Frontier Airlines is adding the AFIRS system from FLYHT to its growing fleet of A320neo aircraft. (Frontier Airlines)
Frontier Airlines is adding FLYHT’s Automated Flight Information Reporting System (AFIRS) to the Airbus A320 and A321 that it currently has on order, a move that will allow the Denver, Colorado-based low-cost carrier to use both of those aircraft types on routes that fly over water.
The addition of AFIRS to its A320neo aircraft comes for Frontier following the carrier’s recent adoption of the Skywise health monitoring technology for the same fleet. Frontier currently has 112 aircraft that are operational. Of their 234 new aircraft on order, 76 are A320neo aircraft and 158 are A321neo aircraft. Eighteen of the A320neo aircraft include conversion rights to A321XLR aircraft.
FLYHT has confirmed that the initial order received from Frontier is valued at $680,000.
Ben Dwyer, director of flight operations standards and quality assurance at Frontier, said the airline selected FLYHT “after an extensive search of all available solutions in the marketplace.”
“Frontier’s partnership with FLYHT is another key step in our effort to reduce our carbon footprint by decreasing fuel consumption and further our position as America’s Greenest Airline. The real-time aircraft data that comes from FLYHT’s AFIRS family of products will also enhance communications with our flight crews as well as the customer experience by reducing flying time,” Dwyer said.
The AFIRS 228 system is an Iridium-based satellite communications device that features a built-in quick access recorder, allowing it to both enable Iridium voice and data services while also providing aircraft health monitoring and ACARS over Iridium among other capabilities. FLYHT provides two different versions of the AFIRS 228, including a basic 228B version and a more advanced 228S version capable of supporting ACARS over Iridium.
Frontier’s selection of AFIRS comes following the announcement by FLYHT that it was also selected as factory-installed equipment for the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd.’s (COMAC) C919 to provide communications during the cold weather certification campaign the aircraft is currently undergoing in Canada.
“The addition of Frontier, a well-regarded airline, to our family of customers expands our client roster to more than 85 airlines globally. The operations at Frontier are an area in which we have a lot of experience, and the entrepreneurial nature of Frontier fits well with FLYHT’s agile problem-solving culture for both airborne hardware and day of operations intelligence systems,” Derek Taylor, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at FLYHT, said in a statement. “We look forward to expanding our service offerings with Frontier and are thrilled to have a customer in the hometown of our U.S. office in Littleton, Colorado.”