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The Business of Passenger Experience

IFC

PaxEx Premium: Inmarsat boosts GX revenue, cuts costs in Q3

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Inmarsat reported a jump in inflight connectivity revenue in Q3, continuing the activation and growth of its GX Aviation solution on aircraft around the world. The numbers suggest additional frames are finally generating revenue, a welcome advance for the company after the first such income was generated just last quarter. Inmarsat also disclosed that at least two recently announced customer wins remain as unsigned, lending credibility to claims that the deals are not yet final. The company also outlined additional details on how it expects the Panasonic partnership to grow.

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PaxEx Premium: Looking ahead to Global Eagle’s earnings

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Two stories should deliver a net boost for Global Eagle headed into Thursday's earnings release. They are not both good news (and one remains unconfirmed), but the positive outweighs the negative significantly.

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Gogo’s strong Q3 offset by global ARPA concerns

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Gogo revised its expectations for 2020 and beyond, announcing updated goals as the company continues its drive towards profitability. Alas, details on those revised targets will not be shared with investors. CEO Oakleigh Thorne shared that the new math takes into account "more realistic expectations" of satellite costs and the shift to the airline-directed model. Assuming the new numbers are part of the Q3 '18 numbers they should help the company significantly, though there are indications some parts of the operation could revert to higher costs. The inability for global revenue to keep pace with growth in North America is also concerning given the company's current backlog.

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PaxEx Premium: Fiji Airways gets connected

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Fiji Airways is just weeks away from delivery of the carrier's first Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. With that delivery the airline joins the ranks of carriers delivering wifi connectivity in the sky. The aircraft carries the necessary hardware for inflight connectivity on board. Official details on the vendor remain unclear but we have a pretty good idea what's under the hump.

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PaxEx Premium: A LEO milestone for Global Eagle, Telesat

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Global Eagle took Albatross One, its flying testbed, on a field trip to Canada last week and the results proved incredibly positive. The inflight connectivity provider partnered with satellite-operator Telesat to deliver data across the Phase 1 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite and geostationary Anik F3 using a common on-board antenna from Qest and modem from Gilat. The test flight proved that transitions from the GEO satellite to LEO and back can work on the company's gimbal-mount Ka-band antenna solution. During inflight testing, the team successfully demonstrated industry-leading data upload speeds from the aircraft, engaged in uninterrupted video chatting and movie streaming, and experienced the lowest latency of any satellite connection to date.

The test flights are the latest step in Global Eagle's efforts to position itself as a technology leader in the inflight connectivity world. Company executives have talked up the new constellation since the test satellite launched at the beginning of 2018. During the recent APEX EXPO in Boston LEO connectivity was a frequent topic of conversation. For Alexis Steinman, SVP Aviation Solutions, there is no subtlety in the company's plans: "We are betting big on LEO." With this latest successful test expect that bet to continue to grow.

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Eurowings, Deutsche Telekom deliver free wifi on board

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Eurowings passengers can now connect to the internet for free in flight. But can a free tease deliver the revenue boost desired? Or will passengers remain averse to paying for internet in the sky?

Welcome to the electronically steered, phased array era

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After years and years of promises it appears that electronic steered phased array antennae are (finally) ready to break into the commercial and biz jet aviation markets. Multiple vendors are now touting partnerships that will delver aero-certified hardware in the next few years. Is it really finally happening??

Delta’s first A220 flights now on sale

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The first Delta Air Lines A220 flights are now loaded into the schedule and on sale for travelers. The carrier intends to base the fleet initially at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport and serve routes focused on business travelers, with Boston and Dallas-Fort Worth the first two destinations starting 31 January 2019. Over the summer of 2019 as the fleet grows the A220 will also serve Houston, Salt Lake City, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul and JFK.

SpiceJet set to connect on new 737 MAX fleet

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Spicejet took delivery of its first 737 MAX aircraft today, ushering in an era of growth and modernization for the carrier’s fleet. The aircraft also include Inmarsat’s Global Xpress (GX) inflight wifi connectivity solution on board. The kit remains inactive, pending regulatory approval but multiple carriers now sit poised to connect passengers once that moment arrives.

PaxEx Premium: LEO connectivity testing reaches new heights

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Low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations promise higher capacity and lower latency for connections. They also bring significant challenges, mostly owing to far more frequent satellite switching to maintain a connection. Add in an airplane moving though the sky and the complexity increases further. Multiple vendors are now moving through the testing process, with plans to deliver functional solutions as early as 2019, well ahead of the satellite constellations being ready for such connections.

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