New Even Higher Speed WiFi Connection to Launch on First Virgin America Aircraft in Early 2012
Itasca, IL. and San Francisco, CA – Sept. 14, 2011 – Gogo, the world’s leading provider of in-flight connectivity and an innovator in in-flight entertainment, and Virgin America, the airline that’s reinventing domestic travel, today announced on the 2011 Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) Expo in Seattle that Virgin America stands out as the first airline to provide Gogo’s next generation ATG-4 service. Gogo’s ATG-4 service will significantly enhance the ATG network and improve aircraft WiFi capacity to the plane by approximately four times the present performance during the addition of directional antenna, dual-modem and EV-DO Rev. B technologies. Virgin America was the primary carrier to give fleetwide WiFi as of May 2009 via Aircell’s Gogo service. Known for its innovative amenities including power outlets at every seat, the airline regularly sees as much as one-third of guests on its flights logged directly to the well-liked Gogo service.
“Because the only airline based in Silicon Valley our tech-forward guests have come to expect a completely connected in-flight experience on Virgin America,” said President and CEO of Virgin America David Cush. “With Gogo’s new ATG-4 technology, we’re excited to determine our long-time partner come to the table with a brand new offering which will further improve the rate and function of in-flight WiFi for our guests.”
Gogo’s ATG-4 service on Virgin America is scheduled for delivery on aircraft beginning within the first half 2012. The hot platform is backwards compatible and makes it possible for upgrades to existing ATG systems through low-cost retrofits.
“Gogo is committed to meeting the ever evolving connectivity needs of our airline partners,” said Michael Small, Gogo’s President and CEO. “ATG-4′s increased capacity is an ideal way to meet Virgin America’s connectivity needs. We will be able to continue to develop and offer a collection of technology solutions for our airline partners, recognizing that this is not a one-size fits all market. Our experience has taught us the real lesson that multiple technologies might want to be deployed through the years, and our solutions are built to deal with changes in technology to fulfill the desires of each aircraft and mission – whether that’s through ATG, ATG-4 or satellite technologies.”
With topnotch service, beautiful design and a bunch of high-tech amenities, Virgin America has swept the industry best-in-class awards for the standard of its service since its 2007 launch, including “Best Domestic Airline” in Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 and “Best Domestic Airline” in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2008, 2009 and 2010 Readers’ Choice Awards.
During this year’s APEX awards, Virgin America captured top honors for “Best Ground Experience,” “Best In-flight Entertainment within the Americas,” “Best In-Flight Video” and “Best Overall Passenger Experience.” At APEX earlier this week, Virgin America also announced the brand new technology partner for the following iteration of the airline’s Red™ in-flight entertainment system – slated for launch in late 2012.
ITASCA, Ill., Sept. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Gogo, the world’s leading provider of in-flight connectivity and an innovator in in-flight entertainment, today announced that American Airlines, will expand Gogo’s new streaming video product – Gogo Vision™ – onboard approximately 400 American Airlines aircraft.
The growth of Gogo’s new streaming video product on all of American’s Gogo-equipped aircraft may be completed by the top of 2012. American, which became the primary to launch Gogo’s video product in August, currently has the service up and running on their fleet of 15 Boeing 767-200 aircraft.
As well as the video expansion, Gogo has extended an introductory pricing offer of $.99 per TV show and $3.99 per movie through Oct. 15, 2011. With the acquisition of a video, travelers may also receive a free Gogo Wi-Fi session to be used on a later flight. Customers shouldn’t have to buy in-flight Wi-Fi to buy a film or TV show.
“We definitely feel that our video product is a game-changer for the industry and American remains on the leading edge with this technology,” said Ash ElDifrawi, Gogo’s chief marketing officer. “Gogo Vision offers airlines a low-cost, light-weight, easy-to-install solution that’s very different from traditional IFE.”
Gogo Vision incorporates a growing list of nearly 200 movies and television shows from major Hollywood studios to provide customers a number of entertainment choices. Customers can sort titles by movie or TV, genre, length of feature, and other categories. Trailers can be found for complimentary viewing previous to renting content. Movies and television shows will remain accessible for viewing after the buyer has landed – movies for twenty-four hours and television shows for 72 hours. Unexpired rentals might be available for playback at the ground because of the similar device and browser used onboard.
“Initial customer feedback shows our Entertainment On Demand product is successful with our customers and we feel that it is a great example of the way we continue to deliver products that our customers truly value,” said Rob Friedman, American’s Vice chairman – Marketing. “Along with our expansion news today, we’re thanking our customers for his or her loyalty by extending the free internet and introductory pricing offers until October 15.”
Sprint launches New Ventures arm, adapts ID and Zone apps for foreign markets
Proton and Yes team as much as offer Malaysia’s first 4G-connected car, promise more to return
