IFC takes center stage on day one of APEX TECH
Last updated: Tuesday, May 20, 6:04 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. Find updates below, with all timings in local time.
APEX Commercial Director Steve O'Connor (left) and Board Member Jonas von Kruechten on stage at APEX TECH 2025 on Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Attendees are gathering in Los Angeles, California, USA this week for the annual APEX TECH conference. The sessions kicked off this morning at the Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel following an introduction from APEX Commercial Director Steve O'Connor and Board Member Jonas von Kruechten.
"On behalf of APEX, welcome to APEX TECH 2025. It is you that makes fantastic advancements in our industry, so thank you, and thank you to our sponsors. It is because of you that these events can become really successful, thank you so much," O'Connor said.
"We hope you embrace this event as a ground for collaboration, open discussion and exchange. I’m really excited to see new businesses here this year—a diverse group of businesses that reflect where this industry is going," said von Kruechten.
APEX Commercial Director Steve O'Connor introduces PAX Tech as official media partner for APEX TECH 2025
Alaska Air Group talks future of passenger experience
APEX GCEO Dr. Joe Leader took to the stage to moderate the keynote discussion, entitled Elevating the Journey: AI, Innovation & Guest Experience Across Alaska Air Group. Alaska Airlines' SVP Merchandising & Innovation Charu Jain and Managing Director of Guest Products Todd Traynor-Corey spoke about how Alaska Airlines Group is redefining the guest experience through its combined strength with Hawaiian Airlines.
"It is a transformational time—we are getting bigger, better and staying committed to innovation," explained Jain.
Traynor-Corey emphasized the airline’s evolving definition of “premium” as more than a label—it is about delivering a complete, elevated experience. He noted that while Alaska already offers key premium attributes such as award-winning F&B and the largest west coast network of any carrier, the real differentiator is the airline’s employees.
Left to right: APEX GCEO Dr. Joe Leader, Alaska Airlines' Managing Director of Guest Products Todd Traynor-Corey and SVP Merchandising & Innovation Charu Jain on stage during APEX TECH 2025
Looking ahead to global and international expansion, Traynor-Corey said the focus will be on developing guest-centric products tailored to the needs of specific routes rather than mimicking competitors. On the topic of IFE and connectivity, he acknowledged the merger with Hawaiian Airlines is still in early stages following its September close. While Alaska provides a consistent experience today, Hawaiian has been on a different trajectory, launching Starlink and adding new and refurbished aircraft. Regardless of brand, the goal is to unify the experience with seamless connectivity. Although neither brand (Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines) currently offers seatback screens on narrow-body aircraft, long-haul flights will prioritize enhanced IFE. He also stressed the importance of clear passenger communication to manage expectations and ensure a cohesive experience across both brands.
"We are moving toward a common technology platform, one operating carrier and two brands. It is really hard, quite frankly, but we are deeply committed to delivering both brand promises. We achieve that by listening and putting together the right forums to learn more," Traynor-Corey said.
Jain explained that the airline remains focused on creating a seamless, personalized guest experience—one that anticipates passenger needs before they are even expressed and actively addresses pain points. Looking ahead to 2030, she said the vision goes beyond the flight itself, aiming to integrate the entire journey from start to finish into a cohesive, premium experience that travelers can rely on at every stage of the trip.
Traynor-Corey added, “Quite simply, it is about making the right decision for the guest and putting them first. It is easy to follow what other airlines are doing or adopt technology just because it is trendy, but our focus is on truly enhancing the guest experience. As we build an intercontinental hub out of Seattle and look toward 2030, we will have lie-flat seats, lounges—everything guests need to feel taken care of. At the same time, employees will be equipped with the right tools and AI-driven technologies to make operations more efficient, which will lead to better connections and ultimately drive us forward.”
Panelists discuss key considerations in selecting a next-gen IFC solution in the current market landscape at APEX TECH 2025
Panelists analyze the current market landscape
Next up, Runway Girl's Mary Kirby moderated the session IFC revolution: Key considerations in selecting a next-gen IFC solution in the current market landscape, sponsored by iDirect. Panelists for the session were iDirect's Chris Insall, Bill Milroy of ThinKom, Kenneth McQuillan from JetBlue and Quvia's Mike Moeller.
The discussion focused on the continued demand for seamless IFC and the critical decisions that airlines face in selecting solutions that enhance the passenger experience, operational efficiency and revenue opportunities.
The panel explored the key considerations involved in evaluating and implementing advanced IFC technologies in today’s dynamic aviation market. Industry experts discussed emerging trends in connectivity, evolving network capabilities, regulatory hurdles, and the strategic partnerships driving innovation. Panelists provided valuable insights into how airlines can navigate the complexities of IFC selection and position themselves to stay competitive in an increasingly connected travel landscape.
“We are not the only player in the multi-orbit space, but we really want to ease the angst airlines feel about getting locked into a single inflight connectivity provider,” said Milroy, Chairman and CTO of ThinKom. ThinKom's solutions are non-proprietary and designed for flexibility—supporting GEO, MEO and LEO constellations, offering lower latency and balanced capability. The company is "walking the talk" when it comes to enabling adaptability, he says. If an airline makes a decision today and later needs to pivot due to reliability or performance issues, it can.
"The worst IFC experience is when it does not work at all, so future-proofing is key. Once hardware is installed on an aircraft, no one wants to rip it out and start over. Our mission is to make sure they do not have to," he explains.
Panelists also addressed the geopolitical landscape, discussing Valour Consultancy's report that anticipates Starlink will acquire a 39 percent market share (more than 7,000 aircraft) of the commercial aviation market by 2034.
"It can be very polarizing and it is something that airlines have to make a decision about, some hard choices," said JetBlue's McQuillan.
Panelists agreed that some passengers will boycott airlines that deploy Starlink while other just will not, and some airlines may not promote where they are getting connectivity.
The Beyond pixels panel
From insights to interaction
After a coffee break sponsored by West Entertainment, attendees had the opportunity to either sit in on the Beyond pixels: The future of 4K media content delivery, or participate in the first workshop of the day, entitled IFC revolution—Selecting a next-gen IFC solution (sponsored by SES).
The morning also brought the opportunity for speed networking—a 30 second interaction with every attendee, followed by lunch, also sponsored by West Entertainment.
APEX's Jonas von Kruechten kicked off the afternoon sessions with Personalizing the inflight experience: Future-proofing touchpoints with data-driven loyalty and seamless journey integration, sponsored by Reaktor. Panelists included Omnevo's Michael Raasch, Matthew Blay of Inadvia, Michael Holler of Reaktor, IAG Loyalty's Mark Cheyney, Axel Svensson of SAS, Spafax's Dimitrios Tsirangelos and Thales' Maneesha Bhate.
The panelists discussed how airlines are evolving into digital retailers and how the inflight environment must become a seamless, data-rich extension of the passenger journey. They explored ways to optimize inflight touchpoints using advanced personalization, first-party data strategies and integration with broader airline ecosystems. The conversation highlighted the role of connectivity, digital services and real-time data in boosting engagement, loyalty, ancillary revenue, and advertising.
There was a heavy focus on data during the panel entitled Personalizing the inflight experience: Future-proofing touchpoints with data-driven loyalty and seamless journey integration
The afternoon then launched into an update from the LMT Working Group and Accessible User Interface Working Group.
The LMT Working Group purpose:
- Recommend that Inflight Entertainment supply chains adopt approved LMT codes in all transactions where languages are specified.
- Identify resources to validate any LMT codes before use.
- Identify (or provide) dictionary resources to convert from LMT codes to legacy (Vendor Specific) ISO-639 variants
- Publish an ‘APEX minimum requirement’, defining support for 50 languages.
- Establish some convention to define the role of a language asset (avoiding any corruption/extension of LMT language code)
- Role definitions: Spoken Dialog, Audio Description, Subtitle, Caption etc.
- Publish a (non-binding) timeframe for the principal IFE partners to adopt LMT language codes.
The Accessible User Interface Working Group purpose:
- Provide a summary of existing and proposed legislation
- Provide an overview of the evolution of accessibility needs in IFEC
- Offer a preview of Safran’s open approach and designs
- Open the discussion for APEX involvement in accessible IFE interface standardization
Louis Poupard, Staff Product Manager at Safran, presented the company's accessible IFE design which is now available online for all airlines to use for free.
"It is an opportunity to give back. We are in a time where people with disabilities are telling us what we can improve, so we think there is an opportunity to listen and make real, meaningful change. We do not think this design is done, it will continue to evolve in the same way that art is never done," explained Louis Poupard, Staff Product Manager at Safran, adding that pooling data research would push the industry forward.
At the same time, attendees had the option to participate in the second workshop of the day, entitled Personalizing the Inflight Experience–Data-Driven Loyalty & Integration, sponsored by SES, with category sponsor Thales.
APEX GCEO Dr. Joe Leader (left) and Aaron Backström, SAS Scandinavian Airlines VP of Product & Loyalty
SAS leads the new passenger journey
Leader closed out the first day of APEX TECH 2025 with a discussion with Aaron Backström, SAS Scandinavian Airlines VP of Product & Loyalty.
In this keynote session, Backström shared how the airline is leading the way in inflight connectivity through its rollout of Starlink across the fleet. Backström shared that SAS expects to have around 50 percent of its fleet equipped with Starlink connectivity by mid-2026, with full fleet rollout completed in 2027. While there was some pushback when the airline announced Starlink as its provider, he says it blew over quickly.
"We evaluated the product and the customer experience—not the people and the politics behind it. The choice was clear for us," he explained.
Backström discussed how the high-speed, low-latency Wi-Fi is enabling a new level of digital experience onboard, allowing it to interact with passengers on a deeper level using AI, real-time data and predictive analytics to personalize the journey, incorporate inflight retailing enhance loyalty integration.
"We can help book taxis, we can learn what kind of traveller you are and make recommendations for things to do at the destination based on what other travelers have done," he said.
Backström offered a glimpse into the airline’s broader digital strategy and vision for 2030: To meet passenger demands and offer a distinctly Scandinavian experience for its passengers.
Day one of APEX TECH officially closed out with attendees gathering at the hotel pool for the networking reception, sponsored by Spafax.
Event sponsors
Sponsors for this year's APEX TECH include Panasonic as headline partner; SES, Open Orbit and West Entertainment as diamond sponsors; Spafax and Thales as gold sponsors; Anuvu as silver sponsor; as well as other event sponsors Above, Reaktor, Siden, Axinom and Safran. PAX Tech is proud to be the official media partner of APEX TECH 2025.
A snapshot of workshop one, IFC Revolution—Selecting a Next-Gen IFC Solution
