> This could change if they keep trying to make more "interactive" the newer models though.

The airline wants to transfer equipment health data as soon as possible to its headquarters using air/ground communication systems (satcom, cellular, airport wifi...) to plan for maintenance and delays.

Pilots want to use their iPad to browse their mail and the logbook listing the history of system failures and displaying the current state of the aircraft to know if it is flyable.

The centralized maintenance system that provides these information to the airline and the pilots has to be connected to all avionic equipments to collect health data.

Now, everything is connected [1].

[1]https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2007/12/28/E7-2507...