American Dumps Gogo Wi-Fi on 500 Planes for Speedy ViaSat Alternative
Skift Take
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.
Dealing a blow to Gogo, the U.S in-flight Wi-Fi market leader for nearly a decade, American Airlines is switching more than 500 domestic aircraft to ViaSat, the same company that provides speedy, streaming-capable Internet for JetBlue Airways.
ViaSat alluded to the announcement Tuesday on its third quarter earnings call, and American confirmed it Wednesday. Installations of the new system will take "years," an American spokeswoman said. A ViaSat spokeswoman said installations will begin in Summer 2017.
This is the second ViaSat order for American, a long-time Gogo customer. In June, American said it would outfit roughly 100 new Boeing 737 Max aircraft with the new system, which, at least on JetBlue, supports video stream
