The Business of Passenger Experience
Spirit Airlines will add inflight wifi as it seeks to improve the onboard passenger experience. The carrier's full fleet will carry Thales FlytLIVE hardware by the end of Summer 2019.
New seats, new screens and more live television took flight one JetBlue this week. The first of the restyled A320 planes is now in service, delivering upgraded amenities. And 12 extra seats on board.
It has been flying for a while, but the high speed Inmarsat Global Xpress (GX) service is now officially live on Qatar Airways. Some 130 777 and A350 aircraft will eventually carry the kit. And all passengers still get a free hour of connectivity on board.
Major drama in the inflght connectivity world this afternoon as joint venture partners Eutelsat and Viasat are splitting on a major project. Eutelsat is launching KONNECT, its own massive increase in Ka-band capacity in 2021 and has new partners to work with on that deal. Oh, and it is bailing on its potential partnership for the ViaSat-3's EMEA coverage.
United recommitted to Viasat’s Ka-band inflight wifi connectivity solution, with the 737 MAX fleet a big part of the news. This is yet another direct win for Viasat in the North American market.
Aeromexico's first 737 MAX rolled off the assembly line at Renton last week and all indications are that, unlike the company's 737-800s, it will not be flying with the Gogo 2Ku solution.
More than two years after initially announced the JetBlue A320 retrofit program is finally underway. The first aircraft is now in the shop and will exit with at least one previously undisclosed surprise on board.
Thales is the latest IFE/C vendor to partner with Chinese conglomerate HNA Group to deliver entertainment and connectivity services on board. But will they really fly? Concerns about the financial stability of HNA raise significant concerns about the long-term viability of the offerings.
More live TV is now flying in South America. Brazilian airline GOL and Gogo agreed to launch Gogo TV this year on the carrier’s fleet of 119 737s.
Air Canada's 737 MAX fleet is getting inflight connectivity but it might not be what was expected. The first radome installation is complete and it looks like a new vendor may be in play, with Thales breaking in to Gogo territory.
