Posted by Seth on February 3, 2012 under Internet, News, Review | 
JetBlue rolled out an updated website and also launched an iPhone app today, marking the carrier’s first foray into mobile apps and also a significant update to the online presence. The new website is much brighter (lots of orange) and the TrueBlue program gets a lot of love on the new site, showing at least three different places on the main page. I’m not a huge fan of the slide-out menus that move the rest of the page around, but there they are.
Overall the website changes appear to be mostly aesthetic, which is fine. Unfortunately, however, they managed to leave the one bit of the old site that is pretty awful on the old platform. The online check-in process is still the same flash-based mess that it has been since the Sabre migration happened. That was the one bit that really needed help and it didn’t get any. There are other bits of the site, like the airport guides, that have a rather unfinished feel to them. Hopefully those get touched up soon enough.
The mobile app, on the other hand, is a pretty solid offering overall, particularly for a v1.0 product. It offers flight booking, management, tracking and check-in functionality, all the basics that a mobile app should have to be useful. But it also has more.
The flight booking option is a slightly different interface than the other mobile apps I’ve seen, most notably in the seat selection, which comes on a scroll wheel rather than a seat map picker. I’m not sure if it is good or bad, but it is definitely different. It can also use geolocation to display default departure airports based on where you are, which is a neat feature, though not necessarily incredibly valuable.
There are some bugs in the flight booking interface still (remember, it is a v1.0 product), so scrolling down to the bottom of the page can result in seeing things like all the error messages that might be displayed if something goes wrong, but that doesn’t seem to interfere with the actual functionality so not a huge problem. I expect that those will be cleaned up soon enough.
The in-flight entertainment guide is pretty basic, but it includes a list of the DirecTV channels available and the movies showing, along with reviews. The in-flight section also has details on the food and snack options, including wine pairing suggestions such as Sauvignon Blanc with Terra Blue chips (apparently the citrus finish is great with the salty chips).
The highlight of the app, to me, is the "My trips" section. The display of upcoming trips is intuitive and offers up all the appropriate information on a single screen. The online check-in, social media share (Twitter and FaceBook) and "Pick me up" email features are also very nice. The flight review bits on the mobile app are arguably better than those on the main website.
And, there is more available via the trip interface. Tap on the city and you get access to the City Guide section of the app. In addition to airport information the City Guide includes tips on sights, dining and activities in the destination cities. Strangely, I cannot find any way to access that information other than via a scheduled trip, but it is nice to see that the company is working on making that happen. Hopefully they can add more content (it is somewhat sparse right now) and they expose it more directly in the near future. It would also be nice to see this content make it into the main website; it does not appear to be there right now.
Speaking of things that I hope to see in the future, there is a section in the flight booking portion of the site, both on the main website and the iPhone app, called "Add extras." Currently that section only says, "The flights you have selected don’t offer any upgrades," so there is nothing that can be selected but it certainly opens up a number of possibilities for things that might be coming. This is separate from the Even More Space seating option, though that might be something that is listed here. But there could be other things as well. This is definitely an interesting revelation that I’ll be keeping an eye on.
Overall the app is a much bigger leap forward than the website updates. Both are nice, but the app is very impressive, particularly in the my trips section. Hopefully the Android app which is expected soon will be similarly functional and both will continue to improve, fixing the little bugs that are showing today.
Posted by Seth on September 12, 2011 under Dining, Flying, Mileage Run, Review, Trip Reports |
My decision to finally pick up my first flight on Alaska Airlines was driven mostly by the fact that they operate non-stop flights between Alaska and Hawaii. I think the lines look cool. Apparently that is more than enough to get me started on booking flights. The fact that I had a voucher expiring that I could use for positioning didn’t hurt either.
Pretty much the entire experience I had with Alaska Airlines was a treat. Booking online was easy. When I decided an hour later that I wanted to change the travel date the guy in the call center was more than happy to help out with that. Online check-in worked well, though the mobile site didn’t offer the option to change seats. I took care of that with the full site and snapped up seat 6A on the 737-800. That’s the window at the bulkhead between coach and first and offers plenty of legroom and no hard wall so under seat storage, too.
Dealing with the airport at Anchorage was incredibly easy. I arrived at the airport rental car facility at 1:25pm and was at the gate by 1:35pm. Considering that the flight was at 2:10pm maybe I was cutting it a bit close, but it worked and I got to have lunch with a friend up in Anchorage so it was well worth the risk. I probably even had time to hit up the Board Room and grab a drink before boarding but I was busy planning other shenanigans so I just headed to the gate and then boarded the flight.
Once on board pretty much everything is a paid transaction other than sodas and juices. Want some in flight entertainment? That’s $10 to rent the digEplayer. Food runs $7 for the hot entrees, though I will say that the chicken teriyaki looked pretty good. Booze is $6 which is pretty standard these days for US-based carriers, though there was a nice surprise towards the end of the flight.
The carrier also treats the flights to Hawaii a bit special. The flight attendants have leis and shirts to note the special service and there is a "Flight Plan" card on each seat highlighting the series of in-flight services that will be happening throughout the flight.
The service was friendly and pleasant, though the digEplayer sales did take a while, delaying the first beverage service a bit. There was also a special treat of sorts on this flight: I was buying the first round of drinks for anyone who ordered one. Maybe that skewed my enjoyment of the flight (OK, I’m sure it did a bit) but the flight overall was still quite pleasant.
Had I been in first class (I tried to buy up but it was sold out) I would have received the IFE for free as well as a full meal. I did manage to score a dessert from the F meal and I have to say that it was the best I’ve had on a domestic flight. Even better than the ice cream sundaes.
It was then time for the third service run on the flight. In addition to all the regular drink options this one included a special bit special for Hawaii service: Free Mai Tais! Yeah, it is just the Trader Vic’s plastic jug stuff, but it is still a very nice treat to help make sure that everyone is in the Aloha spirit heading into the descent. There is also a small pack of macadamia nuts as part of the service.
And then, an hour later, we were on the ground in Honolulu. I was off the plane and on my way to theBUS quickly and in my hotel about 75 minutes later.
Yes, I know that my experience isn’t completely typical of an Alaska Airlines flight. Not all of them go to Hawaii and I’m pretty sure there isn’t someone trying to spend a couple hundred dollars on booze every time. Still, I can see why the carrier has such vocal and loyal fans. I would imagine that if I lived on the left coast I’d be one of them.
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Tags: Alaska, Alaska Air, Alaska Airlines, Anchorage, Dining, Flying, Hawaii, Honolulu, IFE, PacificLines, review, Trip Report
Posted by Seth on August 22, 2011 under Internet, News |
It seems that in-flight entertainment and connectivity provider LiveTV just cannot catch a break in getting their in-flight internet product to a deliverable state. First there was the Kiteline product, built on the back of the old Airfone bandwidth spectrum and only ever live on a single plane. That project fell apart when they were unable to get a functional antenna produced for a wider install. From there they moved on to a satellite-based solution, promising higher speeds and lower operating costs. Assuming they can get it in the air.
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| JetBlue‘s BetBlue, the only commercial plane to fly with the LiveTV Kiteline internet service in operation. |
That effort hit a speed bump this week when International Launch Services (ILS), the company tasked with sending the necessary satellite from partner ViaSat into space this year, suffered a failure on Sunday when attempting to launch the Ekspress-AM4 communications satellite. Neither that launch nor that satellite are directly related to the ViaSat efforts, but the failure likely means a full stand-down of ILS’s operations until they can figure out what happened and how to prevent it. Given that the ViaSat launch has already been postponed due to "scheduling conflicts with other priority launches" it seems that having the launch date slip again wouldn’t be all that hard to imagine. When the project was originally announced the intended launch date was "early 2011."
On the plus side, the folks at ViaSat are saying that they do not expect this potential delay to impact the LiveTV rollout as they weren’t planning on having any aircraft equipped until early 2012 anyways. But with the rather checkered history of this bird (it was damaged earlier in the year while being transported for testing) and the ongoing delays – plus the rather suspect track record of LiveTV in delivering – it is hard to have a ton of faith in the previously announced timeline.
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Posted by Seth on August 21, 2011 under Flying, News |
United Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek has stated a few times that the company had some deficiencies in their in-flight product, bits that would be addressed as part of the merger process between United and Continental. The first of many bits detailed on that topic was the announcement that Economy Plus would be expanded to the Continental fleet starting in 2012. Other than that, however, not many specifics have been discussed. That changed today with the release of some upcoming changes that can be expected from the company to the tune of a $550MM investment.
Economy Plus Seating
While the Economy Plus efforts on the Continental fleet were initially expected to not be seen until 2012 the new release suggests that the conversion will be starting sooner. The company expects to see the E+seats on 38 Continental aircraft before the end of the year. Based on some information received from other sources it is quite possible that these first Economy Plus aircraft will be 757-300s or 737-800s. Those aircraft have been operating with temporary seats and without any in-flight entertainment systems for a while now due to issues with the Koito seats.
By the end of Q1 2012 the company expects to have 100 Continental aircraft equipped with Economy Plus seats. That number will include 29 Bombardier Q400 commuter turbo-prop aircraft which will be equipped with both a first class and economy plus section.
Flat-bed Seats
Already the leader in total flat-bed seating capacity to and from North America, United has committed to expanding their installation starting in Q3 2011. There are 26 Boeing 767s – 12 of the -400 variant form Continental and 14 of the -300 variant from United – which will be equipped with the new seats. The 12 -400s were previously announced while the 14 -300s have only been speculative recently. These aircraft are also going to be receiving winglets to improve their range and performance. This does mean the likely reduction of wide-body service in the form of 767s on domestic routes as the -300s being converted are the aircraft that service that function.
In addition to the 767s being converted the company has committed to installing flat beds in 12 more 777s by the end of the year. The United aircraft being converted will continue to be in a three-cabin configuration.
In-Flight Entertainment
The announcement also highlights updates to the IFE systems on the Boeing 747 aircraft. Rather than installing dedicated systems in the seats of the economy cabin United will instead offer a streaming media option for users with their own wireless devices. While the release suggests the decision is still out to bid the only current offering that is installed is that of gogo and the product they currently have in operation on American Airlines 767s running their premium transcon routes. There is no indication that they will be adding power outlets to the economy cabin on the 747s so hopefully your wireless media receiving device has a good battery.
The IFE systems will also be updated as part of the full-fleet renewal of the p.s. aircraft operating between New York City‘s JFK airport and Los Angeles and San Francisco. Those aircraft will receive the lie-flat Continental BusinessFirst seats as well as a full AVOD system and will maintain wifi service.
Not included in the announcement but referenced above, the company also expects to begin the deployment of the DirecTV systems on the few 737s that were delivered without it as well as the 757-300s that have not yet been converted later this year.
Channel 9
While this could arguably be included in the regular IFE section of the report but it is worth highlighting separately as it is a pretty cool feature and one that it unique to United. The company has committed to expanding the Channel 9 systems on all legacy Continental aircraft. Woohoo!
There are a number of other improvements being made as well, including upgrades to the overhead bins and a retrofit of the interiors of the United Airbus narrow-body aircraft. They also reaffirmed the commitment to add wifi to the legacy Continental aircraft that have DirecTV systems, pending the launch of the additional satellite by LiveTV to bring that service into operation.
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Posted by Seth on December 16, 2010 under Internet, News |
Without much publicity United Airlines has installed the in-flight Internet service offering from provider Row44 in one of their 757-200 aircraft. Ship N593UA was fitted with the satellite-based system and re-entered service with the connectivity active on December 3, 2010. The install is a trial to evaluate customer uptake and performance.
The move is somewhat surprising given that United has already installed the gogo service on their p.s. aircraft. It is even more surprising given the decision earlier this year by merger partner Continental to scrap their trial of any in-flight internet service options following the announcement from LiveTV that their previously promised Kiteline service would not be offered. Still, it is nice to see the carriers continuing to evaluate options and grow the connectivity options.
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Posted by Seth on September 27, 2010 under frequent flyer, Internet, News |
Apparently the airline industry is bored when there isn’t enough merger activity going on. Southwest and AirTran have ramped that pace back up again, with the Dallas-based carrier announcing a planned $1.4 billion buyout of AirTran this morning. The carriers expect the deal to close in the first half of 2011 with operations merging in 2012.
So those are the facts, at least as much as are available now in the early stages of the news discovery. What are the big open questions out there regarding the merger?
WHY?
OK, so this is both a very easy and very complicated question. Southwest has struggled of late to enter new markets, in part because it is harder to find underserved destinations and in part because there are significant barriers to entry in major markets like Atlanta, New York City and Washington, DC. With this purchase the carrier picks up – at a relatively bargain price – significant slot portfolios in all three of those cities. The slots at Washington’s National and New York’s LaGuardia airports are particularly valuable to Southwest.
Somewhat strangely, the Associated Press is reporting the move as an effort by Southwest as seeking “entry into a number of smaller markets.” That makes very little sense. Not only does Southwest already serve many small markets, including most that AirTran serves, but the value is in the larger markets. Southwest fought strongly to defeat the proposed US Airways – Delta slot swap at LGA/DCA in an effort to gain access to slots at those airports. When that failed they simply bought the slots they wanted.
The Atlanta market is nothing to sneeze at, either. While Delta has successfully fought off small entries on a few occasions (e.g. JetBlue’s efforts a few years back), AirTran has established themselves quite solidly in the market there. This move opens up that entire market to Southwest in one quick move.
International?
Southwest has historically only flown domestic routes. They’ve talked about code-sharing to gain international service but those deals have been delayed or canceled recently. This move gives them established service in Mexico and the Caribbean. CEO Gary Kelly stated in the analyst call that the carrier is committed to going international as part of this move. The destinations that AirTran serves should meld nicely with the Southwest operations so that decision isn’t such a surprise.
Fleet commonality?
Southwest is been a Boeing 737 customer and solely operated that type for a long, long time. AirTran operates a fleet of 737s and 717s. There was previously some discussion on retiring the 717s as they start to age – some are 10ish now – and it would seem that the new carrier could simply retire the type completely and keep most of their operations intact based on sharing in the Southwest 737 fleet base. The official statement today says that they will be keeping the 717s in the fleet but it would not be too surprising to see that stance change in the coming years.
In-flight products?
AirTran offers a first class product. They also offer in-flight entertainment. They offer food for purchase. Southwest offers none of those things. Both carriers offer in-flight internet connectivity, with AirTran having deployed the gogo product from Aircell fleet-wide. Southwest is in the early stages of rolling out Row44’s satellite-based system fleet-wide.
There are a lot of things that will need to be reconciled on that front. I expect that the gogo-equipped planes will convert to Row44 eventually. Once the 717s are retired there are not all that many 737s to add on to the Row44 deployment and Southwest holds quite a bit of pricing power on that front since they are the sole commercial customer for the product today.
On the seating front I expect that the first class sections will be removed from AirTran’s planes. Perhaps they will pursue a hybrid option comparable to JetBlue’s Even More Legroom product but that seems unlikely, particularly as Southwest seems quite satisfied with their open seating policy and their “fewer fees” marketing mantra, even if that isn’t completely true in terms of actual operations. Still, there doesn’t seem to be a sufficient demand in the business model to keep the first class seats around so those will disappear.
Loyalty Programs?
The loyalty programs of the two carriers are rather different and Southwest is long rumored to be working on a revised Rapid Rewards program expected to launch eventually. It seems highly unlikely that AirTran’s A+ Rewards will trump the Rapid Rewards program as part of this merger. Even with the uncertainty surrounding the timeframe for the revised Rapid Rewards, the program is bigger and more established than A+ Rewards.
Fares?
The quotes from Southwest are touting the “Southwest effect” and their intentions to bring lower fares to more customers. Unfortunately, that plan does not seem to mesh with the reality of the merger. AirTran already generally offers downward pricing pressure in markets which suggests that there is not necessarily a lot of room for fares to move with Southwest taking over. Connecting the two networks will offer a bit of expansion in potential for low fares but it does not seem conclusive that fares will be cut for consumers.
Moreover, it ignores the effect on airports where Southwest becomes the dominant carrier and sees little competition. In such cities, including Oakland and Albany, fares actually have increased faster than the average across the country.
Finally, any loss of competition almost certainly will lead to increased fares for passengers. Supply & demand doesn’t work perfectly in the airline industry but it is pretty close at the macro scale in situations like this.
Conclusions?
Unlike the United Airlines – Continental merger which was billed as a combination of equals, this move is most definitely a buy-out of the smaller AirTran by Southwest. The main attractions – NYC, Washington and Atlanta markets as well as the international routes – are likely worth more to Southwest than the purchase price paid. The fact that they also pick up a few extra airplanes, too, probably doesn’t hurt the situation, but not really critical to the deal. Southwest is dictating terms and nearly everything associated with the combined carrier will be based on the Southwest side of the operation.
There are plenty of other little things that will play out in the coming months. But the near-term view suggests that Southwest is going to be growing and spreading their wings just a bit further.
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Tags: AirTran, Atlanta, Boeing, Continental, Delta, fees, frequent flyer, IFE, internet, JetBlue, merger, Mexico, New York, New York City, points, Southwest Airline, United, US Air, Washington DC
Posted by Seth on September 26, 2010 under All You Can Jet, AYCJ, Trip Reports |
Today’s AYCJ trip was perhaps the silliest of all for me – and that’s saying something. I took a flight out to Nantucket (ACK) and back just an hour later solely for being able to say that I flew to or from that airport. Why? Because it means that I’ve now flown to every domestic airport that JetBlue serves.
Yeah, I collect airports like some people collect stamps or coins or whatever else it is that people collect. And today I picked up the last dot on the USA that I needed for my JetBlue collection to be complete when I touched down in Nantucket.
By my count there are currently 43 domestic destinations served by JetBlue. I’ve flown to or from 30 of those destinations on JetBlue; the other 13 I’ve hit on other airlines. Maybe that’s cheating the stats a bit, but I am going to pick up at least 2 more of those 13 this coming week and maybe a couple more next week as the All You Can Jet adventure wraps up this year plus another a couple weeks hence.
I’m nowhere close to flying all the routes that the airline offers and there are still many international destinations that I need to get to. And I’ll try to get to the few missing on JetBlue at some point. Still, I’m happy to have reached this milestone. Oh, and the two new domestic stations coming online later this year – BDL and DCA – I have already flown through so I’m covered for a bit there.
I tried to write a limerick to celebrate this milestone, but my efforts proved rather futile. I think we’re all better off for that.
In other AYCJ news today, I actually got yelled at (as did several other passengers) by the gate agents in Nantucket for not boarding the flight quickly enough. Apparently they decided that the “Boarding Time” on our boarding passes was when the plane should be closed up and ready to depart, not when boarding should start. They actually started the boarding before the inbound flight was even scheduled to arrive. That we then closed up and taxied out to the end of the runway where we waited for our departure slot into JFK – which came right when it was supposed to assuming an on-time boarding – without functional LiveTV on the plane is a whole different issue.
Read more of my All You Can Jet adventures here.
Posted by Seth on September 22, 2010 under Internet, News |
JetBlue has made a big splash today with their announcement of an impending in-flight internet offering. The service, leveraging the Ka spectrum of satellite connectivity form provider ViaSat, will offer significant bandwidth and a broader coverage footprint than that of ATG provider Aircell, the company behind the gogo product. Company CEO Dave Barger sums it up nicely in the press release issued today with the announcement:
This system will be designed for the 21st century, not just for today’s personal connectivity needs, but with the bandwidth to expand to meet tomorrow’s needs as well. In just the three years since we launched BetaBlue, the first commercial aircraft with simple messaging capability, technology has advanced by generations. Rather than invest in current technology, designed to transmit broadcast video and audio, we elected to partner with ViaSat to create broadband functionality worthy of today’s interactive personal technology needs.
Great news, right? Sortof. There’s a catch (actually a few).
![674451208_dBNgv-M[1]](http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewanderingaramean/files/2010/09/674451208_dBNgvM1.jpg)
The announcement is based on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) not a formal contract. Maybe that’s splitting hairs, but in the end it could make a difference. The MoU is non-binding and a full contract is expected by the end of the year.
Additionally, the technology is new – VERY new. So new that it doesn’t really exist in a form that can actually be installed and won’t for two years. The first trial installations are not expected to occur until mid-2012.
Not only are there many potential pitfalls along the way with getting the technology functional for commercial air service – and let’s not forget that getting a functional antenna was part of the death knell for the Kiteline service that JetBlue & LiveTV tried to bring to market previously – but VIaSat is also new in this market. The JetBlue MoU represents ViaSat’s entree into the commercial aircraft connectivity market.
And then there is the fact that between now and mid-to-late 2012 JetBlue will have no connectivity. While Delta (70+ seat aircraft only), Virgin America and AirTran will have fleet-wide coverage in span and other carriers will have something, JetBlue will have nothing. Having the best product is great but if it takes so long to deploy there is something lost in terms of customer value in the interim.
There is also the consideration of potential partner connectivity offerings. LiveTV was supposed to be providing connectivity options for Continental, too. Those plans went out the window when Kiteline died and Continental also delayed the gogo trial that was supposed to parallel the Kiteline effort. Can LiveTV convince the new world’s largest carrier to hold off on expanding the gogo deployment that they’ll have through the United Airlines p.s. offering for nearly three more years, offering nothing in the interim? Yes, the ViaSat/LiveTV Ka-band offering will be the best out there, but do customers today really need that or just something to get the job done?
There are no official details published by Aircell nor Row44 about the uptake on their products. No one knows just how compelling the in-flight connectivity availability is in terms of driving bookings to one airline versus another. So maybe it isn’t a big deal at all. But a two or three year wait to find out is something of an eternity in the airline industry.
More in-flight connectivity options is always a good thing. There is no denying that. Hopefully this one happens on schedule and isn’t too late to the market.
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Posted by Seth on September 14, 2010 under News |
The Aviation Interiors Expo-US may be a smaller version of the Hamburg version held each year, but that doesn’t mean it is without interesting news. This year the buzz is all about the SkyRider seats from Avioninteriors. Why? Because they offer a nearly upright “seat” with only 23 inches of pitch. When the seats take up 25% less space that means room for a lot more passengers (and revenue) for the airlines.
But will folks actually be willing to sit in the seats? And can they even fit? Important questions and ones that the company hopes to answer for interested parties throughout the show. The booth was heavily trafficked, with media outlets conducting interviews and interested observers hoping to give the seats a try. After watching others take their turn for about an hour and watching their reactions I finally settled in myself to give the seats a ride.
Take a couple employees and seat them on the “saddle” that acts as the seat and things don’t look all that terrible. They actually seem pretty happy there, though they are also in the “bulkhead” row with nothing in front of them so they can stretch out their legs a bit.
But try to get a reasonably small cameraman in there (seriously, guy, a pager??) and the camera simply will not make it.
There are even tray tables and what looked like a simulated 7”-ish IFE screen in the demo set. With your face only 7” away from a 7” screen it would be incredibly large, probably actually too big for most folks’ range of vision. I cannot imagine that working out well. With the fisheye lens the seats actually don’t look so horrible.
The saddle styling of the seat is interesting. One person mentioned that it was like riding a horse, without all the space normally associated with equestrian activities. Indeed, for folks who are outside the normal height range that the seats are designed for the saddle could prove to be rather uncomfortable. A 6’ 4” reporter from one of the news outlets tried to get into the second row and was rather unsuccessful. Similarly, I would imagine that the saddle would be rather uncomfortable for folks shorter than around 5’ 2” tall. I really have no idea how it would work for most kids.
So, how did I fare in the seat? Here’s the photo. I got in and sat there for about 5 minutes. I even moved into the middle when another guy showed up and wanted to experience it as well. The good news is that the middle seat didn’t feel particularly cramped relative to the aisle seat. The bad news is that all the seats are a pretty tight squeeze. I figured that, much like riding the subway, anything would be fine for 30-45 minutes if needed. The problem is that there is no such thing as a 30-45 minute flight. My trip from Las Vegas to Long Beach this morning was only 45 minutes in the air but I was on the aircraft for nearly double that with boarding, taxi and deplaning time. And I’m not so sure that there is actually a price point at which the airlines can sell this product that would make me comfortable enough flying it. Maybe it is just a function of getting used to the experience, but I’m not particularly convinced. It isn’t a seat and you’re not quite standing. Limited head clearance (the seats are taller to make up the missing pitch) and no under-seat space would mean less capacity on the planes for carry-on bags. Plus it just feels cramped. Way more than traditional seats and even more than the rather tight space in the back of a Spirit Air plane.
Actually maybe not on that last one. Just maybe the SkyRider would be better than the tight squeeze that some carriers offer in a traditional layout today. I certainly wouldn’t fly Spirit again based on just how awful the seats were in the back on a 150 mile flight I took with them so perhaps they have nothing to lose by giving something like this a try. Maybe there is a market for these after all. That’s a rather scary thing to consider.
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Posted by Seth on July 22, 2010 under News |
Virgin America is suggesting that they intend to offer service to Chicago’s O’Hare airport in early 2011. As part of their announcement of a major aircraft purchase – 40 firm orders and 20 options on Airbus narrow-body planes – the carrier also noted that “We still have a lot of places to expand, but Chicago remains high on the list, as we hope to inject some healthy competition into a market that is still dominated by just a few legacy carriers.”
This may sound all to familiar to fans of the carrier and it should. Virgin America suggested that they’d offer service to Chicago in 2008 as well but ultimately chose not to, citing the inability to acquire gates at the airport. Of course, there were gates available but they were in the international terminal, not the main terminal complex. That would mean an extra tram ride to connect to the main airport facilities in many cases, something that Virgin America did not want to deal with. This time around it is not clear that there are specific gates available to the carrier in the main terminal complex, but there is a caveat in the negotiations.
The airline is negotiating for an “economically viable” deal with O’Hare officials. In other words, if they come up with anything that they don’t like about the negotiations – including the gate arrangements – they can walk away form the discussions. Again.
On the plus side, passengers will get to use an awesome new in-flight map system that Google has developed for the airline’s RED in-flight entertainment system. It shows much higher levels of detail and permits panning, zooming and other features through the touch-screens on the plane.
Posted by Seth on April 14, 2010 under News |
The in-flight internet connectivity market has lost a competitor with the news that the Kiteline product is officially shelved. Kiteline was initially launched as a lower bandwidth cellular solution to in-flight connectivity, essentially the same concept as the Aircell gogo product, but with limited features – only certain websites would work – and a lower price point to both the airlines and the end-users. Since the launch of the original plane with the product, JetBlue’s BetaBlue, several years ago the development of the product has languished in development. Despite an announcement of a trial in Q2 2010 with Continental Airlines an updated the product has never seen the light of day. The Continental trial was delayed indefinitely and now the Kiteline project is, by some accounts, dead.
Ultimately the problem with the product came in the inability for LiveTV to source an antenna to mount on the aircraft that would meet the performance, weight and cost requirements.BetaBlue operates on a legacy Airfone antenna that was hacked together to provide data connectivity to the aircraft. It was functional enough to prove the concept but not viable in the long term. That’s where the need for the new antenna system came into play. That effort was contracted out to a Canadian company. That company, however, was unable to deliver a working model. Ultimately, after a number of delays in the development cycle, the contract was terminated. No further development is expected in the near-term. The future of the frequency allocation that LiveTV holds for the service is uncertain at this time. LiveTV officials offered no comment when queried.
So, what’s next in the world of in-flight connectivity? There’s still Aircell, the leader in the US market, with deployments active in roughly ten airlines. Row44, leveraging a Ku-band satellite solution is still in the market with their Southwest deployment in progress though, much like AIrcell, the business plan that they are operating under seems somewhat questionable. There is also the Panasonic Ku-band solution that Lufthansa has committed to for its long-haul fleet.
And then there is the dream of a Ka-band solution. Promising significantly higher speeds and dramatically lower costs versus the Ku-band options Ka seems to be the holy grail. Of course, no one has a functional product out there yet, but the idea continues to draw interest from various parties and is the target of perhaps the most R&D efforts at this point. There is nothing stopping the folks at LiveTV from moving into the satellite-based service space, though they haven’t made any formal announcement of such a change.
It is always a shame to see a competitor drop out of the market, especially when they promised so much. Then again, perhaps it was such bold promises – particularly with no history of developing a similar product – that should have been a red flag on the Kiteline dream. Hopefully they come back with another option in the future. Gogo is great but on the expensive side and the market adoption still lags when it isn’t being given away through a promo of some sort. When only 20% of the passengers are using it on flights when it is free that is not a tremendous vote of confidence in the commercial viability of the product.
So, what’s the next big thing in in-flight connectivity? Hard to say for certain, but it looks like a terrestrial-based product from LiveTV is not in the cards.
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