Improved wifi offerings from multiple vendors leads this edition of the Weekly Wrap, while an option for more accessible lav access is our feature interview. Plus lots more!
PaxEx
Gogo brushes off new ZTE concerns
Gogo faces new challenges to some of its government contracts as the Feds look to push out any companies using technology from a handful of Chinese suppliers.
Skip the speed test: Viasat removes caps for BizAv connectivity
You might think that 16 megabits per second is pretty fast for an inflight wifi connection. But Viasat wants its business aviation connectivity customers to have more than that. The company officially removed speed caps from its Ka-band contracts this week, allowing aircraft owners to access whatever is available in the network, whatever the hardware and the link budget can support.
Viasat expands with Aeromexico, sees massive potential in LEO subsidies
Viasat reported its annual results Tuesday afternoon with record revenue. The company also announced a couple surprises, with a new wide-body airline customer for its inflight connectivity solution and a change of plans for its future satellite constellation.
Health passports in our future: The Weekly Wrap
Will travelers need health passports to cross borders soon? And will they be tied to biometric scans? There are serious concerns about just how viable those checks could be for a quick return to air travel. Check out our conversation about that and more on this episode of The Weekly Wrap.
From 2Ku to 2Ka: Gogo ready for a spectrum shift
What keeps airlines from shifting from one inflight connectivity solution to another? Contracts are certainly part of it, but so is the significant cost to update and replace hardware on the planes. Gogo has a plan that could ease such pain while keeping airlines active on its services.
The Weekly Wrap: FlightPlan, personal screening and more!
What topics made the cut for The Weekly Wrap this week? Maryann Simson and I recap the incredible Flight Plan event organized earlier in the week by Inmarsat and APEX, health testing at the airport and more!
COVID crushing inflight connectivity: Part 2
Airlines have plenty of reasons to be concerned as the cashflow crunch threatens their survival. So too, however, do the many smaller suppliers that deliver services to those airlines. What was mild trepidation at the beginning of the year, generally tied to the 737 MAX grounding is now, in some cases, a full-on threat to the survival of these businesses. And, unlike the airlines, these suppliers generally do not have the luxury of bailout funding from the federal government.
In part two of this report we explore the impact on Viasat, Thales, Inmarsat and Panasonic Avionics.
Airlines press back on accessible lavatory plans
Airlines are not keen to update the on-board lavatory experience to support passengers with reduced mobility, citing costs and limited options as part of the objections.
Kuwait Airways selects Panasonic Avionics for A330neo IFE
Kuwait Airways expects to bring the Airbus A330-800 into service during Q2 2020. While few details are available about the configuration, Panasonic Avionics confirmed this week that its X series inflight entertainment system will be on board when the planes are delivered.