Viasat has introduced a concept designed to change how in-flight connectivity performance is measured in business aviation, following insights from a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School report. The study, Redefining In-Flight Connectivity in Business Aviation: What Really Matters to Private Jet Passengers, found that performance has long been measured by peak network speed, which fails to reflect the experiences that matter most to passengers, such as joining calls or completing deals without interruption.

The report recommended focusing on quality of service (QoS) and elevating quality of experience (QoE) as the main measure of in-flight performance. “Peak network speeds have been the primary measure of business aviation in-flight connectivity performance for too long. However, a single, holistic QoE score analysing several key metrics provides a more sophisticated measurement, one that looks beyond what the network delivered to whether users accomplished their objectives without friction,” says Michael Schrage, research fellow at MIT Sloan School of Management and the report’s author.

Viasat built on these findings by introducing its iQe (In-flight quality of experience) concept for its premium JetXP broadband service. The system uses AI and analytics to deliver a single, real-time QoE score that captures the end-to-end experience of every passenger. “Our new iQe application provides the answer,” says Kai Tang, head of business aviation at Viasat. “This unique concept delivers direct visibility into JetXP’s connectivity performance for principals, flight crews and other stakeholders, incorporating all relevant network metrics and presenting the findings in a simple and easy-to-understand format.”