American Airlines is looking to improve the in-flight Wi-Fi experience for its passengers in a big way. The company has revealed that it’s going to install faster Wi-Fi on 500 additional jets in its domestic fleet. The order for equipment has been placed with ViaSat which is in the business of providing Wi-Fi solutions to airlines.
American Airlines already has more than 1,100 jets equipped with in-flight Wi-Fi, the airline proudly says that it has one of the largest Wi-Fi-equipped fleets in the world.
It has already contracted ViaSat to provide service on 100 new Boeing 737 Max jets while Gogo is installing its fast 2Ku satellite service on more than 130 Airbus A319 and A320 jets. Martha Thomas, a spokeswoman for American Airlines, confirmed to Bloomberg that ViaSat installations will start in the summer next year.
American Airlines has taken quite a bit of its business away from Gogo, another provider of in-flight Wi-Fi. Gogo confirmed earlier this year that nearly 550 American jets with its equipment were subject to deinstallation at any time the airline chose to do so and it also said that American was probably going to exercise that option on almost all of those planes.
Thomas said in the statement that “Gogo remains a valued partner,” and that it’s going to outfit the airline’s other jets in its domestic fleet with its satellite Wi-Fi service. ViaSat is the clear winner here, nevertheless.
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