AvFinity

Xerox Agreement with AvFinity Helps Airlines Benefit from the Cloud

Technology advancements often mean communication formats and protocols suddenly become incompatible with even longtime communications partners.

So when considering more efficient technology options, the airline IT executive’s first internal question usually is:  How will my airline still be able to transmit all the vital data necessary to keep our aircraft flying?

Xerox (NYSE: XRX) business cloud services are solving this problem by helping airlines share critical information, such as flight plans and passenger details, with aviation agencies and partners domestically and internationally. It achieves this solution by blending its cloud capabilities with the aviation data expertise of AvFinity.  The combination of Xerox and AvFinity allows disparate communications systems to work seamlessly.                      

Built on Xerox’s on-demand cloud infrastructure (IaaS) and AvFinity’s patent-pending software (SaaS) known as AIRS™, the solution seamlessly shares important data and key transmissions from airlines to other carriers.  It does the same seamless communication with vital flight authorities, such as the Federal Aviation Administration, the Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

For airlines, this means critical flight information arrives without interruption at its destination and meets each receiving party's format and protocol requirements. 

“There is no room for error in ensuring safety in the skies,” said Ken Stephens, senior vice president of cloud services, Xerox. “Airlines can now leapfrog to the cloud to expedite their communications and do so at costs much lower than maintaining existing mainframe systems.”

Airlines have long relied on legacy communications systems to transmit information.  Yet the skies are projected to become busier as mainstream, low cost and regional carriers all increase in numbers.   To manage that growth, the aviation industry as a whole desires to upgrade the way key information is shared, said Stephens.    

The Xerox and AvFinity agreement facilitates multiple flight-critical services and connects an airline with flight authorities that are continuously updating flight information such as weather and airport conditions.

“Now airlines can draw on the expertise of Xerox and AvFinity to provide seamless transmission of flight-critical communication,” said Doug Perkins, chief executive officer, AvFinity. “Airlines can transition from legacy systems that cost thousands annually to continually patch, and move to lower cost, secure cloud services backed by data communications experts.”