Call it a case of being in the right place at the right time. I chose to fly on the Thai A380 this week when planning my trip to Bangladesh for the DC-10 retirement festivities and that just happened to coincide with the carrier’s launch of the in-flight connectivity on those aircraft. And so, after […]
internet
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, […]
United’s Ka-band wifi is flying, but not yet for passengers
United Airlines customers have been wondering about the state of the on-board wifi system for quite a while now. The carrier was the last major in the United States to commit to a fleet-wide connectivity plan and, even since that commitment, they’ve appeared somewhat slow on the deployment front. There are many reasons for the […]
Fly-Fi provides incredibly fast internet in the sky, most of the time
Had I not seen the speed test results myself I might not have believed them. But there we were, 36,000 feet above the North Carolina-Virginia border flying at 500 miles/hour and the numbers were clear as day: 22mbit download! Yeah, that’s damn fast. Welcome to Fly-Fi, the new in-flight internet service offered by JetBlue. This […]
The freight train which is in flight cell phone use
You cannot stop progress. Doesn’t mean you have to like it, but good luck stopping it. Remember that as we delve in to the hot topic of the day: The FCC is (finally) going to revisit the issue of in-flight cell phone use on airplanes within the United States. The FCC’s responsibility is to manage the […]
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 […]
Gate-to-gate wifi: Coming soon, but someone has to pay for it
Now that personal electronic device use is permitted gate-to-gate on the bulk of flights in the USA (and most of the rest should be on board soon) the question becomes what about gate-to-gate connectivity? When will travelers be able to use WiFi throughout their trip rather than only above 10,000 feet? Alas, the answer isn’t […]
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 […]
JetBlue receives FAA approval for in-flight wifi system
Late last Friday JetBlue‘s LiveTV subsidiary received word from the FAA that the Supplemental Type Certification (STC) for their new in-flight internet service was approved. This STC covers the carrier’s A320 fleet. The activation of this service has been a long time coming, but it now appears that JetBlue will be able to implement the […]
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 […]