Panasonic reimagines passenger experience through continuous innovation
Andy Masson unveils Converix at AIX 2025
A year after introducing the MAYA demo, PAX Tech met with Panasonic Avionics Corporation’s (PAC) Senior Vice President Product & Strategy, Andy Masson, at AIX 2025 to learn about the future of the market-disruptor Astrova Curve IFE screen in collaboration with Collins Aerospace and PAC’s introduction of Converix.
Last year’s AIX announcement from PAC was the unveiling of the MAYA Business Class concept, featuring the Astrova Curve 45-inch ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition OLED display with a headphone-less audio system. MAYA integrates Collins Aerospace and PAC’s respective design and technology knowledge to create a Business Class cabin experience that focuses on passenger immersion, accessibility and sustainability, designed to generate feedback on the future of the premium cabin.
“It represented where [Panasonic Avionics] and Collins believe that the future of premium travel is going,” Masson says. “MAYA is completely immersive.”
The MAYA demo featuring Astrova Curve at AIX 2024
He reveals that since unveiling MAYA for industry feedback, PAC has received enough data to commit to productizing the Astrova Curve aspect of MAYA, rolling out additional sizes. Masson calls premium suites like MAYA a differentiator in the market, noting that PAC currently has very close links with multiple potential customers for Astrova Curve.
Masson says the biggest challenge in bringing a curved IFE screen to market is that it is a paradigm shift. It represents a new approach from the traditional manufacturing model, where IFE suppliers created IFE and seat manufacturers produced seating, independently.
“In the past, this would largely be done separately and then brought together at the end,” he explains. “With Astrova curve, it actually works better to partner with an industrial designer upfront and bring it in much earlier in the process, because then you can have that wonderful integration of the curve with the seat furniture. You get a more immersive and engaged product at the back end.”
He emphasizes that this is one of the takeaways from the collaboration with Panasonic’s partners at Collins Aerospace.
“The earlier integration produces a much better outlay, so it is changing the way that the IFE company and the seating company work to a more collaborative approach,” Masson says.
Convergence of performance and technology
At AIX 2025, Panasonic unveiled Converix, an open and neutral application hosting platform for commercial aviation that provides a complete aircraft-wide solution for non-safety critical services. The platform supports all inflight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) integration, cabin and galley operations, lighting and other in-cabin applications. Airlines will also be able to monitor aircraft data, improve crew operations, manage cabin inventories and optimize aircraft maintenance.
PAX Tech Business Editor Robynne Trueman (left) with Panasonic's Senior Vice President Product & Strategy, Andy Masson at AIX 2025 with Converix
“It is a huge differential because it is all about giving control back to the airlines,” Masson tells PAX Tech.
The core concept of Converix is “convergence:” The integration of diverse technologies and performance capabilities into a unified solution.
“The IFE system is an application on Converix, hosted alongside any number of other applications an airline decides to load onto the platform,” he explains. “That really empowers the airline to build their own applications in an environment that is certified on an aircraft and then they can release apps, content software, games integration, airplane data gathering, all at their pace.”
Converix also boasts a storage system that enables enormous amounts of data to be measured in years rather than in megabytes. A single Converix box on a twin-aisle aircraft can support four years of 4K media or 106 years of standard definition content. In addition, its modular approach to processing power ensures perpetual support for new applications and games.
This modularity is a key aspect of Panasonic’s approach to crafting products that stand the test of time.
In addition to reimagining the passenger experience through its IFEC innovations, Masson says, “We want to reimagine the ownership experience and take cost out. We are doing that with Converix and another bunch of applications. We want to bring the whole value story together to increase ancillary revenue and increase passenger loyalty. We spend a lot of time talking to airlines and improving overall efficiency for the airlines, and we are on a success path at the moment.”
