february-2012

10
FEBRUARY 2012
Sponsored by
Post Modern Group
NEWS
CURRENT EVENTS AND HAPPENINGS IN AVIATION
GOING PUBLIC
GOGO IS SCRUTINISED AS IT SEEKS TO RAISE UP TO USD 100 MILLION THROUGH AN IPO
IPO PAPERS fi led by Gogo have peeled back the curtain on the infl ight Wi-Fi provider’s
fi nancials and usage stats. An optimistic reading of the fi ling says Gogo is on the path to
profi tability, after substantially reducing its operating losses in the nine months ended 30
September 2011. But some observers are not impressed with Gogo’s revelation it has provided
more than 15 million sessions to more than 4.4 million unique users – equating to a take rate of
about four per cent. Others question whether Gogo’s long-term revenue-share agreements with
US carriers are risky for the fi rm. “Ten years is two lifetimes in IFEC. Th at’s two administrations.
Some of the [airline] people who made these decisions are sunning themselves and drinking their
mai tais and don’t have to deal with it,” says a source. If Gogo’s IPO is successful, will other IFEC
fi rms like Row 44 and Lumexis follow suit? Time will tell.
APEX TC
At the November APEX
TC meeting, it became
clear that one size
does actually fi t all,
at least in the case of
installing Ku/Ka-band
SATCOM antennae
onto commercial
aircraft. ARINC 791
subcommittee chair,
Peter Lemme, says, “The
key goal is to promote
interchangeability at a
number of levels with
the aim of minimising
airline life-cycle
costs.” See the Past
Presentations section
on apex.aero for more
information.