Honeywell's lighting technology upgrade will be incorporated into the Airbus production line in March 2009 for all forward-fit A320 aircraft. This 30-year contract covers approximately 5,000 forward-fit production and fielded aircraft in the A320 family including A318, A319, A320 and A321.
The technology upgrade covers the forward navigation lights located inside the wingtip that provide recognition lighting in the air, as well as situational awareness lighting on the ground.
Honeywell's solid-state lighting has a much longer life -- up to 20,000 hours before replacement -- than existing halogen lights that have an end of life of about 500 hours. This improved reliability results in substantial savings for operators in fewer lamp changes, lower spares inventory and lower labor costs.
Honeywell claims to have "pioneered technology advances in the field of LEDs, many of which are now being applied in consumer electronics applications such as large screen TVs, computers, and other display systems around the world." Honeywell's LED technology has been used for commercial and military planes for more than a decade.
"Honeywell's LED technology upgrade for wingtip lighting offers significant cost-savings for operators -- up to $30,000 per aircraft," said Jeff Johnston, Vice President of Platform Components. "The longer life of the LED, plus the ease of installation, keeps the aircraft out of the maintenance shop and in the air, where it belongs."
Honeywell's upgraded lighting technology will be available for retrofit for existing airline operators on A320 aircraft beginning in April 2009. The drop-in replacement for the existing lighting does not require any aircraft modification.
