Looking to catch up on passenger experience news in recent days? I’ve got a fun new video series with Maryann Simson from APEX Media and we’re covering all the top headlines.
Air Canada
De Havilland, Air Canada Cargo partner on Dash 8-400 cargo conversion
Air Canada Express is the latest operator of a “Covid-Combi” fleet, with up to 13 Dash 8-400s slated for conversion. The planes will help the carrier move critical cargo throughout the country.
Air Canada replaces seats with cargo in 777-300ER cabin
Air Canada is boosting its cargo capabilities with some creativity in the passenger cabin of its 777-300ER aircraft. Three of the planes, the largest in the carrier’s fleet, no longer have seats on board. Instead the large space will be used to increase cargo carrying capacity on board.
Air Canada, Alaska Airlines extend elite status
Two more airlines announced elite status extensions this week, waiving the qualification requirements for the 2020 calendar year. Air Canada’s Altitude and Alaska Airlines’ MileagePlan members have another year at their existing tier without any additional flying required. There are a couple unique quirks from each program in how it will work.
Gogo looks to ride out coronavirus-related dip in demand
The final few months of 2019 delivered strong numbers for inflight connectivity provider Gogo. The company saw revenues improve in the business aviation and global segments while the North American market held up pretty well. Things continued looking good into early 2020. But since the beginning of March, similar to airline demand, Gogo saw a “significant decline” in Asia followed by a “more pronounced decline” in recent days.
Eutelsat KONNECT successfully launched
More Ka-band capacity should be online soon. Eutelsat’s KONNECT satellite successfuly launched last week and is now raising to its geostationary orbit location to serve Europe and North Africa. ANd that could be good news for Viasat as well.
Air Canada launches A220 flights
Air Canada inaugurated service on its new A220-300 today, the latest carrier to bring the type to passengers.
Aeroplan seeks a hybrid loyalty solution with program relaunch
Aeroplan is coming home and Air Canada has a LOT of big ideas on what that will mean for the future of its loyalty program. The program won’t relaunch for members until late 2020, but significant changes are already underway to lay the groundwork for the new program. Mark Nasr, AC’s Vice President, Loyalty & eCommerce, recently spoke with PaxEx.Aero to review some of the changes that members can expect to see.
JetBlue selects Thales AVANT for A220 IFE
JetBlue’s A220-300 fleet will bring a new passenger experience to the airline. But it will do so with familiar partners. The carrier announced today that the planes will fly with the Thales AVANT inflight entertainment (IFE) solution on board. Delivery for the first of seventy A220s to the carrier is due in 2020.
Air Canada confirms Thales as 737 MAX WiFi provider
The news was not particularly secret. Still, confirmation proved elusive until today. Air Canada now affirms its selection of Thales as the inflight wifi provider on its 737 MAX fleet.