Pune, India. 20 March 2023. Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic Avionics), supplier of in-flight entertainment and connectivity systems (IFEC), continues to enhance its global software development capabilities, the company introduced a rapidly growing set of capabilities based in Pune, India.
Panasonic Avionics’ operations in Pune are the latest Panasonic investment in India. Panasonic entered the Indian market in 1972 and since then the company has grown from strength to strength and now Panasonic Avionics joins Panasonic Life Solutions India, which currently has 13,000 employees over 13 locations across India.
Panasonic Avionics’ new software design center is part of a company-wide effort to help airlines realize their passenger digital engagement vision using the most innovative IFE hardware, best-in-class enterprise software; seamless global high-speed connectivity; and worldwide support through maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services.
Satyen Yadav, Chief Technology Officer of Panasonic Avionics Corporation, says: “It’s an incredibly exciting time in our industry as our airline partners are looking to enhance the travel journey in new and exciting ways. As a trusted partner to the world’s leading airlines, our goal is to unlock the potential of IFEC with solutions that give airlines the same flexibility they enjoy with their web and mobile solutions so that they can maximize their net promoter score (NPS), increase customer loyalty, drive revenue, and optimize their operational efficiencies.”
To support this vision, Panasonic Avionics is investing in state-of-the-art labs in India that provide the capability to build and validate new passenger experiences in both single and twin-aisle aircraft to match airlines’ need for the right kind of software solutions – all from a one-stop shop. As a result, the company is expanding its talent resources to replicate the full scale of a narrowbody or widebody aircraft, ensuring that it can fully test its IFE and connectivity software in situ and help airlines transform their in-cabin product.
The investment in Panasonic Avionics’ global software engineering capabilities will also help improve the time to market of robust, next-generation in-flight entertainment systems, connectivity, and digital app solutions.
Yadav added: “We are excited to complement the excellent work of our US-based teams with the development and growth of our new capabilities in India. This combined group of skilled engineers is enabling us to grow and future-proof our software development capabilities and ensure the highest levels of reliability in our systems. This new expertise in India is already delivering a wide range of software-related services – everything from new OS platforms, mobile apps, interactive software, cloud, and data engineering to automation and software architecture design.”
In 2021, Panasonic Avionics invested in a ‘build-operate-transfer’ (BOT) operation that today employs over 250 skilled engineers. Over the next 12 months, Panasonic Avionics plans to unveil a new operations facility in Pune. The company is planning for further growth of engineers based in India to over 400, bringing Panasonic Avionics worldwide software development sites to four locations and global team with more than 1,000 software developers.
