ViaSat wins American Airlines
June 6, 2016
By Chris Forrester
In Flight Entertainment supplier Gogo currently has a contract to supply 560 American Airlines aircraft. Gogo is to lose the contract and the airline is switching to California-based ViaSat.
Gogo in a statement said that the 560 AA planes will be “dis-installed” over a number of years. Gogo will continue to provide in-flight wireless Internet connectivity and entertainment services in the interim period.
Gogo will then continue to serve 140 aircraft with its upgraded 2Ku technology. The balance of about 430 planes, mostly regional jets serving domestic passengers in the US, are subject to an option “which we currently expect to be exercised” for dis-installation over several years.
ViaSat announced its contract ‘win’ on June 3rd, saying it would be supplying In Flight services to all new Boeing 737’s on American’s fleet, and doubling the bandwidth and generating an ‘at home’ service to passengers while in the air. The first of the new aircraft will be delivered in 2017.