American Airlines is extending its relationship with Intelsat, with the plan to install new high-speed WiFi capability on nearly 500 regional aircraft beginning next year. The airline currently makes high-speed WiFi available on more than 900 mainline aircraft, with the objective to bring the total number of satellite-connected aircraft to more than 1,400 once the planned updates to regional aircraft are complete.
Intelsat’s Electronically Steered Array (ESA) antennae is multi-orbit, interoperating on both Intelsat’s family of geo-stationary satellites and on a constellation of Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, providing low latency high-speed internet connection to American’s customers.
The new technology will allow these regional aircraft to match fast WiFi speeds that are currently available on American’s mainline aircraft. With the planned purchase of this new technology, American is reinforcing its commitment to provide a consistent and connected experience for customers on all of American’s connectivity-equipped flights with the ability to stream, browse, check email and even log onto VPN while inflight.
