"This is a major
milestone for LiveTV," said Glenn Latta, president of LiveTV.
"Thirteen years ago we revolutionized the inflight entertainment experience
with the launch of live television, which is now seen on more than 80,000
LiveTV-powered screens throughout the world. Now, with our inflight
connectivity at speeds you expect on the ground, the onboard experience in
North America and Europe takes another major
leap forward. I would like to thank our partners ViaSat, General Dynamics, and
Sapient for working with us to make At Home in the Air connectivity a
reality."
"This is
game-changing technology, and JetBlue is honored to be the first airline to
offer this great new service to our customers," said Robin Hayes, chief
commercial officer for JetBlue. "We expect to have a number of JetBlue
aircraft installed with Wi-Fi by the end of this year, and will aggressively
roll it out across our Airbus fleet over the next 18 months, followed by our
Embraer fleet. We believe this product will redefine customer expectations with
the fastest in-flight Wi-Fi in the industry. This is especially important to
our customers on coast-to-coast flights, where time spent in the air can now be
as productive as on the ground."
The satellite-based Wi-Fi
system has completed testing on the initial Airbus A320 aircraft for JetBlue
and is currently being certified for United Airlines' Boeing 737-900 aircraft.
And, LiveTV has initiated European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification
for the Ka-band system for the Aer Lingus Airbus A320 fleet. In addition to
superfast Wi-Fi, LiveTV offers its airline customers a customizable portal and
an on-board streaming content server as part of the system.
