From puffins to puffery in IFC

From the Control Tower

I got a little distracted by the puffins of Mykines last week. They definitely don't look airworthy as they wobble about trying to get off the ground. But there were still a few interesting stories worth noting, including a(nother) major satellite failure and a major supplier reorg.

Connectivity

Vistara dumps data caps, adds streaming to inflight internet

Vistara has revamped the pricing plans for its inflight internet service, removing data caps from the pricing equation and adding a premium option which supports "all streaming protocols."

Leadership changes as Intelsat further integrates Commercial Aviation group

Nearly three years after acquiring the Commercial Aviation business of Gogo, Intelsat is further adjusting the group's structure to better integrate with the rest of its global communications business. As part of the moves the company eliminated the role of President, Commercial Aviation and Jeff Sare has left the organization.

Viasat suffers power anomaly on I6 F2

For the second time this summer Viasat has seen a failure of efforts to grow its global satellite constellation. The I6-F2 satellite, launched in February by Inmarsat, "suffered a power subsystem anomaly during its orbit raising phase" and will not enter service as planned.

Performance puffery in the ATG world

A CEO taking shots at the competition is nothing new. Doing so without data to back up the claims, however, can create more questions rather than boosting the product profile.

GEO keeps growing for Panasonic Avionics

Panasonic Avionics plans a 50% growth in its GEO satellite network capacity. Alas, the company won't really share any details beyond that, which raises additional questions.

Cabin Design

Taking off: On board the Atlantic Airways Inaugural to New York

What happens when a plane configured for short haul travel finds itself flying across the North Atlantic? Atlantic Airways' inaugural flight from Vagar to New York-Stewart on an A320neo presented an opportunity to sample the offering, and have some fun along the way.

BermudAir brings unique premium cabin to the E175

BermudAir will launch service between Bermuda and the USA a the end of August, bringing a premium travel option to the market. And by November a truly unique offering will take flight with the company's "Aisle Class" service.

Other Industry News

Red Way Goes Away

It appears that Lincoln, Nebraska’s longshot play to get more air service has now failed.. and remarkably quickly. The creative but risky Red Way operation has announced it will shut down at the end of this month.

Atlantic Airways launches Faroe-New York service

Atlantic Airways has spread its wings just a bit further. After three years of COVID-induced delays, the national airline of the Faroe Islands inaugurated service to the United States this week, with hopes of boosting both inbound and outbound travel for the islands.