Why this is not really a comparison of equals
It is tempting to treat navigation database providers like any other purchasing decision, weighing features and price against each other. That framing does not hold up well here, because the choice is driven almost entirely by what avionics are already installed. A Garmin GTN navigator does not accept a Honeywell/Bendix King database, and a KMD 850 multi-function display does not run Garmin's subscription. What follows is less a comparison of which is better and more a guide to matching the right subscription to the right equipment.
Garmin Database Update
Covers navigation database subscriptions for Garmin's own portable and panel avionics, the natural pairing for an aircraft equipped with Garmin navigators, the Aera 660 or Aera 760 portable GPS, or Garmin panel-mount equipment. If the installed avionics are Garmin, the database subscription is Garmin, and there is little reason to look elsewhere since Garmin controls both the hardware and its native database format.
Jeppesen Database Update
Jeppesen NavData has the broadest reach of the three. It offers worldwide coverage across 195 countries, is delivered in raw ARINC 424 format or in proprietary formats tailored to specific systems, and is built to be compatible with practically all flight management systems and simulators in service, including customised NavData for operators running GE, Honeywell, Collins Aerospace, Universal and Garmin avionics. Jeppesen's own quality controls are substantial: the company reports reviewing around 47,000 source data pieces and editing or verifying close to 600,000 database transactions per 28-day cycle, and its data meets DO-200A/DO-272C, ED-99C and ISO 9001 standards alongside FAA Letters of Acceptance. Jeppesen also supports 24x7 in-house expert coverage. This is the subscription for operators running Jeppesen-format databases directly, and it is also, less obviously, the data underneath a Honeywell/Bendix King subscription.
Honeywell / Bendix King Database Update
Honeywell and Bendix King avionics, including the KMD 850 multi-function display, Bendix King GPS units and the Skyforce Skymap IIIC, draw their base navigation data from Jeppesen NavData as the sole source, distributed specifically for that hardware through the Wingman Services customer portal on the same 28-day AIRAC cycle as every other provider. An operator flying this equipment subscribes through the Bendix King channel rather than a generic Jeppesen subscription, because the data is packaged and distributed to match that specific avionics suite, with single-cycle or multi-cycle annual options covering different geographic areas depending on where the aircraft actually operates.
Matching subscription to equipment
- Garmin panel avionics or an Aera portable navigator: Garmin Database Update.
- A flight management system, simulator or non-Garmin panel avionics running native Jeppesen-format data: Jeppesen Database Update.
- Honeywell or Bendix King avionics, including the KMD 850 and Skymap IIIC: Honeywell / Bendix King Database Update, distributed through the Wingman Services portal.
- Mixed-equipment aircraft or fleets: expect to hold more than one subscription simultaneously, one per avionics type, rather than assuming a single renewal covers everything installed.
The one thing all three share
Whichever provider applies, the underlying discipline is identical: every one of these subscriptions runs on the same 28-day AIRAC cycle, so the operational routine of updating on schedule, covered in more depth elsewhere in this series, matters equally regardless of which database you hold. ASPL supplies and renews subscriptions across all three, so a mixed-avionics fleet does not need three separate points of contact to stay current.