Aircell has appointed communications industry veteran Michael Small as president and CEO, replacing Ron LeMay, who will return to the position of chairman.

The managerial shuffle will see long-time Aircell executive Jack Blumenstein exit the chairmanship after a term of just seven months. Blumenstein will continue to serve on the board of directors.

Small recently served as CEO and director of Centennial Communications. Prior to joining Centennial he served as executive vice-president and CEO of 360 Degrees Communications Company.

Says LeMay: "We are very fortunate to have Michael [Small] lead Aircell. I have known him for nearly 20 years and consider him to be the ideal candidate for this position. Our timing was great - Michael just completed a very successful sale of Centennial to AT&T and was looking for his next challenge. In my role as chairman, I will work closely with Michael to ensure continued success."

Over the past year, Aircell has steadily increased the daily number of airplanes deployed with its Gogo in-flight Wi-fi solution, and says it today provides service on more than 717 commercial aircraft.

The Chicago-based firm also says it recently crossed its two millionth customer milestone and "is poised to continue its accelerated growth into the future".

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news