Gogo Business Aviation (formerly Aircell) is a division of
Gogo Inflight Internet, a provider of in-flight broadband Internet service and other connectivity services for business aircraft. It is headquartered in
Broomfield, CO.
Gogo Business Aviation is the only company in the United States authorized by the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(FCC) and
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
(FAA) to use frequencies in the 800 MHz band for inflight communications. In June 2006, Gogo Business Aviation successfully bid $31.3 million for a 3 MHz air-to-ground spectrum in an FCC auction. The system is based on the TIA-856-A
Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO) standard.
History
Aircell began in 1991 in a barbecue joint in
Denison, Texas
Denison is a city in Grayson County, Texas, United States, south of the Texas–Oklahoma border. Its population was 24,479 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 22,682 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Denison is pa ...
, where company founder Jimmy Ray sketched his idea for an affordable telephone system for private airplanes on a paper napkin. Through a partnership with cellular providers, Aircell began providing analog-based voice communications on private aircraft in North America.
In 1998, Aircell received an FCC waiver granting it authority to operate its analog network.
In 2002, Aircell began offering Iridium satellite for global voice and narrowband data service.
In 2005, Aircell launched Axxess, a product that provides IP-based aircraft telephone systems, with handset and color display.
On August 1, 2007,
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
partnered with Aircell to offer broadband on American's flights. On September 13, 2007,
Virgin America
Virgin America Inc. was a low-cost airline headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Burlingame, California. It primarily focused on operating low-fare, higher-quality service between cities on the West Coast of the United States a ...
partnered with Aircell to add broadband capabilities to their flights.
On January 22, 2008, American Airlines completed the first aircraft installation of the Aircell Internet broadband connection at American's
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
maintenance base.
On February 29, 2008, Aircell unveiled the product name as
Gogo Inflight Internet.
On August 5, 2008,
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...
announced it was installing Aircell's Gogo Inflight system on all of its airplanes over the subsequent year. Delta later decided to filter pornographic content on its flights after customer and employee responses. Delta now operates Gogo on all of its mainline and two-cabin regional aircraft,
On August 20, 2008, Gogo went live on American Airlines.
On May 12, 2009,
AirTran Airways
AirTran Airways was a low-cost airline in the United States that operated from 1993 until it was acquired by Southwest Airlines May 2, 2011.
Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, AirTran Airways was established in 1993 as Conquest Sun Airlines b ...
announced it would install Aircell's Gogo Inflight System on all of its airplanes by late July 2009.
In June 2011, Aircell became a division of Gogo as part of a re-branding effort.
On February 24, 2010
Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the fifth-largest airline in North America when measured by scheduled passengers carried, as of 2024. Alaska, togethe ...
announced it would install Aircell's Gogo Inflight system on all of its airplanes.
October 2012, Aircell is awarded Dristribution Partner status by Inmarsat for its SwiftBroadband L-Band service
On April 15, 2013 Aircell completed its acquisition of
Airfone
Airfone was an air-ground radio active service developed by MCI and operated under the names ''Airfone'', ''GTE Airfone'', and Verizon Airfone. Airfone allowed passengers to make a phone call (later including data modem service) in-flight. Air ...
from
LiveTV.
The original
Airfone
Airfone was an air-ground radio active service developed by MCI and operated under the names ''Airfone'', ''GTE Airfone'', and Verizon Airfone. Airfone allowed passengers to make a phone call (later including data modem service) in-flight. Air ...
service was shut down on December 31, 2013.
On September 2, 2014, Aircell was officially rebranded as Gogo Business Aviation.
In December 2024, SmartSky Networks initiated an antitrust lawsuit against Gogo Business Aviation
Products
Aircell holds over 20 patents relating to technology for airborne telecommunications. Under the Gogo Biz Service, Aircell sells its ATG 2000, ATG 4000, ATG 5000, SwiftBroadband Service, Aircell Aviator 200, and Aircell Aviator 300/350 products.
Formation Inc, a software company, based in Moorestown, New Jersey, developed two critical hardware components of Aircell's
Gogo Inflight Internet system: its
central processor unit (ACPU) and the custom built
Cabin Wireless Access Point
In Computer networking device, computer networking, a wireless access point (WAP) (also just access point (AP)) is a networking hardware device that allows other Wi-Fi devices to connect to a wired network or wireless network. As a standalone ...
(CWAP).
Embedded Computing Design
/ref>
See also
*OnAir
SITAONAIR is a company that enables airline passengers to use their smart devices including mobile phones and laptops for calls, text messaging, emails and Internet browsing.
The company is a fully owned subsidiary of SITA (business services com ...
* AeroMobile
* Panasonic Avionics
* Row 44
* Connexion by Boeing
* SmartSky Networks
References
External links
Gogo Business Aviation web site
Gogo Inflight web site
LiveTV web site
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421232708/http://www.livetv.net/ , date=2016-04-21
Internet service providers of the United States
Satellite Internet access
Companies based in DuPage County, Illinois
Companies based in Broomfield, Colorado