Facebook of the Sky: Airbus Tests Program to Track Everything You Do During Flights

View of an Airbus A350 during the XIX Air and Space Fair (FIDAE) in Santiago on March 28,
MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty

Airbus is reportedly testing a new digital platform on its A350-900 test plane which would monitor every passenger action, from chosen meal preferences to in-flight purchases and even bathroom habits.

Business Insider reports that the aviation giant Airbus announced this week that it has started in-flight trials of its newest cabin technology which will connect passengers and crew to different elements of the plane such as seats, cargo, and bathrooms. Airbus unveiled its plans for its Connected Experience at the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) Expo last year.

The platform links real-time information generated from cabin components such as meal trolleys and overhead bins to passengers and crew members on the flight in an effort to create a more personalized experience. Of course, all of this information is digitally traceable and just another example of modern companies collecting mass amounts of personal data from its customers.

Airbus stated that the data collected from the platform will be uploaded to the “Skywise” cloud service, an open data platform developed by Airbus. The firm claims that the platform provides significant benefits to flight crews and will allow them to access passenger information such as meal and seat preferences more easily. Airbus claims that this will provide a more personalized travel experience for passengers while airlines will be able to utilize cabin equipment trends to perform “predictive maintenance” on the most used facilities on the plane.

Ingo Wuggetzer, Airbus’s vice president of cabin marketing, said at the aviation trade show in Los Angeles this week that the technology could help flight crew to determine if a passenger in the lavatory may need assistance. The firm plans to roll out the technology on A321 planes in 2021, and its larger A350 series in 2023. Wuggetzer commented on the new system stating: “It’s not a concept, it’s not a dream: It’s reality.”

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.