MRO providers are expecting big things from the Internet of Things, reaping the benefits of big data analytics.

With billions of connected devices across the world strengthening the business case for IoT, related startup companies are increasingly working with commercial aviation entities to drive home its benefits.

Gogo is poised to be one of the big Internet of Things players in connected aviation.

The growing number of sensors on engines and components generate unprecedented amounts of data that MRO teams must manage; new technologies can help put this data to work in real-time.

Aircraft interior completions and modification centers and component suppliers know the ins and outs of interiors. They offer these tips to aircraft operators upgrading the cabin.

In a flat market for new aircraft, the best place for avionics makers is to focus their resources on the aftermarket, and indeed that’s what we’re seeing — witness the panel upgrade competition between Sandel, Garmin, Universal, Avidyne and others. Prices for some avionics, such as transponders and thunderstorm detectors, have tumbled or risen only marginally, while cockpit voice recorders (CVRs) and flight data recorders (FDRs) are up dramatically.

I am a gear head — a mechanical guy; a dying breed. From age 15 I did all of my own tune-ups. And then one day I bought a car that had no distributor. My precious timing light and dwell meter were instantly buggy whips in a horseless world. And I was technologically back to square one. I felt helpless as my slow downward drift into cyber bewilderment began.

In the not-too-distant future, it will be possible to fly anywhere over the planet in an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast environment affording benefits equally to flight crews, operators and air traffic controllers.