Oneworld member American Airlines expects to equip its international fleet with satellite-based in-flight connectivity if the carrier's trial of Aircell's air-to-ground internet service results in successful domestic fleet-wide equipage.
"My team has been working on connectivity for many, many years and we've been talking to all the connectivity providers. If this is very successful domestically, then we're certainly going to look at satellite solutions for our international fleet as well," says American manager of in-flight communications and technology Doug Backelin.
Aircell is eager to accommodate American should the US major make such a request. The Colorado-based company has been studying ways to offer an integrated solution that will allow airlines to offer in-flight broadband both domestically and overseas. However, because Aircell's solution is based on air-to-ground services, an overseas offering would require partnerships with satellite communications providers.
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Aircell senior vice-president airline solutions Fran Phillips says: "Most of our domestic airlines have international fleets and we don't ignore that, so we have been not just watching what's going on in the satellite arena, but have been testing it ourselves and talking to potential partners."
She adds: "From a general aviation side, we have quite a bit of experience with satellite communications in airplanes. We are very cognisant[and] are pretty much technology agnostic."
A large investment in the Aircell back office, for example, has already been made and this positions the company well to migrate to another technology for international service, says Phillips.
Before discussions over international coverage advance, however, American is first performing trials of Aircell's Gogo service for three to six months on board its 15-strong transcontinental fleet of Boeing 767-200s.
Customers travelling on American's 767-200s can access complete coast-to-coast coverage for a charge of $12.95 on non-stop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami.
In mid-2001, American became one of three US majors, including Delta and United Airlines, to agree a partnership with Boeing to equip their aircraft with the airframer's now defunct high-speed connectivity service Connexion. But the carriers backed away from that decision in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks.
Source: Flight International
