Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Airlines need passenger experience innovation to drive loyalty & improve turnaround times.
Current entertainment systems lack the flexibility & technology to do frequent updates, making this a manual and complex task can only be performed during maintenance.
The Advanced Communication & Entertainment System (ACES) is a Pre-Recorded Announcements Machine (PRAM) solution that enables a personalized boarding experience by playing their own choice of music, advertisements, and announcements.
Advanced Communication & Entertainment System (ACES) by Honeywell, won a 2025 Good Design Award from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design, and Urban Studies.
ACES allows airlines to make immediate updates, improve passenger satisfaction, explore new marketing opportunities, and increase efficiency by minimizing the need for maintenance.
Currently, the Inflight User Experience team creates playlists on a single MP4 file, due to the current system limitations, which engineering loads onto multiple flashcards for installation in multiple aircraft.
A mechanic replaces the old flashcard, performs tests, and old cards are stored for future use.
Once operational, the flight crew has no control over the music, forced to play fixed playlists in a set sequence due to the single MP4 format, causing frustration indicated in their employee surveys.
Honeywell began discussions with the launch customer to clarify the problem, gather requirements, and explore solutions.
The UX team generated artifacts such as Jobs-to-be-done and low-fidelity wireframes, which underwent several testing and feedback rounds. After three months, a working prototype was showcased for evaluation.
This led to a consensus on final requirements, completing the design phase and moving into development and certification.
ACES is a cloud-enabled solution that revolutionises the traditional pre-recorded announcement machine (PRAM) systems used by airlines.
Unlike the existing systems that require manual updates, ACES allows airlines to immediately update the media files without having to scheduled maintenance.
This flexibility enables airlines to customise music, announcements, and even paid ads to suit specific seasons, destinations, etc. Also, it allows the crew to control the media in-flight.
Project: Advanced Communication & Entertainment System (ACES)
Designers: Nayeli Castaneda, Honeywell User Experience (HUE), Honeywell
Client: Honeywell
