One antenna kit to handle connections to multiple satellite networks sounds like a great idea. Gilat now has one on offer but there’s just one problem: It is unclear that commercial demand is truly sufficient for such. Oopsie.
What United’s domestic premium economy offering look like?
United Airlines’ President Scott Kirby slipped news about a potential new domestic premium economy offering into an investor briefing this morning. What will it look like? When will it roll out? What will it replace? Of course, no answers to these important questions, but here are some interesting ideas to consider as United moves forward on this effort.
Engine selection “core” to Boom Supersonic’s success
Supersonic is sexy as hell for marketing but it is also hard to accomplish. Powering the aircraft is proving to be one of the bigger challenges for Boom Supersonic as no current engine model meets the company’s needs. Can an existing “core” solve those problems? Company CEO Blake Scholl seems to think so, though he also appears dependent on getting new engines faster than Boeing can for its NMA. So that’s an interesting set of circumstances.
New Chairman, CEO, funding for Global Eagle
After taking nearly a year to unwind the complexity of its financials following a string of acquisitions Global Eagle is finally ready to move forward on executing its plan. Leadership and funding changes announced this week are a major step forward on that front.
Panasonic, APSATCOM announce "XTS" satellite plans
Airline passengers in China and across Asia will soon have access to significantly more inflight wifi connectivity bandwith. Panasonic Avionics and APSATCOM announced the first “XTS” ultra-high speed Ku-band satellte, set to launch in early 2019.
Icelandair kills off premium economy offering
Premium economy disappearing from an airline?!? It is certainly uncommon these days but Icelandair appears to have at least two good reasons for making the move.
The man who could save New York’s airports
New York City is famous for its airports, and not in a good way. Can they be saved? That responsibility sits on the shoulders of Huntley Lawrence and after his first year as the Director of Aviation many hurdles remain.
A new CEO at Gogo: Oakleigh Thorne replaces Michael Small
Gogo has a new CEO. In an abrupt move the company announced the replacement of Michael Small with the current largest shareholder, Oakleigh (Oak) Thorne. This should be an interesting few weeks for the company, particularly with a number of trade shows on the near-term horizon.
Emirates drops some business class middles seats
Emirates is finally getting rid of its middle seats in business class. At least a few of them. On some planes. And also scrapping first class on that sub-fleet at the same time. So, is that really a win??
Yotel’s new not-really-a-Loyalty Program
Getting creative to launch a new loyalty program is no easy task. Just focusing on points is passé and doesn’t work so well. So what’s a company to do? Probably not what Yotel chose with its new “YOTEL Membership Programme” launched this week.