V endor M ember P rofile
A Company with deep roots and
promise for the future in IFE
Thales is a leading international electronics and systems
group serving defense, aerospace, and security markets
worldwide. Thales employs 60,000 people in 50 countries
and generated revenues of $13 billion in 2005.
THE EARLY YEARS
Four companies become one.
power generation, telephones, radio commuThe history of Thales goes back over a century
nications, televisions, lamps, and other household
ago and its development has been based on
appliances.
many mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures.
While CFTH was developing, two other
Its origins began in the United States when
innovators were building businesses. Benjamin
Elihu Thomson, born in England, moved in
Hotchkiss was a well-known weapons supplier
1858 to Pennsylvania at age 5 and later became
who started a small automotive business in France
an engineer. Early in his career, Thomson
and by 1902 began to produce cars. The other
teamed with his teacher, Edwin Houston, and
innovator, Edgard Brandt, was mobilized in
Elihu Thomson
formed a company called the ThomsonWWI and discovered while in the trenches
Houston Corporation that made electrical traction systems for
that the French forces were poorly equipped. In 1915, Brandt
street car transportation. It was then that the two entrepreneurs
developed new, more powerful mortar weapons. Hotchkiss and
found themselves working with big league electrical equipment
Brandt merged operations years later so that they would be large
manufacturers like The Thomas Edison Company and General
enough to compete on an international level.
Electric. Later, the three companies merged.
In 1918, there was another company called Compagnie
In 1890, Thomson wanted to expand internationally and
Générale de Télégraphie San Fil (CSF), which promoted new
went to France at a time when electricity was a major innovameans of communications. Between 1966 and 1968 all businesses
tion. He formed an agreement with French industrialists and
above recognized that they had common threads that addressed
promoted electrical processes that were developed by American
two markets: household appliances and professional electronics.
companies. In 1893, Thomson merged his company into a bigger
They merged and became a French-based company called Thomsonbusiness called Compagnie Française Thomson-Houston (CFTH),
CSF. Throughout the 1980s, Thomson-CSF pursued these markets
which then had controlling interest with companies that produced
on a national level and continued to diversify its product lines.
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THALES INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
It’s a new business with long-term strategic direction.
Air
Sea
Land
INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION AND PRIVATIZATION
The focus is on both civil and military markets.
In 1989, from the merger of three eerospace sub-divisions,
SFEMA, CROUZET/EAS, and the Avionics Division of
Thomson-CSF came another company called Sextant
Avionique. This was a joint venture between Aerospatiale and
Thomson-CSF, which in 1999 became 100% Thomson-CSF.
This business produced a comprehensive line of cockpit instrumentation, communication, and navigation technologies for
airlines, cargo carriers, and helicopters. At the same time, the
company pursued a very active M&A policy into the defense
electronics business by teaming with other European companies that produced products such as fire control systems and
radars for air, land, and sea applications.
In 1996, privatization was a government focus in France and
by 1998 a new foundation for Thomson-CFS emerged. Denis
Ranque was appointed Chairman
and participated in a new corporate agreement that brought
corporate shareholders together,
including Aerospatiale, Alcatel,
Dassault Industries, and
Thomson-CFS. From there, the
company adopted a new multidomestic strategy that embraced
South Africa, Australia, S. Korea,
Canada, Brazil, and the United
States. In June 2000, ThomsonDenis Ranque
CSF acquired the British company
Chairman of Thales
Racal Corporation for over $2
billion. This single business arrangement doubled the company’s
workforce and revenues in the UK and further expanded product
lines covering cellular networks, defense, avionics, and surveillance technologies.
In December 2000, Thomson-CSF decided that it needed to
rebrand itself to reflect the philosophy and capabilities of the organization and to separate from Thomson companies that focused
on household products. The name THALES (pronounced “Tallas”)
was selected based on the Greek mathematician and philosopher in 585 BC who was credited with five math theorems and
first to give a rational rather than mythological explanation of the
universe. Today, Thales(the company) is known as the Thales
Group—an innovative, worldwide electronics company that offers
technological solutions for air, sea, and land applications.
Today, the Thales IFE business is part of the company’s
Aerospace Division which is led by Francois Quentin, Senior
Vice President. The Division is a growing $3.1 billion operation
that invests 17% of its revenues into research and development
and employs 12,900 people worldwide. It was Francois
Quentin’s vision and commitment that enabled the continued
investment in IFE during the turbulent times from 2001–2004.
It was challenging, but the result of his decisions are what made
the Thales IFE business what it is today—a business that has
grown ten-fold.
In 1999, Thales expanded its presence in commercial aerospace and into the aircraft cabin through the acquisition of the
IFE group from BE Aerospace.
The acquisition fulfilled Thales’
“nose to tail” market strategy for
commercial aircraft, supplying
technology for both the cockpit
and cabin. It was a time when
audio and video on demand
systems became the desired solution for widebody aircraft,
overhead video and distributed
audio was the standard for singleaisle aircraft, and satellite TV
Francois Quentin
was entering into the US region.
Senior Vice President
The business was called the
Aerospace Division of Thales
Inflight Systems Group of Thales.
Through acquisition, the Inflight Systems Group had a long
and distinguished history in IFE dating back to the 1960s
when, as part of EECO, it supplied to the industry some of the
first PCUs and audio transducers. The small but innovative group
expanded its product line with audio systems in the ’70s, and by
the early ’90s began to supply video systems. First came the dSeries
distributed audio and video system, and then the mSeries, the
world’s first multi-media interactive on demand system for aircraft.
In addition, the company produced cameras for aircraft cabins.
dSeries
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Cameras
Passenger control devices
LiveTVTM
In the mid-90s, the company formed a joint venture called
• Low volume head-end and seat components
LiveTV with Harris Corporation and became the first to deploy
• Scalable options so that an airline can install basic
satellite TV systems on a large scale. The LiveTV business was
to advanced IFE across a single aircraft
eventually sold as the business arrangement no longer fit into
• Internet-ready capability
Thales’ long-term strategy.
THE INDUSTRY’S NEXT GENERATION
In 1999, the company decided that it was time to develop
IFE SYSTEM IS BORN
a new IFE system starting from a clean sheet of paper. With
TopSeries – it’s not just
tremendous growth and acceptanother IFE system.
ance of the Internet and the
After three years of development,
robust high performance of
Thales introduced the TopSeries™
Ethernet technology, a tiger
system, a unique system design
team (code name Panther) was
that integrates broadband commulaunched on a new IFE system
nications, in-seat power, and
program that was to leverage
entertainment into one platform.
mainstream technologies.
Ken Brady
Dan Reed
Brad Foreman
The baseline TopSeries system
The team collectively had
Principal Engineer
Product Strategy
Program Management offering is a modular design that
many years of IFE experience.
(now VP/GM for IFE)
allows airlines to select the right
Familiar names include Ken Brady,
IFE combination for their business. System levels of service are
Dan Reed, and Brad Foreman.
as follows:
The goal was to provide a single system that (1) offered enter• i-1000 – High speed broadband communications
tainment, in-seat power and connectivity functionality (2) could
network for laptop connectivity
install retro-fit and line-fit across all aircraft models, and (3) would
• i-2000 – Overhead video and distributed audio
be offerable by major aircraft manufactures.
• i-3000 – In-seat broadcast video and distributed audio
In addition, the system needed to offer a whole new
• i-4000 – All digital video and audio on demand with a
paradigm in IFE systems with these features:
100BaseT Ethernet network
• A 20% reduction in system weight and power compared
to legacy IFE systems
Airbus single aisle
Boeing twin aisle
A380 aircraft
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Air Canada regional jet with full cabin IFE
Thales A380 lab
In June 2002, Thales announced its offerability status for all
existing Airbus single- and twin-aisle aircraft platforms. And,
in February 2004, a similar announcement was made for all
existing Boeing aircraft.
ADVANCED AIRCRAFT PLATFORMS
Beyond existing aircraft types, Thales is committed to
upcoming platforms, including the A380 and B787.
For the A380, Airbus required a gigabit Ethernet network for
greater bandwidth. This resulted in a slight change to the
TopSeries design, but most components remained the same to
ensure system commonality across an airline’s fleet. The
system is called the i-5000 system. In 2003, Thales created its
largest IFE test lab with a 555 seat configuration. In March
2004, after required test demonstrations with Airbus, Thales
announced that it received A380 offerability and today the
system is flying on the OEM’s flight test aircraft, MSN002.
The first airlines that will fly with the TopSeries system on
their 380 aircraft are Air France, Malaysia Airlines, and Etihad
Airways.
On-Site Services brings spare passenger
control units in for normal wear and tear
replacements.
Royal Jordanian video and audio on demand
entertainment on an Airbus single-aisle aircraft
For the B787, Boeing required a wireless solution that connects
the head-end digital servers and passenger seats. This requirement
called for another slight change to the baseline TopSeries system leading
to the Thales wireless IFE system, the i-8000. In September 2005,
Thales announced that Boeing selected the Thales system for the aircraft,
and today test labs that replicate the aircraft are in development.
Though most system designs have been carefully planned, one
unplanned system came about as the result of a specific customer
requirement. In 2004, Air Canada and Thales evaluated the possibilities of installing an all-digital audio and video on demand system
on the airline’s regional jets. The importance of this was to
follow through on the airline’s objective: To ensure that all passengers, regardless of what aircraft they were on, receive the same
inflight entertainment experience. The challenge was to reduce the
size of the components at the seat due to extreme space restriction.
After many white board illustrations, head scratches, and
technical discussions, the design team came up with a solution that
eliminated the seatbox. This revolutionary IFE system, called the
i-4500, is now flying on over 32 Air Canada regional jet aircraft
at an exceptional system availability rate.
Program Management gives a thumbs up after
installation at the Airbus facility.
Digital Media Services manages content
in preparation for customer deliveries.
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Shop maintenance
INDUSTRY FIRST ACHIEVEMENTS
They are symbols of the company’s innovative spirit.
Training
DEDICATED SERVICES FOR LIFE
Airlines count on them.
In 2005, the Frost and Sullivan consulting firm selected the
Having success on the system side of the business, Thales recogTopSeries system as the IFE product of choice for Product
nized that it had to balance out its offering by investing in resources
Differentiation and Innovation in the field of IFE and
and facilities dedicated to global services. In 2003, Thales formed
Connectivity. Through technical innovation, the Thales system
a new digital media services business called TopEffects!, which
design has many patents, which represent breakthroughs in
today provides airlines with a range of applications, GUI design,
technological IFE advancement that will help Thales better
and content management services. In 2006, the group introduced
serve airline operations and passengers.
to airline customers an industry-first Web service called
Industry first achievements continue to grow in number. For
TopEffects.com. Through this Web service, airlines are provided
example, the TopSeries system was the
with the necessary tools to manage routine
first system to:
tasks such as modify their content offering,
• Provide an integrated approach to
define the media metadata, and view and
IFE, power, and connectivity
validate menu screens.
• Line-fit install in-seat video
AEROSPACE SERVICES
throughout a single-aisle aircraft
WORLDWIDE
• Install on an A380 aircraft
Leveraging Thales’ existing global serv• Announce Boeing selection for the
ice network, the Inflight Systems Group
B787
merged their maintenance and support
• Provide Internet Connexion by
operations into a Thales division called,
Boeing connectivity and Satellite
Engineers working on system tests take a moment
Aerospace Services Worldwide (ASW).
TV at the in-seat display
to smile at the camera!
This worldwide, 1,200-person support
For the passenger experience, the
organization now offers shop repairs, training, meet and greet
Thales system is enabling airlines to do things that have never
services, and complete turnkey maintenance services. In addibeen done before. In 2004, Middle East Airlines was the first
tion, a new 24-hour maintenance operation center is now open
airline in IFE history to install distributed video and audio
in Irvine, California. This technical center is capable of commuthroughout the cabin of an A320. In 2005, Royal Jordanian was
nicating directly with both field operations and the actual IFE
the first airline to install audio and video on demand throughout
systems during flight, providing early warning BITE and mainan A320. And in 2006, Air Canada was the first airline to install
tenance information.
audio and video on demand on regional jets.
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Contributing author of the
Thales Profile is Lori Kranz,
Vice President, Communications and a ten-year veteran of
Thales Avionics. Lori was born,
raised, and educated on the
east coast of the US. In 1982,
she graduated at the top of her
class with a degree in Marketing. Lori was employed by Sony
for 18 years and in 2000 joined
Thales. 2006 marks her 10th
year anniversary working in the
IFE industry. She is the VP of
Communications for the Thales
Aerospace Division in the US.
Lori is married and lives in
Newport Beach, California.
Main IFE office in California
THE ORGANIZATION
It’s growing fast.
The development of the business is the result of dedicated,
hardworking people and expanding facilities. Between 2004
and 2006, the Thales IFE business grew from 280 to over 800
employees and moved into new buildings that more than
doubled facility space to 200,000 square feet. Charged with satisfying customer needs, the organization is building out a strong
infrastructure to meet airline demands for today and tomorrow.
Thales retains a people 1st human resource philosophy, a
casual high tech work environment, and an open, flexible
attitude towards its customers. The organization’s priority is to
meet customer commitments, and its strength rests on five
key values: (1) Focusing on the Customer, (2) Behaving as
Innovators, (3) Sharing Knowledge (4) Performing through
teamwork and (5) Developing people.
THE FUTURE OUTLOOK
IFE planted the seed.
When you speak to the VP/GM of the Inflight Systems business, Brad Foreman, the plan is that Thales will continue to
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widen its role in cabin systems
by positioning itself as a firsttier supplier—an “integrator”
that brings together all elements in the cabin (i.e., seats,
galleys, lavatories, sidewalls,
lighting, and IFE). The catalyst behind this direction is
market demand for the cabin
solution to come together
through a centralized organization. Thales’ proven track
record shows that the
Brad Foreman, VP/GM, Inflight
company has successfully
Systems Group and Aerospace
supported both missionDivision, US Director
critical and complex systems
for defense and civil markets. The capability and experience is
in place, and it is just a matter of time before the IFE industry
will look to Thales as a leader in cabin integration.