Viasat is one step closer to bringing significantly more Ka-band capacity to the Americas. The new ViaSat-2 satellite successfully reached its orbital slot and is moving through the testing phase, with EIS still projected for February 2018.
American Airlines
American Airlines highlights Basic, Premium successes
Is Premium Economy or Basic Economy a bigger deal for American Airlines? The short answer is “yes” though President Robert Isom offers some interesting stats to consider about the profits the company is seeing from the two products today and where they are expected to go.
Power Up! Astronics to acquire Telefonix
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.
Netflix wants your inflight wifi to be free, but…
Netflix wants you to have free wifi on your next flight. That’s the only way it figures you’ll use your Netflix service on board. The catch (of course there is one) is that Netflix doesn’t want to be the one paying for that bandwidth. And it doesn’t really care who is, so long as it gets credit for making your flight better.
American Splits Connectivity Plans: Winners and Losers
American Airlines is switching up its in-flight internet setup, giving ViaSat a big win and dealing a blow to Gogo. As for passengers, still a lot more info needed to decide whether we win or lose.
Delayed Response => Lawsuit Fun!
Why a lawsuit over wifi? Because the response to a message didn’t come quickly enough. Amazing how such things can pivot so quickly.
American Airlines v Gogo in the Battle for Better, Cheaper Wifi
Lots of drama in the crazy world of in-flight connectivity this week, including a lawsuit filed by American Airlines against Gogo seeking to terminate a contract on 200ish airplanes. Things are getting very interesting.
Wifi on international flights: Present and future
Who is winning the race to provide wifi on international flights? Probably the consumers, with United Airlines following and Delta close behind. American is a distant 3rd among the major US carriers right now.
Notes of interest from this morning’s American Airlines earnings call
The American Airlines 2014 numbers look pretty good, but the company’s view of the future is what I find interesting. Today’s earnings call held a few interesting nuggets. At least interesting to me.
American Airlines’ $2bn commitment to catch up
A $2bn budget means American Airlines business class seats are getting an upgrade. So are lounges. But is it just a case of keeping up with the Andersons or is there really something special here?