How Qantas' free, fast Wi-Fi might ease turbulence

Qantas is gearing up for the rollout of free in-flight Wi-Fi on about 100 domestic aircraft, under a partnership with global broadband services provider ViaSat that will tap into the NBN network. The new service will feature speeds up to 10 times faster than conventional on-board wi-fi, meaning you can not only stream movies, TV shows, the latest news bulletins and live sports on domestic flights via the internet, but the Qantas Flight Operations and Engineering teams are looking at how they can use in-flight connectivity to help with turbulence, maintenance, medical emergencies and connections. In-flight trials are expected to begin with a single Qantas Boeing 737 aircraft in late 2016, retrofitted with equipment to enable high-speed Wi-Fi. A full roll-out across Qantas Domestic's fleet of A330s and B737s is planned from early 2017, with the aircraft to be fitted with modems and the advanced antenna that receives the satellite signal. But how can Wi-Fi help with turbulence? At the moment, pilots download the latest weather maps on their iPads just before takeoff. They also have on-board radar to help them track storms as well as getting any major updates via radio. Having internet in the cockpit takes this to the next level. Pilots would be able to stream richer information on real-time weather conditions expected along the flight path — using this to dodge areas of turbulence and make better use of tailwinds to reduce flying time.<br/>