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Is it time for Gogo to split?

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Is Gogo worth more split in half rather than as a single company? Since the management transition earlier this year that idea has been floated more than once. CEO Oakleigh Thorne suggested that either the Business or Commercial Aviation halves should be worth more than the current market cap. He's also suggested that splitting the company along those lines would be a relatively easy transaction to pull off, with BizAv owning the ATG network and Commercial the satellite services. With an impending deadline to refinance the company's debt it seems like such a move could solve a lot of the problems. We know that various suitors have put offers on the table for all or part of the company and that those are being evaluated by the Board of Directors. Here's how one of them could play out.

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Radome tells a tale of vendor diversity

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The first Virgin Atlantic A350-1000 is starting to come together in Toulouse, France. Parts for MSN 274 are arriving at the final assembly line and there's an interesting surprise atop the aft fuselage section: A radome.

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Connecting another batch of MAX: flyDubai’s radomes spotted

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FlyDubai's 737 MAX aircraft feature the carrier's newest interior (including lie-flat beds in business class). Alas, as delivered from Boeing the passenger experience of these planes was incomplete as they did not carry an inflight wifi service on board. Sharp eyes will note that some of the planes are finally sporting radomes. That's good news for passengers and for the vendor delivering the connectivity service on board.

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Growing against flat rate contracts: Global Eagle’s plan

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Growth is all but assured in the inflight connectivity market. Global Eagle is among the operators seeking the upside potential in its its revenue base and margins. But the company takes a slightly different approach to generating service revenue compared to others.

Content is part of the plan. Premium services are part of the plan. Convergence of the entire passenger experience matters greatly. And Chief Commercial Officer Per Norén is confident that the approach can save the company money on the bandwidth side, deliver a better and more profitable offering for airlines and give passengers the content they really want.

Revenue per aircraft is flat right now, but the Norén has big ideas on how to change that. Everyone wins, assuming it all works.

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Inmarsat EAN gains Belgian (re)approval

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Inmarsat's European Aviation Network (EAN) received approval this week from Belgian telecom authorities for its ground component service. Again. That's good news for the inflight connectivity provider as it works to secure the necessary regulatory approvals across Europe in advance of service launch, still expected later this year. It is a setback for Viasat, Eutelsat, and Panasonic Avionics as they fight the EAN deployment through legal and regulatory battles.

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Viasat 8: The Ocho!

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It is just one small line inserted into today's Viasat earnings notes, "... total next-generation IFC system installations to around 200 aircraft across eight commercial airlines." The 200 number is nice, but the eight is more significant.

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An asterisk on Gogo’s improving revenue numbers

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Gogo posted better than anticipated numbers for Q2 '18 this morning, giving the company's share price a nice boost in early morning trading, though it has since given back some of the gains. The business aviation segment continues to lead the company's fortunes but some glimmers of success in the commercial segments are showing, too. So long as American Airlines is excluded from all considerations.

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Parker shoots down AAdvantage spin-off idea. Again.

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The push for US airlines to better monetize their loyalty programs continues to grow. But don't expect it to happen any time soon. Airline executives continue to push back – strongly – against such suggestions from Wall Street analysts. The most recent such conversation, during American Airlines' Q2 2018 earnings call CEO Doug Parker was aggressive in explaining why his airline will not be considering such. The co-brand relationship with the credit card is simply too strong.

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Inmarsat starts generating GX airtime revenue, seeks greater agility for growth

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Inmarsat reported its first half financial results this morning in London with one surprising bit of data: The GX commercial aviation service finally started generating airtime revenue is Q2 '18, more than a year after entering service on some commercial aircraft.

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Connectivity milestones aplenty

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Just how many aircraft carry inflight connectivity hardware? And which kit?? A pair of announcements this week gives greater insight into which kit is where and how the market is shifting, rapidly in some cases. Not that installation number 1000 matters more than number 999, of course. Yet somehow it does. Just a little.

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