My Weblog

The Sky Rules

All of us at Aircell are grateful for the extraordinary response we have received since our official launch announcement in June.  Airlines, our technology partners, passengers, the media, and analysts have been extremely sincere in their interest, and remain excited about the prospect of broadband access on business jets and commercial airliners in 2008.

In many ways, a first announcement of this nature in a burgeoning industry is bound to create controversy both in and outside the space. And, with this controversy often comes a great deal of misinformation. In order to avoid further confusion for all involved and interested, over the next few communications I’d like to address several overarching issues about inflight broadband. This week, I begin with the essential, yet widely misrepresented, process upon which the bedrock of all communications is based, government approval.

LiveBlogging from the NBAA Convention

Greetings from Atlanta. What a big month of September it’s been for Aircell – last week we were in Toronto for the World Airline Entertainment Association’s (WAEA) annual conference, and this week we’re at the National Business Aviation Association’s (NBAA) annual convention. The show opened this morning, and although the official attendance figures won’t be released until tomorrow, the show seems very busy. For those of you that haven’t been here lately, “NBAA” is the 8th largest trade show in the U.S. In round numbers, it’s 30,000 attendees and 1,000 exhibitors occupying 1 million square feet of indoor exhibit space – 21 football fields’ worth.

Since it’s business aviation’s biggest annual event, it’s a good time to reflect a bit and share some thoughts on what is shaping up to be a major landscape change in airborne communications.

The Aircell Buzz is Building at the WAEA

Hi, this is Fran Phillips, Senior Vice President of Airline Solutions, writing to you from the 28th Annual WAEA Conference and Exhibition in Toronto.  More than 200 Airline Delegates and over 700 Supplier Delegates are present this year.  Aircell has already created quite a bit of “buzz” at the show, by announcing last month that American Airlines will be first to launch the service in early 2008.  Only a few days ago the buzz got louder as we announced that Virgin America will be the first airline to install its entire fleet with the Aircell Broadband System.

Airlines are quickly recognizing that passengers want the same kind of amenities in flight as they have on the ground.  With preferences getting more and more sophisticated, personalized and specialized, it is nearly impossible for an airline to choose entertainment content that satisfies all of its customers’ needs.  By putting the power of the World Wide Web in the hands of their passengers, airlines are freed of that daunting responsibility. 

Another benefit to the airline is that Aircell’s system relies on passengers bringing on their own devices.  Not only is this exactly what they prefer, but it also frees the airlines from spending millions of dollars on seatback screens and all the maintenance and aircraft out-of-service costs that come along with it.  The Aircell system is in effect “future proof” because as personal devices evolve and get more sophisticated, passengers who want them spend the money to upgrade and passengers who are happy with their current devices stick with them.  Either way, they all work with Aircell’s Wi-Fi network on the plane.

These airline benefits -- along with the aforementioned key advantages of being lighter weight than anything else that has come before (only 125 lbs), capable of installation in a single aircraft overnight, and being more economical than any other proposed connectivity solution – are all the reasons Aircell’s booth at this year’s show is booked solid.

If you haven't done so, please subscribe to the RSS feed as there will be plenty more great news from this show as well as the National Business Aviation Association's show next week in Atlanta.

Regards,

Fran

Fran Phillips
Senior Vice President, Airline Solutions
Aircell

Aircell: Inflight Wi-Fi Built for the Airline Business

Hello. As promised in my first post, I wanted to focus on what makes Aircell such an ideal Wi-Fi solution for private and commercial airlines..

To start, you should know that we’re deep on experience. Over the past two decades, Aircell has consistently been regarded as the leading provider of airborne telecommunication systems.

But that’s not just my opinion. Aircell currently holds over 30 patents that have literally revolutionized airborne communications. In fact, virtually every business aircraft manufacturer on the planet offers our products as standard features. The few who don’t regard our technology as an absolute must-have with their planes offer Aircell technology as a highly recommended option.

In 2006, Aircell continued its industry dominance by securing the exclusive license from the FCC for air-to-ground broadband frequency. This will allow for inflight Wi-Fi not only for business aviation, but for commercial airlines as well.

In short: No one has the track record for innovation, previous success, or perfect positioning when it comes to keeping planes connected across the globe like we do at Aircell.

As we’ve positioned ourselves to be the premier provider of inflight broadband Internet service, we’re eager to show you just how tailored our technology is to exceed the expectations of today’s (and tomorrow’s) private and commercial airlines and their passengers.

Stay tuned as we’ll be preparing to bring you blog coverage from the continent’s major fall events: in Toronto at WAEA: World Airline Entertainment Association, and then in Atlanta for NBAA: The National Business Aviation Association.

Best,

Jack

Jack Blumenstein
President and CEO
AirCell

Welcome to the Aircell Blog

Hi, I’m Jack Blumenstein, President and CEO of Aircell LLC, the winner of the FCC license for the exclusive spectrum that allows us to offer Wi-Fi broadband services on domestic U.S. airlines. I am proud to welcome you to Aircell and to my first corporate blog posting.

The Aircell blog is the perfect forum to communicate with our customers and partners. Here you’ll find timely information on the latest developments on the broadband infrastructure and services we’re building for both private and commercial airlines. We’re excited to use this channel to keep you up-to-date on our unique air-to-ground network, and on this exciting new application of wireless technology as it happens. Our intent is to keep you at the forefront of what’s happening during this electrifying time in aviation history.

If you aren’t familiar with Aircell, or how we can quickly (in less than eight hours), easily (all the needed equipment is less than 125 lbs.), turn commercial airliners into flying hotspots, you’ve come to the right place.

Never before has a single product been poised to do so much to simultaneously increase airline revenue, aid real-time crew communication, deliver in-flight diagnostic data, and satisfy customers longing to stay in-touch, in flight.

Please make sure to subscribe to the RSS feed, so you can be automatically updated as the Aircell team (including myself) continues posting new entries as our revolutionary inflight broadband service continues development and takes to the skies across the country.

In the very near future, we’ll be updating this blog to give you a snapshot of what makes our technology and our services so exciting. We're crisscrossing the continent this fall with our story and progress in Toronto at the WAEA Show: ( World Airline Entertainment Association), and then in Atlanta for the NBAA: (The National Business Aviation Association) show. If you are attending, we hope you’ll drop by, say “Hi” and get to know more about Aircell.

Again, welcome to our new blog. More will follow shortly, and I hope to see you soon.

Jack

Jack Blumenstein
President and CEO
AirCell