Dec. 10, 2025 – Boeing [NYSE: BA] and United Airlines have completed a series of flight tests evaluating advanced digital communications designed to modernise the flow of information between the flight deck, air traffic control, and airline operations centres. Using a United 737-8 jet as Boeing’s 2025 ecoDemonstrator Explorer, pilots conducted flights to assess Internet Protocol Suite (IPS) standards aimed at enhancing operational efficiency, safety, and environmental performance.

The two-week testing programme, which took place in Houston, U.S., and Edinburgh, Scotland, focused on internet-based communications to reduce air traffic congestion, fuel use, operational costs, and emissions. “Boeing is proud to lead the advancement of digital communications that significantly enhance safety and operational efficiency in commercial aviation,” said Boeing Chief Technology Officer Todd Citron. United 737 Chief Test Pilot Andy McKee added, “This ecoDemonstrator project is an outstanding collaboration to support upgrades in air traffic control and enhance safety for our customers and the global aviation community.”

Since 2012, the Boeing ecoDemonstrator programme has accelerated innovation by taking new technologies out of the lab and into operational environments, testing over 250 technologies to improve safety, reduce emissions and noise, and enhance operational efficiency. This latest initiative also brought together government agencies, Boeing suppliers, aircraft communications service providers, and academia.

Key participants included Collins Aerospace, Honeywell, SITA, Thales, Viasat, the European Space Agency (ESA), NASA’s Air Traffic Management – eXploration Project, the Federal Aviation Administration, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Collins Aerospace President of Avionics Nate Boelkins noted, “Our work with the ecoDemonstrator Explorer programme advances performance-based connectivity and interoperability, helping create more reliable, secure and agile operations across global airspace.”

Thales Aerospace Communications Vice President Nicolas Bonleux highlighted the role of the AVIATOR 200S system, the smallest and lightest cockpit IP Satcom, in supporting real-time connectivity for safer and smarter decision-making. SITA CEO Yann Cabaret said the collaboration allows testing of innovative solutions in real-world environments to support trajectory-based operations, while ESA’s Laurent Jaffart described the programme as a milestone toward a unified global air traffic management solution. Viasat Senior Vice President Joel Klooster emphasised how the programme demonstrates the ability of satcom datalink to support sustainable and efficient air traffic growth.

The ecoDemonstrator Explorer project represents a decade of collaborative development, positioning these next-generation digital communication technologies for operational deployment in the aviation industry.