Is the Internet of Things finally set to fly in passenger airline cabins? After years of hearing how it will revolutionize the passenger experience travelers might finally start to see some benefits of such programs. Or, if things go to plan, never see the changes at all, even as the improvements take flight.
Airbus
JetBlue pushes TATL further away, teases “Junior Mint” cabin
JetBlue spent the past several years teasing the idea of transatlantic flying. The company believes its Mint business class service could clean up in a market that sees high fares and relatively limited competition. Alas, it remains a dream in many ways. The market was reminded this morning at an investor briefing that such a “distraction” is not welcome at this time.
Another tiny lavatory preps for flight on American Airlines
Sick and tired of tiny airplane toilets? The news out of Aircraft Interiors Expo this week in Boston (collocated with APEX EXPO) probably won’t improve that feeling. Diehl Aerospace showed off its 31″ lavatory for the A320 family of aircraft, soon to be retrofit on American Airlines airplanes.
Singapore Airlines’ first A350 ULR takes the long way home
The first A350-900 ULR flew home to Singapore on Saturday. The routing it took was rather less than ordinary, lasting more than 16 hours and included a visit to the North Pole.
PaxEx Premium: Another connectivity split fleet
Chalk up another split fleet for inflight connectivity. The latest intelligence in to PaxEx.Aero suggests another A350 operator will add a new vendor to its IFC roster.
Radome tells a tale of vendor diversity
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.
Best of Farnborough 2018: Airbus’ little, little(ish) win
An order for two aircraft is rarely big news. But for Uganda (National??) Airlines and Airbus it represents a significant deal on both sides. The carrier will CRJ900s to prove its operations and grow into the long-haul operation with the A330s arriving at the end of 2020. Assuming the airline is still solvent and the –800s really exist.
Finnair launches wifi on European fleet
Finnair joins the rapidly growing collection of European airlines offering inflight internet connectivity on its regional flights. Thanks to Viasat and Eutelsat passengers can now connect on some flights with more aircraft coming online over the coming year.
Loose ELT antenna impacts 2Ku deployments
Earlier this month EASA issued an Airworthiness Directive affecting certain of Gogo’s 2Ku inflight connectivity installations. Air vortices created by the 2Ku radome cause excessive vibration in the ELT antenna, potentially shaking it loose or causing structural issues in the fuselage. Fortunately the issue was discovered relatively quickly, the number of aircraft affected is low and a revised installation process is expected to be in place in the near future.
A route network to beat the airline startup challenges: Moxy begins to take shape
Where will those 60 new A220-300s fly for David Neeleman’s new “Moxy” airline? He’s looking further afield than most US startups typically consider, a potential boon for the operation. And the A220 is a (nearly) perfect plane with which to execute that plan.