Uncertainty around the future of Avianca Brasil is growing as the company faces financial turmoil. Citing an inability to strike a "friendly agreement" for renegotiating aircraft leases the carrier sought protection under Brazilian bankruptcy laws this week. The move comes on the heels of lessors seeking the return of 11 aircraft for non-payment. The potential loss of aircraft is bad for the company and for its passengers, of course. It could also see a long-stalled inflight connectivity deployment finally terminated.
in-flight connectivity
Gogo claims a win in de-icing fluid battle
Cautious but confident, Gogo issued a report this morning declaring success in mitigating the deicing fluid issues on its 2Ku inflight wifi antenna hardware. More than 2,600 potential deicing events showed zero affected aircraft so far this winter.
Inmarsat wins in UK, Viasat vows to continue legal battle over EAN
Inmarsat scored another legal victory for its EAN service but Viasat refuses to give up the fight. Expect plenty more wrangling as this drama continues to unfold.
GX installation begins for Citilink Indonesia
The first Citilink Indonesia inflight wifi connectivity installation is underway. Work to add the Inmarsat GX Aviation kit to the aircraft began recently on the first of 50 A320s contracted to receive the system. The implementation is being overseen by Mahata Aero Teknologi (MAT), and Indonesian wireless technology provider.
Fiji Airways selects Panasonic for entertainment, connectivity on new 737 MAX fleet
The official unveiling is set for Monday in Nadi but Fiji Airways cannot wait to tease some details around its new 737 MAX aircraft. Among them, confirmation that the inflight entertainment and connectivity will be provided by Panasonic Avionics. The partnership was reported to PaxEx Premium subscribers last month.
Avianca launches Inmarsat GX with free trial program
The first two aircraft in Latin America with Inmarsat’s GX Aviation inflight connectivity solution are now online. Avianca officially inaugurated the service this week, launching a two month trial period where passengers can connect for free while in flight.
Gogo’s AVANCE L5 certified across the Gulfstream family
Gogo Business Aviation reached another milestone with its AVANCE L5 platform this month. The company announced that its air to ground 4G connectivity solution secured type certifications for the full complement of Gulfstream business jets. The Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) secured include the following Gulfstream airframes: G650/650ER G600 G550/GV/SP G450/GIV/SP G280 In addition to the availability […]
PaxEx Premium: Challenged to the core
It was supposed to be a massive shift of market share in the inflight connectivity world. Former Panasonic Avionics executive David Bruner claimed significant numbers of Southwest Airlines aircraft would see the Global Eagle kit uninstalled, replaced with PAC's solution, along with the ongoing line-fit deliveries. Instead Global Eagle is replacing PAC on the small number of 737s that were installed. And that might not even be the largest challenge Panasonic faces today.
In the couple months since PAC's partnership announcement with Inmarsat the company has pushed a two pronged approach to its future business. One one side sits the core competencies of its inflight entertainment business. On the other, driven by many of the new faces in the company's leadership, comes a shift towards a services operation. Both sides face challenges.
Shipping ATG out to sea
Air-to-ground connectivity networks do not work over water. The word ground is right there in the name. Not ocean, not sea. Ground. And yet, Deutsche Telekom has its eyes on changing the rules of ATG networking, bringing the technology to some overwater flights to further support Inmarsat’s European Aviation Network (EAN) operations. The idea might not be as crazy as it sounds.
Seeking ThinAir: The search continues
A couple weeks ago hopes were high for a new antenna system in flight testing. That dream appears to have come back down to earth as Spirit Airlines’ first A321 with the Thales FlytLive kit installed reentered flight services this week.