Articles tagged “viasat”

In-flight Wi-Fi is evolving from a perk to a strategic advantage. As passenger expectations rise, airlines that integrate seamless connectivity into loyalty and revenue strategies will gain a competitive edge.

We know it takes a long time to retrofit airplanes. And we know airlines hate to remove planes from service. But we wish Alaska could work faster to add speedy Wi-Fi. Three years is a long time to wait.

The good news is that Internet speeds on American Airlines will improve markedly. The bad? This will take "years," according to an airline spokesman. So travelers should be patient.

Do you like super fast Internet the sky? You might want to thank ViaSat, which persuaded airlines they could do better.

With Qantas' decision, the question arises what other oneworld partners will do next. The Wi-Fi space race just heated up again, and it never even had time to cool down.

While only 200 aircraft of American’s Wi-Fi installed fleet are involved in this counter-bid, Gogo will want to prove that its 2Ku Wi-Fi product can satisfactorily compete with ViaSat’s Exede Wi-Fi product.

JetBlue and Virgin America are certainly blazing trails on brand partnerships to support connectivity. The question is: will other airlines follow in this new frontier or just circle their wagons.

The thousands of screens on aircraft, either built-in or brought onboard, offer advertisers and brand partners many ways to reach consumers. With connectivity and advanced IFE systems gathering user data, the skies offer limitless possibilities for targeted campaigns and direct sales.

These are the opinions of one executive at one of several in-flight Wi-Fi providers that would gain great profits from expanded in-flight connectivity. We can't take his goals as gospel, but it's a vision that all flyers would like to see actualize.

Making in-flight Wi-Fi free for good would change the competitive landscape forcing other airlines to consider free connections for the future. JetBlue might be late to the game, but it's making up for it in a big way.