An additional 550+ aircraft now have live television on board. The Gogo TV product activated across three airlines in recent weeks, quickly adding live content to the company’s offerings. And more planes are coming online soon.
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EXPO Preview: What’s on tap this week
The annual APEX EXPO is less than 24 hours away and anticipation for this year’s event is high. Many suppliers are promising big new throughout the week. In the inflight connectivity world it remains to be seen if anything will top the Panasonic Avionics/Inmarsat announcement from last week. Of course new order announcements are anticipated and will likely be big news. But what additional news will develop during the week?
PaxEx Premium: Panasonic’s Pivot
Panasonic Avionics Corporation (PAC) and Inmarsat are poised to reshape the inflight connectivity world with a landmark deal. The ten year strategic collaboration project will see PAC sell Inmarsat's Ka-band GX connectivity solution while Inmarsat bundles some of PAC's data analytics and services offerings into its sales efforts. Is this the consolidation the market so desperately craves?
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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.
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Easing access to wifi: Telekom & Lufthansa Group integrate billing
In the Americas the relationship between Gogo and TMobile to deliver complimentary inflight wifi to passengers is well established. Europe is about to see a similar solution launch. Telekom and Lufthansa Group are teaming up to deliver connectivity in the sky as part of the mobile tariff on the ground.
Is it time for Gogo to split?
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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Lots of free wifi flying on Labor Day thanks to Gogo and T-Mobile
This year’s Labor Day Weekend holiday period is expected to break records for the number of people traveling across the USA by air. And a whole bunch of them will get free inflight wifi thanks to Gogo and T-Mobile. Every traveler on a domestic US flight equipped with the Gogo service will receive a free 30-minute smartphone session on Monday as part of the deal.
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.
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New interiors, more wifi coming to LATAM
LATAM is set to retrofit more than 200 aircraft as part of a major update to its fleet. The carrier will invest $400 million to refresh the interiors on both long-haul and short-haul planes, with new seats and more Gogo 2Ku flying.
Sky-high dreams or firmly grounded: The business of connected aircraft maintenance remains in question
“Inflight connectivity doesn’t just create revenue, it could save the airline industry US$15bn a year.”
That’s a bold claim from Inmarsat and the research it commissioned from the London School of Economics (LSE). Much of the savings comes from better weather forecasting and the associated effects: reducing delays and fuel burn. Part of the forecast savings comes from predictive maintenance opportunities, allowing the plane to track its own performance and use on-board connectivity solutions to report back to headquarters when operations are less than nominal. The so-called Internet of Things for Aviation (IoT/A) has long been held up as the financial savior of the connectivity platforms, delivering the necessary financial support to justify installations. What will it take to realize the $3-46bn in annual savings the research revealed? A lot of work, and it is unclear which connectivity vendors are truly committed to that effort.