American Airlines continues its cuts to Asia service from its hub at Chicago O’Hare. After previously announcing that it would drop Beijing service, Shanghai flights will also be terminated this October. Seasonal adds across the Atlantic in 2019 will help offset these cuts.
British Airways
Inmarsat EAN gains Belgian (re)approval
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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Alitalia is out, Virgin Atlantic is in: TATL JV changes proposed
Alitalia’s struggles continue. The carrier still needs a fresh infusion of cash to pay off the bridge loan from the Italian government and some sort of long-term plan. And, for the latter, Alitalia will soon find itself forced to be more independent than it is today. Ouch.
Fiji Airways signs on as inaugural oneworld connect member
Oneworld wants to grow its route network and it is willing to take on smaller airlines to deliver on that plan. Fiji Airways is the inaugural member in the new “oneworld connect” program allows limited alliance membership and limited benefits for passengers. But locking up the new connect member airlines is a smart move for the group.
Which airline doesn’t hate its connectivity provider?
When senior airline executives are willing to trash their vendors in public that's usually bad news for everyone involved. Welcome to the inflight connectivity world, where airlines are almost as unhappy as the passengers struggling to stay online in the sky. Alas, only part of that frustration is grounded in reality.
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Biometrics: Real value or gimmicky crap?
Is the current biometrics push in aviation a gimmick or a real improvement for passengers and airlines alike? Likely a bit of both. Let’s look at two recent demonstrations of the technology to see how the benefits play out.
American is "playing to win" with international route shake-up
“We very often don’t earn enough cash to cover the price of fuel on the flight.” That’s definitely not what you want to hear from the VP of network planning. For American Airlines, however, it is part of a major shift in international operations at its O’Hare hub.
Handling the 787 Trent challenges
The Rolls Royce Trent 1000 Package C engines power nearly a quarter of the global Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet. And they all need extra inspections. Here’s how a few airlines are dealing with the disruptions to their operations.
Finding détente in the airline-GDS cost battle: Air France/KLM and Amadeus make peace, progress
Peace is possible between the airlines and GDS platforms! Air France/KLM and Amedeus agreed to waive distribution fees in some cases, benefiting passengers in the near term. But it is the longer term plans around NDC content distribution that hold real potential for an improved passenger experience.
Shifting gears: Gogo’s push to connect more passengers
What good is having an inflight wifi connectivity product if no one is using it? Gogo sits flush with satellite capacity and is pushing to increase take rates (and revenue) up dramatically on its platform.
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