JetBlue Inks Deal to Install Wi-Fi on 130 Planes
By Jotham Sederstrom September 11, 2013 2:00 pm
reprintsNew York-based JetBlue Airways is beefing up the technology in its planes.
In a new deal with Aviation Technical Services, JetBlue is equipping approximately 130 of its planes with next generation Ka-band satellite Wi-Fi technology.
The airline carrier, which operates flights out of 79 cities including New York’s LaGuardia and JFK airports, will call its inflight Wi-Fi service Fly-Fi. Aviation Technical Services specializes in maintenance, repair and servicing for commercial and military aircraft.
“We are pleased to enter into this partnership with ATS, a proven MRO leader who shares our passion and excitement for this project,” Jeff Martin, senior vice president of operations for JetBlue, said. “Jointly, we will aggressively modify the majority of our A320 fleet with the Fly-Fi solution, while we continue to work with LiveTV to add Ka broadband onboard connectivity to the remainder of our aircraft.”
The high-speed technology will be installed in JetBlue’s fleet of Airbus A320 model aircraft by 2014. The installations will start at Aviation Technical’s Washington facility. Additional installations will be completed at JetBlue’s LiveTV subsidiary in Orlando. LiveTV designed the technology. During the second quarter of 2013, JetBlue reported operating revenue of $1.3 billion.
