Flight Database Update Costs

While that statement naively looks solely at the cost of distribution, ignoring the cost of development and maintenance, theres also some validity to it. After all, with paper were not only paying all the back-end costs, but also the cost of printing and distribution. Shouldnt the data alone be a lot cheaper? And with multiple devices that use that data, why should we have to purchase multiple copies? Shouldnt there be one aircraft data subscription shared across all the devices?

Frank Bowlin

Friday, August 05, 2016 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Aircraft database updates have historically been complex and expensive, especially for setups with multiple installed devices.
Garmin has introduced a new "OnePak" solution, significantly reducing the annual cost of aircraft data subscriptions to $649, covering an entire aircraft's navigators, EFIS, and Garmin Pilot tablet data (up to four devices).
This new bundled pricing and unified update scheme is seen as a game-changer, potentially setting a new industry standard that offers pilots substantial cost savings and simplifies the update process.

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We’ve all railed about the complexity and cost of database updates since the first LORAN. After all, we figured, it’s just data and you can get it electronically, so why does it cost so damned much?

While that statement naively looks solely at the cost of distribution, ignoring the cost of development and maintenance, there’s also some validity to it. After all, with paper we’re not only paying all the back-end costs, but also the cost of printing and distribution. Shouldn’t the data alone be a lot cheaper? And with multiple devices that use that data, why should we have to purchase multiple copies? Shouldn’t there be one aircraft data subscription shared across all the devices?