thales is a leading international electronics and systems ... · promise for the future in ife...

58 Third Quarter 2006 AVION

THE EARLY YEARSFour companies become one. The history of Thales goes back over a centuryago and its development has been based onmany mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures.Its origins began in the United States whenElihu Thomson, born in England, moved in1858 to Pennsylvania at age 5 and later becamean engineer. Early in his career, Thomsonteamed with his teacher, Edwin Houston, andformed a company called the Thomson-Houston Corporation that made electrical traction systems forstreet car transportation. It was then that the two entrepreneursfound themselves working with big league electrical equipmentmanufacturers like The Thomas Edison Company and GeneralElectric. Later, the three companies merged.

In 1890, Thomson wanted to expand internationally andwent to France at a time when electricity was a major innova-tion. He formed an agreement with French industrialists andpromoted electrical processes that were developed by Americancompanies. In 1893, Thomson merged his company into a biggerbusiness called Compagnie Française Thomson-Houston (CFTH),which then had controlling interest with companies that produced

power generation, telephones, radio commu-nications, televisions, lamps, and other householdappliances.

While CFTH was developing, two otherinnovators were building businesses. BenjaminHotchkiss was a well-known weapons supplierwho started a small automotive business in Franceand by 1902 began to produce cars. The otherinnovator, Edgard Brandt, was mobilized inWWI and discovered while in the trenches

that the French forces were poorly equipped. In 1915, Brandtdeveloped new, more powerful mortar weapons. Hotchkiss andBrandt merged operations years later so that they would be largeenough to compete on an international level.

In 1918, there was another company called CompagnieGénérale de Télégraphie San Fil (CSF), which promoted newmeans of communications. Between 1966 and 1968 all businessesabove recognized that they had common threads that addressedtwo markets: household appliances and professional electronics.They merged and became a French-based company called Thomson-CSF. Throughout the 1980s, Thomson-CSF pursued these marketson a national level and continued to diversify its product lines.

A Company with deep roots and promise for the future in IFE

Elihu Thomson

Vendor Member Profile

Thales is a leading international electronics and systemsgroup serving defense, aerospace, and security marketsworldwide. Thales employs 60,000 people in 50 countriesand generated revenues of $13 billion in 2005.

AVION Third Quarter 2006 59

continued on page 60

INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION AND PRIVATIZATION The focus is on both civil and military markets. In 1989, from the merger of three eerospace sub-divisions,SFEMA, CROUZET/EAS, and the Avionics Division ofThomson-CSF came another company called SextantAvionique. This was a joint venture between Aerospatiale andThomson-CSF, which in 1999 became 100% Thomson-CSF.This business produced a comprehensive line of cockpit instru-mentation, communication, and navigation technologies forairlines, cargo carriers, and helicopters. At the same time, thecompany pursued a very active M&A policy into the defenseelectronics business by teaming with other European compa-nies that produced products such as fire control systems andradars for air, land, and sea applications.

In 1996, privatization was a government focus in France andby 1998 a new foundation for Thomson-CFS emerged. Denis

Ranque was appointed Chairmanand participated in a new corpo-rate agreement that broughtcorporate shareholders together,including Aerospatiale, Alcatel,Dassault Industries, andThomson-CFS. From there, thecompany adopted a new multi-domestic strategy that embracedSouth Africa, Australia, S. Korea,Canada, Brazil, and the UnitedStates. In June 2000, Thomson-CSF acquired the British companyRacal Corporation for over $2

billion. This single business arrangement doubled the company’sworkforce and revenues in the UK and further expanded productlines covering cellular networks, defense, avionics, and surveil-lance technologies.

In December 2000, Thomson-CSF decided that it needed torebrand itself to reflect the philosophy and capabilities of the organ-ization and to separate from Thomson companies that focusedon household products. The name THALES (pronounced “Tallas”)was selected based on the Greek mathematician and philoso-pher in 585 BC who was credited with five math theorems andfirst to give a rational rather than mythological explanation of theuniverse. Today, Thales(the company) is known as the ThalesGroup—an innovative, worldwide electronics company that offerstechnological solutions for air, sea, and land applications.

THALES INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENTIt’s a new business with long-term strategic direction. Today, the Thales IFE business is part of the company’sAerospace Division which is led by Francois Quentin, SeniorVice President. The Division is a growing $3.1 billion operationthat invests 17% of its revenues into research and developmentand employs 12,900 people worldwide. It was FrancoisQuentin’s vision and commitment that enabled the continuedinvestment in IFE during the turbulent times from 2001–2004.It was challenging, but the result of his decisions are what madethe Thales IFE business what it is today—a business that hasgrown ten-fold.

In 1999, Thales expanded its presence in commercial aero-space and into the aircraft cabin through the acquisition of theIFE group from BE Aerospace.The acquisition fulfilled Thales’“nose to tail” market strategy forcommercial aircraft, supplyingtechnology for both the cockpitand cabin. It was a time whenaudio and video on demandsystems became the desired solu-tion for widebody aircraft,overhead video and distributedaudio was the standard for single-aisle aircraft, and satellite TVwas entering into the US region.The business was called theInflight Systems Group of Thales.

Through acquisition, the Inflight Systems Group had a longand distinguished history in IFE dating back to the 1960swhen, as part of EECO, it supplied to the industry some of thefirst PCUs and audio transducers. The small but innovative groupexpanded its product line with audio systems in the ’70s, and bythe early ’90s began to supply video systems. First came the dSeriesdistributed audio and video system, and then the mSeries, theworld’s first multi-media interactive on demand system for aircraft.In addition, the company produced cameras for aircraft cabins.

Denis RanqueChairman of Thales

Francois QuentinSenior Vice President

Aerospace Division of Thales

LandSeaAir

dSeries



In the mid-90s, the company formed a joint venture calledLiveTV with Harris Corporation and became the first to deploysatellite TV systems on a large scale. The LiveTV business waseventually sold as the business arrangement no longer fit intoThales’ long-term strategy.

In 1999, the company decided that it was time to developa new IFE system starting from a clean sheet of paper. Withtremendous growth and accept-ance of the Internet and therobust high performance ofEthernet technology, a tigerteam (code name Panther) waslaunched on a new IFE systemprogram that was to leveragemainstream technologies.

The team collectively hadmany years of IFE experience.Familiar names include Ken Brady,Dan Reed, and Brad Foreman.

The goal was to provide a single system that (1) offered enter-tainment, in-seat power and connectivity functionality (2) couldinstall retro-fit and line-fit across all aircraft models, and (3) wouldbe offerable by major aircraft manufactures.

In addition, the system needed to offer a whole newparadigm in IFE systems with these features:• A 20% reduction in system weight and power compared

to legacy IFE systems

• Low volume head-end and seat components• Scalable options so that an airline can install basic

to advanced IFE across a single aircraft • Internet-ready capability

THE INDUSTRY’S NEXT GENERATION IFE SYSTEM IS BORN

TopSeries – it’s not justanother IFE system. After three years of development,Thales introduced the TopSeries™system, a unique system designthat integrates broadband commu-nications, in-seat power, andentertainment into one platform.The baseline TopSeries systemoffering is a modular design thatallows airlines to select the right

IFE combination for their business. System levels of service areas follows:• i-1000 – High speed broadband communications

network for laptop connectivity• i-2000 – Overhead video and distributed audio • i-3000 – In-seat broadcast video and distributed audio• i-4000 – All digital video and audio on demand with a

100BaseT Ethernet network

LiveTVTM

Boeing twin aisleAirbus single aisle

Cameras

Dan ReedProduct Strategy

Ken BradyPrincipal Engineer

Brad ForemanProgram Management(now VP/GM for IFE)

A380 aircraft

Passenger control devices

THALES continued from page 59


In June 2002, Thales announced its offerability status for allexisting Airbus single- and twin-aisle aircraft platforms. And,in February 2004, a similar announcement was made for allexisting Boeing aircraft.

ADVANCED AIRCRAFT PLATFORMSBeyond existing aircraft types, Thales is committed toupcoming platforms, including the A380 and B787. For the A380, Airbus required a gigabit Ethernet network forgreater bandwidth. This resulted in a slight change to theTopSeries design, but most components remained the same toensure system commonality across an airline’s fleet. Thesystem is called the i-5000 system. In 2003, Thales created itslargest IFE test lab with a 555 seat configuration. In March2004, after required test demonstrations with Airbus, Thalesannounced that it received A380 offerability and today thesystem is flying on the OEM’s flight test aircraft, MSN002.The first airlines that will fly with the TopSeries system ontheir 380 aircraft are Air France, Malaysia Airlines, and EtihadAirways.

For the B787, Boeing required a wireless solution that connectsthe head-end digital servers and passenger seats. This requirementcalled for another slight change to the baseline TopSeries system leadingto the Thales wireless IFE system, the i-8000. In September 2005,Thales announced that Boeing selected the Thales system for the aircraft,and today test labs that replicate the aircraft are in development.

Though most system designs have been carefully planned, oneunplanned system came about as the result of a specific customerrequirement. In 2004, Air Canada and Thales evaluated the possi-bilities of installing an all-digital audio and video on demand systemon the airline’s regional jets. The importance of this was tofollow through on the airline’s objective: To ensure that all passen-gers, regardless of what aircraft they were on, receive the sameinflight entertainment experience. The challenge was to reduce thesize of the components at the seat due to extreme space restriction.

After many white board illustrations, head scratches, andtechnical discussions, the design team came up with a solution thateliminated the seatbox. This revolutionary IFE system, called thei-4500, is now flying on over 32 Air Canada regional jet aircraftat an exceptional system availability rate.

Thales A380 lab Royal Jordanian video and audio on demandentertainment on an Airbus single-aisle aircraft

Air Canada regional jet with full cabin IFE

On-Site Services brings spare passengercontrol units in for normal wear and tear

replacements.

Program Management gives a thumbs up afterinstallation at the Airbus facility.

Digital Media Services manages contentin preparation for customer deliveries.




INDUSTRY FIRST ACHIEVEMENTSThey are symbols of the company’s innovative spirit. In 2005, the Frost and Sullivan consulting firm selected theTopSeries system as the IFE product of choice for ProductDifferentiation and Innovation in the field of IFE andConnectivity. Through technical innovation, the Thales systemdesign has many patents, which represent breakthroughs intechnological IFE advancement that will help Thales betterserve airline operations and passengers.

Industry first achievements continue to grow in number. Forexample, the TopSeries system was thefirst system to:• Provide an integrated approach to

IFE, power, and connectivity• Line-fit install in-seat video

throughout a single-aisle aircraft • Install on an A380 aircraft• Announce Boeing selection for the

B787• Provide Internet Connexion by

Boeing connectivity and SatelliteTV at the in-seat display

For the passenger experience, theThales system is enabling airlines to do things that have neverbeen done before. In 2004, Middle East Airlines was the firstairline in IFE history to install distributed video and audiothroughout the cabin of an A320. In 2005, Royal Jordanian wasthe first airline to install audio and video on demand throughoutan A320. And in 2006, Air Canada was the first airline to installaudio and video on demand on regional jets.

TrainingShop maintenance

DEDICATED SERVICES FOR LIFEAirlines count on them.Having success on the system side of the business, Thales recog-nized that it had to balance out its offering by investing in resourcesand facilities dedicated to global services. In 2003, Thales formeda new digital media services business called TopEffects!, whichtoday provides airlines with a range of applications, GUI design,and content management services. In 2006, the group introducedto airline customers an industry-first Web service calledTopEffects.com. Through this Web service, airlines are provided

with the necessary tools to manage routinetasks such as modify their content offering,define the media metadata, and view andvalidate menu screens.

AEROSPACE SERVICESWORLDWIDE Leveraging Thales’ existing global serv-ice network, the Inflight Systems Groupmerged their maintenance and supportoperations into a Thales division called,Aerospace Services Worldwide (ASW).This worldwide, 1,200-person support

organization now offers shop repairs, training, meet and greetservices, and complete turnkey maintenance services. In addi-tion, a new 24-hour maintenance operation center is now openin Irvine, California. This technical center is capable of commu-nicating directly with both field operations and the actual IFEsystems during flight, providing early warning BITE and main-tenance information.

Engineers working on system tests take a moment to smile at the camera!




Main IFE office in California

THE ORGANIZATIONIt’s growing fast. The development of the business is the result of dedicated,hardworking people and expanding facilities. Between 2004and 2006, the Thales IFE business grew from 280 to over 800employees and moved into new buildings that more thandoubled facility space to 200,000 square feet. Charged with sat-isfying customer needs, the organization is building out a stronginfrastructure to meet airline demands for today and tomorrow.

Thales retains a people 1st human resource philosophy, acasual high tech work environment, and an open, flexibleattitude towards its customers. The organization’s priority is tomeet customer commitments, and its strength rests on fivekey values: (1) Focusing on the Customer, (2) Behaving asInnovators, (3) Sharing Knowledge (4) Performing throughteamwork and (5) Developing people.

THE FUTURE OUTLOOKIFE planted the seed.When you speak to the VP/GM of the Inflight Systems busi-ness, Brad Foreman, the plan is that Thales will continue to

widen its role in cabin systemsby positioning itself as a first-tier supplier—an “integrator”that brings together all ele-ments in the cabin (i.e., seats,galleys, lavatories, sidewalls,lighting, and IFE). The cata-lyst behind this direction ismarket demand for the cabinsolution to come togetherthrough a centralized organ-ization. Thales’ proven trackrecord shows that thecompany has successfullysupported both mission-critical and complex systemsfor defense and civil markets. The capability and experience isin place, and it is just a matter of time before the IFE industrywill look to Thales as a leader in cabin integration.

Brad Foreman, VP/GM, InflightSystems Group and Aerospace

Division, US Director


Contributing author of the

Thales Profile is Lori Kranz,

Vice President, Communica-

tions and a ten-year veteran of

Thales Avionics. Lori was born,

raised, and educated on the

east coast of the US. In 1982,

she graduated at the top of her

class with a degree in Market-

ing. Lori was employed by Sony

for 18 years and in 2000 joined

Thales. 2006 marks her 10th

year anniversary working in the

IFE industry. She is the VP of

Communications for the Thales

Aerospace Division in the US.

Lori is married and lives in

Newport Beach, California.

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