Canada’s Nolinor Aviation has a long history of providing charter air services, mostly in the country’s far north. Now the company wants to bring its special sort of flying to leisure markets further afield, and under new branding. OWG aims to operate flights to tropical destinations from September 2020.
Skip the speed test: Viasat removes caps for BizAv connectivity
You might think that 16 megabits per second is pretty fast for an inflight wifi connection. But Viasat wants its business aviation connectivity customers to have more than that. The company officially removed speed caps from its Ka-band contracts this week, allowing aircraft owners to access whatever is available in the network, whatever the hardware and the link budget can support.
Global Eagle’s cash crunch
The numbers for Global Eagle’s Q1 are not good. And with a narrow margin of liquidity before it is considered in default on its debt, the timing is tight.
Peek inside the largest converted cargo aircraft flying today
Given that the A380 has no real future as a true cargo aircraft (i.e. containers on the main deck, not just in the belly) this is likely the only time we’ll see the Whale flying with so much freight on board. And that’s awesome, even if it is for less than wonderful reasons.
Gogo expands wifi coverage down to 3,000 feet
Many travelers in the US will soon have a bit of increased inflight wifi coverage. Gogo is adjusting its air-to-ground network to deliver service starting at 3,000 feet altitude rather than 10,000 feet.
American Airlines details fraudulent AAdvantage behaviors
If you’re going to pick a fight with the airlines over “stolen” points make sure you’ve covered your tracks. This appears to be the lesson for one American Airlines AAdvantage member after an effort to recover points from a cancelled trip turned in to an Exposé of fraud.
July’s magic: The Weekly Wrap–3 July 2020
As the calendar rolled over to July the global aviation community saw significant wins. Borders reopened, airlines resumed or increased flight levels. And, perhaps most exciting, lounges are reopening, too. Get details on that and lots more in this edition of The Weekly Wrap
LIAT’s future in further doubt as CARICOM looks to outside airlift
With its regional airline LIAT slated for liquidation the Caribbean is looking to outside resources to help maintain air connectivity among the islands rather than investing further in the failed operation. At least six airlines from the region are keen to back-fill the capacity gap from LIAT’s collapse.
OneWeb secures funding from Bharti, UK Gov’t
The UK government and Indian telecom giant Bharti Global Limited won the assets of aspiring satellite operator OneWeb in a bankruptcy auction. Each party will invest $500 million in the company as part of the recapitalization plan. Subject to further government and regulatory approvals and funding, OneWeb will resume manufacture, launch and operation of its satellite constellation.
JetBlue hits most targets in voluntary staff reduction plan
Most of JetBlue’s employee groups hit targets for voluntary departures, helping the company to avoid layoffs as the CARES Act Payroll Support Program funding expires at the end of September. In a message to crewmembers today Chief People Officer Mike Elliott detailed the situation among each of the work groups.