Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

Send Solutions’s Airtext unit is working with Wichita-based 3S Engineering to create a broad approved model list (AML) for installation of the Airtext SMS messaging system on a range of Part 23 and Part 25 aircraft.


In a first step toward that goal, Airtext and Sierra Nevada’s 3S subsidiary reached an agreement to transfer an initial Airtext supplemental type certificate for the SMS messaging system on the Cessna Citation X.&nbsp;The agreement, the companies said, “creates a temporary arrangement that facilitates the companies’ collaborative effort to simplify the installation and approval of the system on numerous models of aircraft.”


Introduced in 2014, Airtext is designed as a lightweight (1.2 pounds), low-cost satcom system that enables up to 16 users to send and receive messages simultaneously. The system connects iOS and Android personal devices via the Iridium satellite network globally.


“The use of personal devices has changed the way we communicate on a routine basis,” said David Gray, CEO of Send Solutions. “But until recently the efficiency and convenience they provide didn’t apply to passengers and crewmembers on board aircraft…especially light jets and personally flown airplanes.&nbsp;That’s why we’ve developed Airtext and why we are collaborating with 3S Engineering to make ‘typical’ text messaging available and affordable.”


Initial plans call for obtaining a Part 23 AML STC, with a target of mid-August. “Once we’ve completed that process, we will expand it to encompass Part 25 aircraft as well,” said Randy Eno, general manager of 3S Engineering. “The end result will make Airtext an extremely practical and affordable option for operators of a broad list of aircraft—without the additional time and expense of obtaining a proprietary STC.” 3S is currently working with operators to monitor an installation on a Pilatus PC-12.&nbsp;


The system is priced at $9,750, not including the Iridium antenna, and Airtext offers an annual membership for $300 that includes 1,000 messages.&nbsp;Additional messages cost five cents each. Airtext also offers Airtext+, with a bigger modem, for $14,950. Voice calls are available through a prepaid Iridium sim card.


“We are incorporating a number of enhancements into our Airtext products, based on input from our customer base,” Gray said. “We will be announcing added capabilities soon.”

News and developments about everything that goes into the cabin of an aircraft, from floor coverings to headliners, with a special emphasis on in-flight entertainment, communications and other electronics for passengers. If it is in the cabin of an aircraft, it’s covered here.

Airtext Works With 3S To Expand Messaging Availability

The companies are creating a broad AML for the Airtext SMS messaging system.

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News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

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News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

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New developments and products in avionics, specifically about aircraft electronics in the cockpit.

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News and issues about aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), covering all segments of the aviation industry; and modifications for aircraft and engines. Subjects include product support of aircraft, engines and avionics, MRO company mergers, acquisitions, announcements and personnel, Airworthiness Directives, Supplemental Type Certificate approvals and other topics.

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