDE

Airline Passenger Experience Association

PHOTOS: © 2017 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED; BEN WOLF; COURTESY OF CINESKY PICTURES; © 2017 DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC.; © GIRAFFE PICTURES PTE LTD

Director: Vanessa Gould Cast: Bruce Weber, William McDonald, Margalit Fox

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Power Rangers

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The Prison

Director: Dean Israelite Cast: Elizabeth Banks, Bryan Cranston, Bill Hader, Becky Gomez, Naomi Scott

Director: Na Hyun Cast: Han Suk-kyu, Kim Rae-won, Jung Woong-in

Five ordinary teenagers must team up to become something extraordinary in order to save the world from being obliterated by an alien threat.

Yu-gon, a former police inspector, is sentenced to prison after being involved in a hit-and-run, placing him among inmates that he himself put behind bars. He discovers that the penitentiary is not controlled by the wardens or the guards but by Ik-ho, a dangerous criminal who heads a gang operating inside the prison walls.

DISTRIBUTOR: ENTERTAINMENT IN MOTION CONTACT: LYNDA HARRISS

DISTRIBUTOR: EMPHASIS VIDEO ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED CONTACT: GRACE LAU

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Return to Montauk w

Director: Volker Schlöndorff Cast: Stellan Skarsgard, Nina Hoss, Susanne Wolff, Niels Arestrup Famous writer Max Zorn is in New York to promote a novel about an intense but failed love affair. While in town he looks up Rebecca, the inspiration for his novel. After initially refusing to see him, they take a short trip to Montauk, where treasured memories of time spent in this coastal town are reconsidered.

DISTRIBUTOR: SKYLINE CONTACT: RICHARD BARSBY/LORRAINE LEECH

* EXCLUDING KOREA

* EXCLUDING AUSTRALASIA, CANADA, FRANCE, GERMANY, US, UK AND EIRE

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Rock Dog

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Rough Night

Director: Ash Brannon Cast: J.K. Simmons, Luke Wilson, Eddie Izzard, Matt Dillon, Sam Elliott, Kenan Thompson

Director: Lucia Aniello Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer, Zoë Kravitz, Paul W. Downs

This film illustrates how any dog from any origin can become a rock star. Bodi, a Tibetan Mastiff, was born with one expectation: to protect the sheep in his homeland. However, when he discovers Angus, the cool-cat rock star, Bodi realizes that his true dream is to move to the city and become a musician.

In this edgy R-rated comedy, five best friends from college reunite 10 years later for a wild bachelorette weekend in Miami. Their hard partying takes a hilariously dark turn when they accidentally kill a male stripper. Amidst the craziness of trying to cover it up, they’re ultimately brought together when it matters most.

DISTRIBUTOR: PENNY BLACK MEDIA CONTACT: CATHIE TROTTA

DISTRIBUTOR: SONY PICTURES RELEASING CONTACT: RANA MATTHES

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Sarkar 3

Director: Ram Gopal Varma Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Yami Gautam, Jackie Shroff The third film in Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar trilogy chronicles the exploits of a powerful political figure.

DISTRIBUTOR: EROS INTERNATIONAL MEDIA LTD CONTACT: PRASHANT GAONKAR

* EXCLUDING US AND CHINA (PRC) AND ITS TERRITORIES

DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS CODES

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I: OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA

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PHOTOS: ©LIONS GATE ENTERTAINMENT INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED; COURTESY OF EMPHASIS VIDEO ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED; COURTESY OF SKYLINE; COURTESY OF PENNY BLACK MEDIA; ©2017 CTMG. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED; COURTESY OF EROS INTERNATIONAL MEDIA LTD

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apex experience

Sisterhood

Fifteen years since her departure to Taiwan, Sei is forced to confront her emotional past when she receives news that her former best friend has passed away in Macau. Now a heavydrinking innkeeper, Sei makes the journey home, and in the process pieces together the details of her past.

DISTRIBUTOR: EMPHASIS VIDEO ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED CONTACT: GRACE LAU * EXCLUDING CHINA

Sophie and the Rising Sun

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Director: Maggie Greenwald Cast: Julianne Nicholson, Takashi Yamaguchi, Margo Martindale

Director: Jon Watts Cast: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Zendaya, Jon Favreau, Donald Glover, Tyne Daly

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Director: Tracy Choi Lan-Sin Cast: Gigi Leung, Fish Liew, Jennifer Yu

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As World War II rages in Europe, a wounded Asian stranger, Mr. Ohta, appears in a fishing village in South Carolina under mysterious circumstances. Sophie, a local, quickly becomes transfixed by Mr. Ohta and a friendship born of their mutual love of art blossoms into a dramatic story of interracial courtship.

DISTRIBUTOR: TERRY STEINER INTERNATIONAL CONTACT: NADJA RUTKOWSKI * EXCLUDING US AND CANADA

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A young Peter Parker begins to navigate his newfound identity as a web-slinging superhero.

Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home and tries to fall back into his normal daily routine. But when a new villain emerges, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.

DISTRIBUTOR: SONY PICTURES RELEASING CONTACT: RANA MATTHES

A Thousand Things I Would Do for You w

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Step

Director: Amada Lipitz

Step documents the senior year of a girls’ high school step dance team against the background of inner-city Baltimore. As each member tries to become the first in their families to attend college, the girls strive to make their dancing a success against the backdrop of social unrest in the troubled city.

DISTRIBUTOR: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX CONTACT: JULIAN LEVIN

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I: OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA

Director: Dídac Cervera Cast: Peter Vives, Iris Lezcano, Peyu, Carmen Barrios Dani is given a Rolex as a gift by his girlfriend Monica, but when Dani loses the watch, Monica decides to leave him. Heartbroken, Dani turns to his friend, an amateur psychologist, who advises him to find the watch to get Monica back. Dani sets off in search of the watch but is drawn into the petty criminal underworld.

DISTRIBUTOR: SKYLINE CONTACT: RICHARD BARSBY/LORRAINE LEECH

W: WORLDWIDE

Airline Passenger Experience Association

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF EMPHASIS VIDEO ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED; JACKSON LEE DAVIS; ©2017 CTMG. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SPIDER-MAN AND ALL RELATED CHARACTER NAMES AND THEIR DISTINCTIVE LIKENESSES: ™ & © 2017 MARVEL. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED; © 2017 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED; COURTESY OF SKYLINE

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The Tribes of Palos Verdes i

PHOTOS: © 2017 PARAMOUNT PICTURES; COURTESY OF CINESKY PICTURES; COURTESY OF CINESKY PICTURES; © 2016 GRANDPA PRODUCTIONS LTD.; © 2017 WARNER BROS. ENT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Directors: Brendan Malloy, Emmett Malloy Cast: Jennifer Garner, Maika Monroe, Alexander Neustaedter

Transformers: The Last Knight w

Director: Michael Bay Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel, Isabel Moner, Anthony Hopkins, Peter Cullen

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The Trip to Spain

Director: Michael Winterbottom Cast: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon This much-anticipated follow-up to The Trip to Italy finds the same two hilarious guys wisecracking, doing impersonations and dining at various luxe restaurants on a scenic road trip around Spain.

DISTRIBUTOR: CINESKY PICTURES CONTACT: MARK HORTON

Humans are at war with the Transformers, and Optimus Prime is gone. The key to saving the future lies buried in the secrets of the past and the hidden history of Transformers on Earth.

DISTRIBUTOR: PARAMOUNT PICTURES CONTACT: JOAN FILIPPINI

DISTRIBUTOR: CINESKY PICTURES CONTACT: MARK HORTON

Undercover Grandpa w

Director: Erik Canuel Cast: James Caan, Jessica Walter, Louis Gossett Jr. Jake has finally scored a date with Angie, but has forgotten that his grandpa is coming over that night and it’s his turn to drive him home. On the drive back, the duo discovers that Angie has been kidnapped. In an effort to rescue Angie, Grandpa reenlists his old unit for one last mission.

DISTRIBUTOR: TERRY STEINER INTERNATIONAL CONTACT: NADJA RUTKOWSKI

DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS CODES

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Two teenagers with a difficult family life move to an affluent seaside community in Los Angeles.

Their mother battles emotional issues and their father is a surgeon to the stars. Finding her joy in sport, young Medina attempts to surf her way to happiness.

N: NORTH AMERICA

I: OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA

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Unforgettable

Director: Denise DiNovi Cast: Katherine Heigl, Rosario Dawson, Geoff Stults, Cheryl Ladd, Sara Burns, Whitney Cummings Tessa is barely coping with the end of her marriage when her ex-husband becomes engaged to Julia. Trying to settle into her new role as a wife and a stepmother, Julia believes she has finally met the man of her dreams. But Tessa will stop at nothing to turn Julia’s dream into her ultimate nightmare.

DISTRIBUTOR: WARNER BROS. CONTACT: JEFF CRAWFORD

W: WORLDWIDE

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125

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The Village of No Return Director: Chen Yu-hsun Cast: Shu Qi, Wang Qianyuan, Chang Hsiao-chuan, Lin Mei-hsiu, Yo Yang, Eric Tsang

Venise sous la neige (Snow in Venice) w

Director: Elliott Covrigaru Cast: Elodie Fontan, Olivier Sitruk, Juliette Arnaud, Arthur Jugnot

Christophe, a failing playwright, and his leading actress and partner, Patricia, get invited for a weekend in the country by a former classmate who is preparing to marry his naive girlfriend.

During dinner, fed up with Christophe’s attitude, Patricia pretends to be an immigrant from a made-up country.

DISTRIBUTOR: O’ BRIEN INTERNATIONAL CONTACT: JACQUELINE BRIENS * EXCLUDING FRANCE

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Wakefield

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DISTRIBUTOR: ENCORE INFLIGHT LIMITED CONTACT: EDWIN CHEUNG * EXCLUDING MAINLAND CHINA

The Wall

The Wizard of Lies w

Director: Robin Swicord Cast: Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Garner, Beverly D’Angelo

Director: Doug Liman Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, John Cena, Spencer Thomas

A high-powered New York lawyer checks out of his own life, only to spy on the family he abandoned. From the garage attic home he secretly inhabits, he watches his wife and daughters adjust to life without him much faster than he expected.

When two soldiers are pinned down by an Iraqi sniper, with nothing but a crumbling wall between them, their fight becomes as much a battle of will and wits as it is of lethally accurate marksmanship.

DISTRIBUTOR: CINESKY PICTURES CONTACT: MARK HORTON

It is an unusual day for the remote and isolated Desire Village: A mysterious Taoist priest brings magical equipment that can erase one’s memory. Since then, all the villagers have forgotten their pasts, living “happily ever after,” while a dangerous plot behind their backs is just about to be unveiled.

DISTRIBUTOR: TERRY STEINER INTERNATIONAL CONTACT: NADJA RUTKOWSKI

Director: Barry Levinson Cast: Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Alessandro Nivola, Nathan Darrow, Kristen Connolly, Lily Rabe Wall Street financier Bernie Madoff’s downfall in December 2008 for defrauding investors of more than $65 billion is the most infamous Ponzi scheme in US history, which ultimately catapulted his family into a harsh and unrelenting spotlight.

DISTRIBUTOR: HBO CONTACT: KALLIOPE DIAKOS

DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS CODES

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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF O’BRIEN INTERNATIONAL; © 1 PRODUCTION FILM CO.; COURTESY OF CINESKY PICTURES; DAVID JAMES, COURTESY OF AMAZON STUDIOS AND ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS; COURTESY OF HBO

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Imagination takes flight.

COMING SOON A THOUSAND THINGS I WOULD DO FOR YOU AUG 2017 IRIS

LEZCANO

PETER

VIVES

A Thousand Things I Would Do For You

(Mil Coses Que Faria Per Tu) with PEYU and CARMEN BARRIOS

Catalan/Castilian Spanish In Theatres June 2017

A film by DíDAC CERVERA

How far would you go to win back your love?

RETURN TO MONTAUK SEP 2017

STELLAN SKARSGARD NINA HOSS SUSANNE WOLFF

RETURN TO MONTAUK A FILM BY

VOLKER SCHLÖNDORFF

ISI LABORDE BRONAGH GALLAGHER

WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF

NIELS ARESTRUP

ENGLISH IN THEATRES JUN 2017

“A twilight-of-love drama” Variety SKYLINE IFE www.skyline-ife.com +44 1449 711011 RICHARD BARSBY richard.barsby@skyline-ife.com LORRAINE LEECH lorraine.leech@skyline-ife.com DENA BLAKEMAN dena.blakeman@skyline-ife.com

Available now • • • • •

7 x 50’

• • • • •

Please visit the BBC Worldwide stand #719 at the Apex Expo 2017 in Long Beach

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2017-05-04 11:39 AM

The spirit of competition Let your passengers discover the interesting games, contests and sports celebrated around the world with Need to Compete. It’s just one of the many fascinating documentaries that DW Transtel has to offer.

Deutsche Welle | 53110 Bonn | Germany ife @ dw.com

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Throwback

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Fairey Tale

by Howard Slutsken

The history of aviation is littered with aircraft concepts and prototypes that promised to bring point-to-point passenger services to the traveling public. The idea of replacing massive and remote airports with rooftop or downtown landing pads was, to say the least, inviting.

The 1950s were a time of enthusiastic aerospace development and innovation, and one odd-looking aircraft of the era was Fairey Aviation Company’s Rotodyne. It was designed to meet a short-haul vertical-lift requirement of British European Airways (BEA), an ancestor of today’s British Airways.

The Rotodyne was a combination of airplane, helicopter and autogyro, and the prototype first flew in 1957. It had wings, turboprop engines and a tip jet-powered main rotor, all surrounding a cabin with seating for 40 passengers.

To become airborne, the Rotodyne’s main rotor was spun up using its deafening, 130

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fuel-driven tip jets. After taking off like a helicopter, the aircraft transitioned to forward flight as power was increased to its wing-mounted turboprops. At that point, the tip jets were shut down, leaving the main rotor to spin freely, providing lift in autogyro mode. To land, the process was reversed, with the tip jets restarting to ensure that the rotor was spinning until touchdown.

While there was interest from airlines and military forces, the Rotodyne was canceled in 1962 by the British government, which cited limited sales and high development costs. By then, the prototype had flown 455 times and safely carried more than 800 passengers.

Canada’s Okanagan Helicopters had placed one of the few orders for the Rotodyne, intending to fly it between Vancouver, British Columbia, and the province’s capital, Victoria, located 60 miles southwest, on Vancouver Island.

With the cancellation of the Rotodyne, it wasn’t until 1986 that scheduled helicopter service started between the two cities. That year, Helijet International began flights using helicopters, and it continues to be one of only a handful of helicopter airlines providing scheduled flights, worldwide. Helijet was recently recognized by Sikorsky for 30 years of safe operations of S-76 aircraft.

What if the Rotodyne had been given the chance to evolve from its experimental prototype – could it have been a success?

“Although I truly can’t offer a qualified answer without knowing the public’s perception or the economics of the Rotodyne,” says Danny Sitnam, Helijet’s president and CEO, “my intuition is that it was ahead of its time, and that the benefits of its technology were not foreseen.”

If you are an APEX member who is interested in contributing to the Throwback page, please submit your story ideas to editor@apex.aero.

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A brief history of the Fairey Rotodyne: from its impact on urban travel to its brush with commercial aviation.

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