In a shift sure to give frequent flyers hope for trips filled with Netflix binges, American Airlines is finally getting rid of its notoriously slow in-flight W-Fi.
SEE ALSO:India is still not keen to allow in-flight Wi-FiBloombergreports that American plans to retrofit 500 aircraft in its domestic fleet with ViaSat's satellite Wi-Fi service, stiffing its typical go-to provider, Gogo.
This latest order continues the airline's distancing from Gogo. Back in February, American went as far as filing a lawsuit against Gogo over slow Wi-Fi speeds, specifically citing ViaSat's faster network as the cause for litigation. While the suit was dismissed 10 days later, the gap between Gogo and ViaSat's network speeds clearly continued to be an issue for the airline.
In June, American first tested the waters with ViaSat by selecting it as the provider for a new run of 100 Boeing 737 Max planes. Even then, American also established a new a contract with Gogo for its new 2ku satellite Wi-Fi in 130 Airbus A319s and A320s.
With this latest move, though, American will actually be replacing old Gogo systems with new ones from ViaSat. In an email to Bloomberg, Gogo spokesman Steve Nolan said that this is “really old news," referencing an earlier disclosure to investors that there were about 550 planes in the American fleet that were contractually eligible for de-installation of Gogo service.
American Airlines spokeswoman Martha Thomas told Bloombergthat “Gogo remains a valued partner,” no doubt referring to the deal for the new Airbus planes. But with American flying with both Gogo's new 2ku networks and ViaSat's satellite service starting in 2017, the strength of that partnership looks like it might soon be put to the test.
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