Airline selects Rockwell Collins displays for planes

The large-format cockpit flight displays that Rockwell Collins supplies for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner have been selected by a Denmark-based airline for a retrofit of Boeing 767 airliners.

Star Air has signed a contract with the Cedar Rapids-based avionics and communications equipment developer and manufacturer to provide the flight displays for 11 Boeing 767-200BDSF cargo airplanes.

Installation and subsequent European Aviation Safety Agency certification of the flight display retrofit will begin later this year.

The new flight deck is a collaboration between Rockwell Collins and Boeing for the 757 and 767 aftermarket.

Steve Timm, vice president and general manager of air transport systems for Rockwell Collins, said in a news release that hundreds of Boeing 757s and 767s flying today have a lot of life left in the airframe.

'New airspace mandates are driving changes in the flight deck that demand displays with greater viewing area,” Timm said. 'The flight deck transformation we're providing with Boeing modernizes these flight decks, taking the aircraft into the next decade and beyond.”

The upgrade features three 15.1-inch LCD displays that replace six cathode ray tube displays and numerous analog instruments. Among the benefits to airlines are greater fuel efficiency due to a 150-pound weight reduction.

'The commonality with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, 737 MAX and 777X was a key selling point for us during the decision process as we feel it will ensure future system support and updates,” said Carsten Hvidegaard Holm, vice president of technical for Star Air, in a news release.

Rockwell Collins received an initial Federal Aviation Administration supplemental type certificate for the Boeing 757/767 large-format display flight deck retrofit in July.