On Monday STS Aero Mod announced a big push to fit the Thales inflight wifi connectivity system on aircraft over the next 12 months. It now appears, unfortunately, that some of the details shared by the company and analyzed for PaxEx Premium readers were not accurate. Hopefully the update below helps to clarify some of that information.
Thales
Thales Wi-Fi installations begin at STS Mod Center in Florida
The next generation of Thales in-flight wifi service installations are underway. The work is being handled by STS Mod Center, a division of STS Aviation Group, at its facility in Melbourne, Florida. STS indicated plans to fit more than 100 aircraft in the coming year for an unnamed customer. Figuring out who it is was not too difficult, though.
Delta seeks Gogo alternatives as it renegotiates connectivity contract
Has North America truly run out of Ku-band capacity? That’s one of the arguments being made by Delta Air Lines as it renegotiated its inflight connectivity contract with Gogo. The company announced the new deal this week, and the potential market shift is massive.
Don’t change the channel: Live TV grounded as airlines cut costs
Survey data and inflight behavior both suggest strong demand for live television on board. But a couple airlines are cutting the service, at least temporarily. And it is not just about saving money on the subscription costs.
American picks Viasat for wifi on newest 787s
There was little doubt of the news, but also no formal acknowledgement until now. American Airlines finally confirmed that its newest 787-8 aircraft will fly with the Viasat inflight connectivity solution.
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.
Eutelsat KONNECT successfully launched
More Ka-band capacity should be online soon. Eutelsat’s KONNECT satellite successfuly launched last week and is now raising to its geostationary orbit location to serve Europe and North Africa. ANd that could be good news for Viasat as well.
Airbus, Thales bring touch screens to the A350 flight deck
Pinch-and-zoom and panning gesture controls familiar to smartphone and tablet users the world over are now availalbe to the flight deck for the first time in a commercial aircraft. Airbus and Thales delivered the first certified and equipped plane to China Eastern, kicking off a new generation of interactive experiences for pilots.
Antenna woes derail Spirit’s WiFi installation efforts
More troubles for the Spirit Airlines inflight wifi program came to light today. Antenna issues with the Thales FlytLIVE kit will require the few existing installations to be replaced and tested anew before the full fleet deployment resumes.
Thales PureFlyt brings an "entirely connected" upgrade to aircraft FMS
Thales is set to deliver an “entirely connected” flight management system (FMS) upgrade in the middle of the next decade. PureFlyt is billed as the FMS of the future designed to incorporate data from multiple sources, internal and external to the aircraft, making aircraft operations more efficient.