Honeywell is aiming to provide Santa with the perfect gift - a brand new, redesigned "Connected Sleigh" packed with Honeywell technology. The new sleigh, designed by a Honeywell engineer, incorporates a number of Honeywell technologies to ensure safe and on-time gifts this holiday season, including a Wi-Fi signal as fast as those found in homes and the North Pole, even while Santa is flying over oceans.

Jiri Syrovy, technical supervisor at Honeywell Aerospace, redesigned Santa's sleigh to make his holiday travel better while allowing Rudolph and the other reindeer the day off.

"Going around the world in one night to deliver gifts is a big job. Our goal was to make that as simple, fast and as safe as possible for Santa, while also giving Rudolph and his team some much-needed downtime," said Jiri Syrovy, technical supervisor, Honeywell Aerospace. "After going over the design with Santa and his team, we ended up creating the most advanced sleigh on the market with the latest advanced cockpit technologies and the best propulsion systems available."

The new sleigh starts with Honeywell's HTF-7000 engines for top-notch performance during high- altitude flights, coupled with an auxiliary power unit to ensure all the onboard equipment has backup. In the cockpit, the sleigh will be outfitted with Honeywell's latest cockpit technologies, including Honeywell's GoDirect™ Weather Information Service and SmartView® Synthetic Vision System for real-time weather conditions and precise navigation in bad weather. Speaking of precision navigation, the sleigh will have traffic collision avoidance systems and enhanced ground proximity warning systems to make sure Santa can get around all obstacles, like all of those new drones, and land safely on rooftops with Honeywell brakes before he sends his fleet of connected drones to deliver gifts.

Lastly, the sleigh will be equipped with Honeywell JetWave Wi-Fi to ensure Santa can communicate with Mrs. Claus and his elves via videoconferencing or Facetime, and receives real-time traffic and weather notifications, allowing the reindeer to enjoy easier routes while they too stream their favorite holiday movies and photos from the evening's trip around the world.

"When we were first contacted by the North Pole we weren't sure how to react; knowing that Rudolph and the other reindeer have been working with Santa for so long we were kind of surprised," said Joe Kenney, chief technology officer, Honeywell Aerospace. "After meeting with Santa, we knew that we would be the perfect helpers this Christmas, and would be able to provide him with a state-of-the-art connected sleigh."

"I watched Honeywell all year and had my elves pay special attention to them and their progress. I was pleasantly surprised with all the good they did this year, so I asked them to re-engineer my sleigh," said Santa Claus. "When they came back with the final design and products, I was blown away. This holiday will be, without a doubt, the best one yet."

Connected Sleigh Technology

In addition to the technologies mentioned above, Santa's sleigh is outfitted with the most advanced maintenance, navigation and cabin technologies, including:

-Honeywell Connected Maintenance will keep Santa on time for all of his deliveries, and back to Mrs. Claus by morning. Connected Maintenance combines the airplane's connectivity, in-depth product knowledge and data analytics to predict when mechanical parts need to be replaced.

-Honeywell's Primus Epic® integrated cockpit upgrades Santa's sleigh with the latest technologies. The Primus Epic integrated cockpit is the world's most advanced aircraft cockpit available today, providing pilots with the best flight experience and communications to date.

-Ovation Select gives Santa and his reindeer ultimate control for in-flight comfort and productivity. The system provides passengers with a broad range of cabin entertainment, control and integrated communications to maximize in-flight comfort and productivity.

-Honeywell's Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) ensures that Santa's sleigh won't break down no matter what. HUMS sensors and embedded diagnostic software monitor and communicate the health and maintenance needs of critical components.

Honeywell-connected sleigh technologies give Santa the most advanced sleigh on the market, and are also available to business, commercial and defense aircraft owners and operators.

Contributed by Honeywell