The Business of Passenger Experience
JetBlue's A320 fleet upgrade will be a little different than initially announced, mostly in a good way. Newer entertainment and connectivity solutions are now (officially) part of the plan.
The introduction of Delta Premium Select may be the most significant change the carrier has seen in a decade or more. Here’s how the product fared on its inaugural service. Plus tons of photos!
Is it the ultimate surveillance scenario or a step forward in the passenger experience? Or maybe a little bit of both?? Vendors are cooperating today to deliver integrated biometrics in the inflight entertainment system, tying together a camera embedded in the screen with connectivity to various other platforms that can act on the data.
Consolidation is coming in the cabin components industry with Astronics set to acquire Telefonix for $104mm in cash. The two companies product lines are largely complementary, covering in-seat power, passenger service units, seat actuators, inflight connectivity components and more.
EAN, Europe’s newest inflight connectivity platform, took a major step forward as Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom announce completion of the first test flight(s) of the system. The countries overflown during the tests are also interesting given some of the regulatory and legal challenges the program faces.
JetBlue’s A320s are now well overdue on a cabin refresh, and the program is showing further delays. Supplier issues are, again, at the core of the schedule push but this time around a new vendor is on the hook.
Brazil is quickly becoming a hot market for inflight connectivity. LATAM is the latest to make a move, announcing today that it will fit 100 of its Brazil-based A320 aircraft with Gogo’s 2Ku solution. Installations will begin in the first half of 2018 and complete in early 2019.
Can a slow inflight internet connection deliver real passenger benefits? In many cases it is better than nothing and Lufthansa Systems is talking about ways to integrate such into a low-cost solution for airlines.
Air New Zealand is finally sporting an inflight connectivity radome on one of its aircraft. Ship ZK-OKS, a 777-300ER, returned to service last week after a month in Singapore where the Inmarsat Global Xpress (“GX”) kit was installed. The carrier announced last December that it will fit its entire fleet with the GX service.
Has the LEO/MEO revolution spooked Panasonic Avionics? "Radical change" is coming according to VP Global Sales David Bruner, putting the company's 6-payload XTS Ku-band network on a new track.
