• DPJ is first FAA-certificated Part 135 air carrier to add Gogo Biz 4G service to fleet

Erlanger, KY and Broomfield, CO | June 15, 2016– A first-of-its-kind fleet-wide agreement between Delta Private Jets, Inc. (DPJ) and Gogo Inc. (GOGO) will soon deliver a 4G inflight experience to DPJ’s customers.

DPJ, a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines (DAL), plans to equip its fleet of more than 70 aircraft with Gogo Biz 4G to provide a superior service to passengers. The new service will enable a reliable 4G experience – including services such as Gogo Vision, providing the latest movies, TV, flight tracker, weather reports, and additional features; Gogo Text & Talk, allowing passengers to call and text with their personal smart phones and mobile numbers; streaming video and audio; as well as face-to-face conversations with a user’s favorite applications; email with attachments; web browsing; and more – on a proven network in the continental U.S. and large portions of Alaska and Canada.

Delta Private Jets is the only private jet company affiliated with a major commercial airline – an unmatched competitive advantage in a fractured marketplace. Providing this unique technology offering is one in a series of enhancements that DPJ will be introducing to ensure a seamless, comfortable and convenient experience for customers from takeoff to landing.

“We are excited to bring this technology to the discerning customers who turn to Delta Private Jets for their specialized travel needs,” said David Sneed, Executive Vice president and Chief Operating Officer of DPJ. “We are also proud to further differentiate our company by becoming the first to offer Gogo Biz 4G on a fleet-wide scale. After careful evaluation of the available options for inflight connectivity, it was clear that only Gogo could deliver a robust experience on a proven network.”

Gogo is the leading provider of inflight connectivity and wireless in-flight entertainment solutions to the global aero market. The new agreement builds upon its successful relationship serving Delta’s commercial fleet and represents the first multi-aircraft adoption of Gogo Biz 4G in the private aviation sector.

Gogo Biz 4G leverages Gogo’s existing air-to-ground network and technology which has already flown hundreds of thousands of hours aboard thousands of business and commercial aircraft. The Gogo Biz 4G equipment package incorporates dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi service and a host of other features – all from a single, lightweight box.

Following the successful completion of the initial phases of flight testing, Gogo Biz 4G remains on track for launch in the second quarter of 2017.

“Our goal is to deliver a robust 4G experience inflight,” said John Wade, Gogo Business Aviation’s Executive Vice President and General Manager. “After thorough testing on our existing network at altitude, including air and ground congestion, we are confident Gogo Biz 4G’s performance will meet the expectations of Delta Private Jets and delight its customers.”

Atlanta, Georgia | April 29, 2016–Atlanta, Georgia (U.S.) – based Delta Air Lines has placed an order for 37 A321ceo aircraft. This order follows previous Delta orders for the Current Engine Option version of the largest Airbus A320 Family member in 2013 and 2014. Delta took delivery of its first A321 in March 2016. Including that aircraft and today’s announcement, Delta has ordered a total of 82 A321s. Each will be powered by CFM56 engines from CFM International.

“The Airbus A320 family of aircraft continues to be a cost-efficient, reliable and customer-pleasing mainstay of our narrowbody fleet,” said Ed Bastian, Delta’s incoming chief executive. “The order for the A321s is an opportunistic fleet move that enables us to produce strong returns and cost-effectively accelerate the retirement of Delta’s 116 MD-88s in a capital efficient manner.”

“Delta is an industry leader in many ways, not the least of which is contributing to the trend toward larger, more fuel-efficient aircraft for their single-aisle fleet,” said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer – Customers. “The A320 Family continues to be the backbone of every airline in the world that is paying attention to what their passengers want and their investors need. In 2015, nearly 40 percent of our A320 Family deliveries were A321s, up some 10 percent from the previous year. Our customers, like Delta, know where to find the best comfort, economy and reliability.”

All of Delta’s A321s will feature fuel-saving Sharklets – lightweight composite wingtip devices that offer up to 4 percent fuel-burn savings. This environmental benefit gives airlines the option of extending their range up to 100 nautical miles/185 kilometres or increasing payload capacity by some 1000 pounds/450 kilograms.

Many of Delta’s A321s will be delivered from the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile, Alabama. Aircraft assembly there began in July 2015, with the first aircraft, an A321ceo, being delivered April 25, 2016. By the end of 2017, the Mobile facility is expected to produce four aircraft per month, most going to Airbus’ U.S. customers.

As of the end of March 2016, Delta was flying a fleet of 165 Airbus aircraft, including 127 A320 Family members and 38 A330 widebodies. In addition to its A320 Family aircraft orders, the airline has a backlog of 5 A330-300, 25 A330-900 and 25 A350 XWB aircraft.

Going to APEX EXPO in Portland Oregon, USA, September 28 – October 1, 2015? Here is a link to the Early Bird Rates – APEX 2015 EXPO. See you there!

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Chris Fallon sent IFExpress this: “Today, Virgin America announced it will deploy ViaSat’s satellite-based in-flight Wi-Fi connectivity service, Exede In The Air, for its next 10 aircraft – offering ‘home-like’ broadband experiences with full streaming media capabilities in the air – to passengers. This is a major move for the airline, as they will now offer significantly faster WiFi service in the skies – all backed by a service level agreement to every connected passenger.”

Announcement highlights include:

• Virgin America/ViaSat partnership will bring the fastest, highest quality Wi-Fi in the skies to Virgin America’s next 10 A320 aircraft deliveries – beginning this September.
• ViaSat’s satellite system will deliver internet speeds that are 8 to 10 times faster than any other in-flight Wi-Fi system – allowing travelers to experience internet speeds similar to what they have at home.
• Virgin America will be the first commercial airline to give guests continuous connectivity access to the best available network by operating in both Ku and Ka-band satellite networks on the same aircraft.
• With the unique bandwidth economics of ViaSat-1 and the forthcoming ViaSat-2 satellite networks, only ViaSat can enable airlines to engage ALL of their guests in an in-flight, online experience just like they’d get on the ground – including streaming high quality video.

Check out the YouTube Video

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IFExpress got a peek at Tim Farrar’s (TMF Associates) presentation at the June 8 Global Connected Aircraft Summit in Washington DC and thought our readers might like to see what a connectivity expert had to say and how he views the inflight connectivity market – don’t miss this one, it’s free. Tim is a “big picture” expert and you will learn something from almost every chart.

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Aircraft security is now in the forefront for the FAA – Check out (US DOT), DOT OpSpec D301, Aircraft Network Security Program (ANSP) to support the Next Generation, e-Enabled aircraft. We contacted Mark Thompson and the quote that stuck with us is as follows; “Hardware security is the only secure way to protect your key,” obviously referring to the potential of eliminating hacking solutions to on-aircraft data communication. “I am concerned that without some positive actions, we could have an incident. I worked at McDonnell Douglas, and the worst possible thing that can happen is an incident. They happen, and when they do, we all ask ourselves, could I have done more to stop it. I like that the FAA has chosen to create an AC, we need to make sure people understand security will not increase costs at all. The FAA is going to require all operators to create a security system like what is provided by the OEMs on new aircraft.” He mentioned an article that you might want to review if aircraft security is your thing. Further here is another news source that might be of interest.

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We just discovered BOSE Quiet Comfort 20i Acoustic Noise Canceling Headset (ear plug-in’s) and since most of our readers travel with phones and audio reproduction devices, we had to pass on what we have learned and in summary:

• Firstly, they sound incredible, almost as good as the BOSE QC 25 headphones.
• Second, they are comfortable for long periods of time to listen or block out noise. While 13 -to15 hours of comfortable wear have been reported – we believe it, and they stay in your ear…
• Third, the noise reduction is almost as complete as the BOSE QC 25’s.
• Fourth, they all allow device phone calls (if using an iPhone) with volume controls, answer switch… and a neat side button that toggles noise cancellation for listening to outside sounds. (On the plane, there is the continual issue with headsets that involves answering a question from the cabin crew or a passenger seated near you. Not so with the BOSE QC 20I’s, there is an Aware Button on the side of the control case that allows external sounds to come right thru – push once and the music level drops a bit but the external sound is clear, push again and you are back into music.)

And last, at retail, they are expensive, but more on that in a minute.
You can find lots of Internet /YouTube reviews so if you are seriously considering a pair, please review there too. But make no mistake, these earphones were designed to be used with Apple devices like iPhone, iPad, iPod… and they do seem to work with all perfectly… thus the “i” in their name. The BOSE QC 20’s are for the non Apple devices as you might have guessed.

Headsets (cups) on a plane are usually the audio connection of choice because they, by their nature, limit the outside noise intrusion. With noise cancellation, they even work better. The issues that work against them, however, are “ear heat” in the confined space and ear drum pressure that seems to result from an unbalance of ear drum pressure in the cabin vs in the headphone cup/ear cavity… especially when there is a change of altitude. Further, lugging around headphones is a bit more bothersome that earphones, and we note, until we tried the advantage of earphones for convenience, we will never go back… never. While I love my BOSE Noise Canceling Headphones, for travel, the QC 20i is the new travel mate… and this doesn’t even include consideration for the zipper headphone case.

Now, price…ugh! the market demands $250 (US) if you search out retail. We checked on eBay, and a new pair went from $169 – $200. If you don’t mind “used” and have a little denatured alcohol, we have seen deals under $100.

BOSE QC 20iCompatibility –
The following Apple® products are compatible with the audio cable that has an inline remote and microphone on the QC 20i:

• iPhone®: 3GS, 4, 4S, 5, 5C, 5S, 6, 6 Plus
• iPod touch®: second, third, fourth and fifth generations
• iPod classic®: 2009 (120GB and 160GB)
• iPod nano®: fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh generations
• iPad®: all models
• MacBook®: unibody and Pro
• iPod shuffle®: 3rd and fourth generation

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Finally, from the hackerspace (Facecrooks): Delta Air Lines, Facebook Users Hit With Viral Giveaway Hoax. “A Facebook promotion from ‘Delta Airways’ has gone viral on the site, getting shared nearly 65,000 times in 24 hours. The only issue: the promotion is a hoax, and it’s from an imposter Facebook page.”

• New higher weight A330 variant paves the way for the A330neo

Toulouse, France | March 9, 2015– Just four months after entering the Final Assembly Line, and less than two months after its maiden flight, the first 242 tonne Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) variant of the A330 rolled out of the paintshop in Toulouse, France in Delta Air Lines livery.

This first, new higher weight variant of the A330-300 is powered by two GE CF6-80E1 engines and will be delivered this year to the new variant’s launch customer Delta Air Lines.

Delta Air Lines is a major Airbus widebody customer, with 32 A330 Family aircraft (11 A330-200s and 21 A330-300s) in service today and 35 more on order (25 A330-900neo and 10 A330-300). In addition, Delta has equally 25 A350-900s on order. Delta also operates 126 A320 Family aircraft (57 A319ceo, 69 A320ceo) and has 45 A321ceo on order.

The A330 242 tonne MTOW is the platform for the future A330neo and offers more capability at lower operating cost with a range extended by up to 500 nautical miles and up to two percent reduced fuel consumption while also benefiting from today’s A330 operational reliability of 99,4 percent. The 242 tonne MTOW is capable of flying missions up to 15 hours.

Itasca, Illinois | March 25, 2014/PRNewswire/– Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO), the leading provider of in-flight communications services to the global aviation industry, announced today that the first aircraft of Delta’s long-haul international fleet has gone live with Gogo’s connectivity service. Passengers flying on Delta’s 747-400 aircraft flying from Los Angeles to Tokyo and from Atlanta to Tokyo today will be the first to experience the service.

The aircraft is also the first aircraft flying with Gogo’s Ku-band satellite service, which will be deployed on across Delta’s international fleet.

“Gogo has built and operationalized a network that has the ability to provide connectivity related services to Delta’s entire fleet of domestic and international aircraft from regional jets to 777s — almost anywhere they fly around the globe,” said Gogo’s president and CEO, Michael Small. “Delta will soon have more than 1,000 planes including all two-class regional, domestic and international aircraft flying with Gogo’s connectivity services.”

Gogo is scheduled to complete the installation of Wi-Fi service on Delta’s entire international fleet, including its Boeing 777, 767, 747, Airbus 330 and transoceanic Boeing 757 aircraft operating on international, long-haul routes, by the end of 2015.