From the Control Tower
Last week's Future Travel Experience conference in Singapore brought some great conversations to the fore, including a serious debate between airlines and connectivity providers over just who should be paying for the service. Needless to say, neither party walked away happy with the other's position.
Other discussions were more fruitful, however, and everything from digital bag tags to online flight shopping is getting an upgrade.
PaxExTRA by PaxEx.Aero
Connectivity
Global Eagle signs with Turkish Airlines for inflight connectivity
Adding more than 100 Turkish Airlines planes to its inflight connectivity backlog is good news for Global Eagle. Perhaps more significant, however, is the potential for additional program growth that come from the partnerships it established to secure this Turkish Airlines deal.
paxex.aero
In-Flight Entertainment
AirFi streaming IFE goes live on Batik Airways
In April AirFi announced that its streaming entertainment solution would be installed across hundreds of aircraft in the Lion Air group. This week that service went live on the Batik Air arm of the operation.
paxex.aero
Loyalty
Introducing Blue Basic: JetBlue’s new, most limited fare option
JetBlue's Blue Basic fare is now for real. The basica economy offering limits flexibility, effectively introducing a fare hike. And the overall reshuffling of fare families brings a couple surprising adjustments to the company's offerings, including a tougher value proposition for TrueBlue members, especially in the Mosaic elite tier.
paxex.aero
Other Industry News
Cathay Pacific delays delivery of four Airbus planes and speeds up cull of older jets but will not ground aircraft or offer unpaid leave for now as it battles Hong Kon protest fallout
Hong Kong is hurting and Cathay Pacific is one of many companies struggling in the wake of political unrest. Traffic in mainland China is down dramatically and now the carrier is deferring new deliveries and accelerating aircraft retirements. Not a HUGE shift yet, but things are getting worse, not better.
scmp.com
AirAsia to begin ticket sales for other airlines
Making good on a promise by CEO Tony Fernandes earlier this year, AirAsia is poised to sell tickets for other airlines on its website. Fernandes confirmed the plans on Monday, with further details to come in a formal announcement next week. The effort is the latest step in the company's efforts to grow beyond just being an airline into a digital services company that just happens to also operate planes.
paxex.aero
Boeing’s Humans Step In After Robots Fumble 777 Jet Assembly
So much for the robots and automation. Turns out that humans still do some complicated tasks better. And for Boeing it is another setback in efforts to improve efficiency and cut costs on aircraft assembly.
bloomberg.com