Southwest Airlines has picked satellite internet provider Viasat to supply in-flight Wi-Fi service for all new aircraft deliveries starting in the fall.
The Carlsbad company already supplies in-flight connectivity on domestic and some international flights, with customers including Delta, United, JetBlue, Virgin Atlantic, American and Aero Mexico. It has about 1,800 aircraft currently flying with its service.
The new Southwest Airlines deal calls for antennas and equipment to enable Viasat's satellite internet to be installed at the factory for new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. But it doesn't include retrofitting Southwest's existing fleet, which is served by Anuvu, formerly Global Eagle. Southwest Airlines is upgrading the existing fleet with the latest generation Anuvu equipment to improve speed and bandwidth up to 10 times current levels.
Viasat declined to say how many aircraft are involved. In a regulatory filing last year, Southwest Airlines said it had firm orders for 200 Boeing Max 7 planes. In addition, it has firm orders for 149 Boeing Max 8 planes, with delivery expected through 2031. Southwest Airlines also has options to potentially buy another 279 Boeing MAX aircraft.
The inflight connectivity market is already competitive, but it looks to get even more so soon. Elon Musk's SpaceX, through its low-earth orbit constellation of 1,800 Starlink satellites, has made no secret that it is courting airlines.
Last month, Hawaiian Airlines became the first to announce a deal with Starlink to provide complimentary internet access to passengers on flights between the islands and the continental U.S. — as well as Asia and Australia. Hawaiian and Starlink are in the initial stages of implementation and expect to begin installing antennas on select aircraft next year.
Viasat supplies in-flight connectivity to customers through its fleet of about a half-dozen high-orbit satellites, which mostly cover the Americas but have some capacity elsewhere.
Later this year, Viasat expects to launch the first in a constellation of three next-generation satellites that will give it global coverage and massive bandwidth.
Each of these new ViaSat-3 satellites is expected to have a terabit per second of maximum capacity —which is akin to 1,000 gigabits.
The first ViaSat-3, slated for launch by fall, will cover the Americas. It will be followed within six months by a second satellite covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The timing for launching the third satellite for Asia remains uncertain.
According to Viasat, Southwest Airlines will provide customers enhanced internet capabilities while onboard, including the ability to stream content and entertainment, watch live television and access social media on any internet-ready device, gate-to-gate.
The company said its network is designed to deliver bandwidth when and where it is needed — such as during surges at hub airports or along popular flight routes.
In March, Viasat announced another customer, Breeze Airways. Founded by David Neeleman, who also started JetBlue, Breeze began service last year in a few pockets of the country with 35 regional routes.
This month, Breeze kicked off an expansion to more than double its network to 77 routes, including cross-country flights to the West Coast. Breeze aircraft with Viasat connectivity are expected to enter service in October.
This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.
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