Patent ID: 8656162

Claim:
A method to facilitate securing of air-to-ground communications, the method comprising: receiving security management information at the aircraft via at least one broadband data link prior to takeoff of the aircraft, wherein the security management information is received for ground entities that can be communicatively coupled with the aircraft traveling on a flight path, the security management information including certificates for the respective ground entities; validating the security management information for the ground entities; storing the validated security management information for the ground entities in the aircraft, wherein the validating and storing security management information occur prior to takeoff of the aircraft; establishing secure associations with the ground entities via the at least one broadband data link, the secure associations being based on the validated security management information, wherein the establishing secure associations occurs prior to takeoff of the aircraft; and managing previously established secure associations to communicate with the ground entities, via either at least one broadband data link or at least one bandwidth-constrained data link, while in-flight.