Disruptive is good. Affordable business class is good. La Compagnie is trying but seems to mostly be missing in the ability to deliver on a truly disruptive product or making it more affordable than the existing competition. Oops.
IFE
In-flight: The JetBlue Mint experience
Welcome on board the very first passenger flight for JetBlue Mint, their new business class product. With flat-bed seats, premium meals and even four mini-suites on board this is very, very much not the JetBlue of 15 years ago.
Join me at Aircraft Interiors Expo 2014
Want to know what you can expect to find on board airplanes in the coming years? Head to Aircraft Interiors Expo, the world’s largest trade show for aircraft interiors, where vendors and airlines meet to shop, show off new toys and otherwise explore the next generation of seats, galleys, in-flight entertainment systems, in-flight connectivity and […]
LiveTV sold to Thales: A shift in the IFEC market
The old adage “content is king” may be shifting slightly. In the in-flight entertainment market increasingly “connectivity is king.” For the providers of the IFE systems having a strong connectivity component to their offerings is key to growing their business or even just maintaining the existing customer base. In-flight entertainment and connectivity vendor Thales made […]
Alaska Airlines wants better in-flight entertainment and connectivity
Many passengers will say that in-flight entertainment and internet services are important to the overall travel experience, but it is not all that common to hear an airline executive be particularly blunt about the shortcomings that carrier sees in the offerings available. Thanks to Alaska Airlines we’ve got at least one version of that view, […]
About Delta’s narrow-body fleet “enhancements”
Look for 225 Delta narrow-body aircraft to see updates over the next three years. The move is the latest by the carrier in an effort to upgrade their fleet and provide a more consistent experience for their passengers. It represents the culmination of a multi-year effort to upgrade the interior of nearly all their mainline […]
More people are using Gogo in-flight wifi and paying more for it, too
Good news from in-flight connectivity provided Gogo in their Q3 ’13 financial report which came out on Monday: more passengers are buying in-flight internet service and, on average, they’re paying more for the privilege. The company hit a trifecta on the revenue side in their North America segment, as explained in their release: The increase […]
Gogo goes global with JAL
The skies over Japan will be a bit more connected starting in 2014 thanks to a deal between Japan Airlines and in-flight internet provider Gogo. The deal calls for the entire domestic JAL fleet – 77 planes – to be fitted with Gogo’s gear, keeping them online during their flights within the country. The addition […]
Tales from APEX Expo 2013, part 2: IFE systems that rock
I spent last week working at the Airline Passenger Experience (APEX) Expo in Anaheim, CA. The event features both airlines and vendors covering everything from seat manufacturers to IFE systems to the companies which make all the wiring harnesses and other behind-the-scenes stuff. Oh, and it was collocated with the IFSA conference which was all […]
Some observations from Gogo’s 10-Q (and some free gogo sessions!)
While I was on vacation a couple weeks ago it seems that Gogo reported their 2nd quarter numbers and actually managed to beat analyst estimates. That is certainly a good thing, though they are still not actually profitable. Reading over the Gogo Q2 2013 10-Q filing this week I came across a few interesting (at […]