GOGO and INTELSAT

Gogo Inc. announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Commercial Aviation (CA) business to Intelsat S.A. (“Intelsat”) for $400 million in cash, subject to customary adjustments. The Gogo Board of Directors has approved the transaction. Intelsat expects to finance the transaction utilizing cash on hand and borrowings under its $1 billion debtor-in-possession credit facility and has obtained support from key economic stakeholders, as well as approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, to complete the acquisition. The transaction, which is expected to close before the end of the first quarter 2021, remains subject to customary closing conditions and certain regulatory approvals.

“Following a competitive strategic review process, we’re confident this transaction unlocks the full value of the CA business for shareholders,” said Oakleigh Thorne, Gogo’s President and CEO. “Combining CA, the leading inflight connectivity provider, with Intelsat, the world’s largest global satellite operator, will create the leading vertically-integrated IFC business in the world, with the additional resources and scale to support continued growth and innovation as demand for commercial air travel recovers.”

“With shared values and a clear commitment to working with the CA team to grow the business, we are confident Intelsat is the right partner. I am extremely grateful for the CA team’s efforts – particularly over the past few months. Today’s announcement is a testament to the strength of the business they have built,” Thorne said.

Gogo, which will remain a public company, will use the proceeds from the transaction to improve its net debt position and continue to invest in growth opportunities such as Gogo 5G. With greater financial flexibility, including a lower cost of capital over time, the new Gogo will be better positioned to enhance the scale and profitability of its Business Aviation (BA) segment, which is uniquely well-positioned in an attractive and under-penetrated market.

“This transaction creates a stronger and more focused Gogo, with the singular strategic imperative of serving the business aviation market with the best inflight connectivity and entertainment products in the world,” Thorne said. “The BA market continues its sharp recovery and strong demand growth trajectory, and our BA segment is exceptionally well-positioned to drive long-term value creation in that industry.”

As part of the transaction, Gogo will enter into a 10-year network services agreement under which Intelsat will have exclusive access to Gogo ATG services for the CA market in North America, subject to minimum revenue guarantees of $177.5 million.

Intelsat intends to operate the CA business as an independent business unit, led by current CA President John Wade. The CA business will remain based in Chicago.

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FLYING COLOURS

Flying Colours Corp., the North America-headquartered refurbishment, completions and MRO specialist, has redelivered a third modified Bombardier Challenger 850 to an undisclosed Fortune 500 company. The aircraft was originally completed from green by Flying Colours in an executive VIP layout and returned to Flying Colours for reconfiguration as a 19-passenger corporate shuttle this spring.

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HAMBURG AVIATION

In 2021, in view of the global Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on global air travel, there will be two special categories for the Crystal Cabin Award, the leading global accolade for innovations in the field of aircraft cabin and on-board products: “Clean & Safe Air Travel” and the “Judges‘ Choice Award”.

The two categories were developed by a task force of the Crystal Cabin Award Association, which is led by Hamburg Aviation, in collaboration with members of the expert jury, spread over four continents. “Clean & Safe Air Travel” is targeted at innovations for aircraft in the areas of health, hygiene, safety, and cleanliness. The “Judges’ Choice Award” has been designed for entries that would otherwise have been submitted in one of the eight regular categories, including Cabin Systems and In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity. The two special categories will also be open for student submissions

Award ceremony in April 2021 in Hamburg

Winners of these special categories shall, as always for the Crystal Cabin Award, be chosen by an international jury of almost 30 experts in parallel with the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg in April 2021. At the same time, winners of the coveted trophies will also be selected from the existing finalists in the eight main categories. The current Crystal Cabin Award round was temporarily suspended in March this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Entries for the two special categories may be lodged online at www.crystal-cabin-award.com from 1 October.

New format: “Crystal Cabin meets…” podcast launched

There have already been successful solutions for on-board hygiene among the finalists and winners of the previous 14 years of the Crystal Cabin Award. Now, a new podcast series has been launched, “Crystal Cabin meets…”, available at www.crystal-cabin-award.com, with experts from the aviation industry and former entrants talking about their experiences over recent months and what they expect the future to bring.
First up are the companies Dimer and Honeywell. The former was a finalist in 2017 with its “GermFalcon” concept, a cabin trolley to be pushed through the aircraft during ground time, killing bacteria with UV light. The Covid-19 pandemic has seen a leap in interest in the product, and it is now being marketed as Honeywell UV Cabin System as part of a strategic partnership, with real-life airline tests already underway. The “Crystal Cabin meets…” podcast can be heard on the official website and on important podcast platforms such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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BOEING

Boeing donated $10.6 million to a group of 20 nonprofits working to address racial equity and social justice in the United States. The funding package is part of the company’s previously announced multi-year commitment that includes a mix of local and national-level grants aimed at increasing the number of minority and underserved students pursuing science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and diversifying the aerospace talent pipeline. Grant money also will fund programs that work to address criminal justice reform and health care gaps in underserved and minority communities.

“At Boeing, we acknowledge the toll that systemic racism and social injustice have had on people of color, particularly Black communities here in the United States,” said David Calhoun, Boeing president and CEO. “As we work internally to confront these issues, we also remain focused on addressing the causes and impacts of racism and social inequality in the communities where our employees live and work. With today’s financial commitment to this group of nonprofit partners, we are hopeful that together, we can begin to make real advances in our ongoing pursuit of equality.”

The announcement builds on Boeing’s history of partnering with organizations that improve access for and address inequities in communities of color. Over the past five years, Boeing has invested more than $120 million to support under-served communities – including racial equity and social justice programs in those communities – across the United States. Boeing plans to make additional announcements related to its racial equity and social justice investment strategy in the future.

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OTHER NEWS

• Heard of the Celia aircraft? The Potentially Revolutionary Celera 500L Aircraft Officially Breaks Cover – The Drive You Will!
• Aviation Game anyone? ‘Airplane Mode’ Wants to Be the Worst Real-Time Flight Simulator – Review Geek
• And, if you were wondering about a supersonic airliner aircraft – here is one! The Colorado startup dreaming up a return to supersonic flight | Engadget
• We had never heard of Lillian Bland who, we understand, flew her own self built airplane in 1910 (Amelia Earhart was only 10 then)! Here’s more – Lilian Bland: The Flying Feminist Who Built Her Own Plane Why didn’t we ever hear of her?
• Ugh! Opinion: Forget International Travel For A While? | Aviation Week Network
• A historic flight – Historic Israel-UAE flight opens possibility for $6.5B in trade | Seeking Alpha
• Aviation Tekkie Bob Bogash sent us a note on the potential manufacturing move of the Boeing 787 from Everett, Washington to South Carolina (presently, components of the aircraft are manufactured in both locations). His comments reflect a long history of acquired companies and closed manufacturing/production locations that irredeemably changed the economies of the cities that once housed those major aviation production facilities.: ”Well, you heard it here first, picture aerospace in SoCal or Long Island – a distant memory, and by increasingly few people to boot, replaced by Costco (no exaggeration – in 1963 I worked at Douglas in Culver City, a giant plant with 8,000 engineers building the Thor, Thor-Delta, and the S-IVB third stage for the Saturn V (and DC-8 engine pylons.)  I went back past that place in 1995, it was just a vacant lot.  Now – it’s a Costco.)  Right next door was the Hughes Aircraft plant and airfield.  They built 269A helicopters and did a lot of classified work.  Hughes had a 10,000 ft runway where B-52s and B-58s used to land.  Check it out on a sat pic and you will only one building is still standing from that giant facility.  Grumman Bethpage is another example.  There are many – (BTW, Hughes sold the 269A (later 300) helo to Schweitzer Aircraft (of glider fame) in Elmira, NY; they also built Grumman Agcats – crop dusting biplanes.  Sikorsky bought Schweitzer, Lockheed bought Sikorsky; the Schweitzer plant was closed.)
  Expect Renton to head down the same road.  As the 737 builds out its backlog, anything new (????) will get built elsewhere, and Renton will become waterfront condo’s and Home Depots. But, there will be a plaque. 
  On 8/22/20 9:01 AM, wallawine1@gmail.com wrote: Rep. Larsen, who participated, said Stan Deal offered reassurance that “our presence in Washington is unwavering.” The operative word is “presence” – that could mean a rented office in a strip mall with Boeing on the door.”
  Bob also noted: “With the foxes running the hen house, soon all the chickens will be gone, and then the hen house will be converted into a pig sty.”
  Bob B.