OEM Incentives Mean Big Savings on Connectivity

ACI JetNewsroom

iPad Being Held on Private Jet

Why now may be the best time to consider upgrading your inflight internet

We’ve all been there; anxiously awaiting that unmistakable *ding* followed by the monotonous voice of Captain Bob. “Uh… folks this is Captain Bob up on the flight deck. Uh… we’ve reached ten thousand feet so you can, uh…, go ahead and fire up those mobile devices.” As the pleasing orchestra of taps-on-glass fills the cabin, it’s followed shortly after by the sharp crescendo of zippers and button snaps as these same devices are stowed yet again, never to be seen or heard from again until wheels-down. “It took five minutes just to load the login page. Tiger King will take until the end of the flight to load. [Phooey]!

For a long time, this experience was the same whether sandwiched together on a 190-passenger airline or lying flat while being fed grapes on a 13-passenger business jet. For business jet owners in 2020, however, one thing is certain: inflight connectivity platforms have never been faster, more readily available or tied together with bigger incentives quite like they are today.

If you’re considering an upgrade to that old Swift Broadband system, you might have just hit the jackpot on timing. The technology for satellite based truly high-speed internet is thoroughly vetted, literally on the backs and tails of hundreds of aircraft over the last few years. As satellite-based broadband internet is no longer a thing of the future, largely driven by prestige or a sense of exclusivity, pricing for hardware and services have moved into a much more digestible zone for most principals. Also, and let’s be blunt, the current global economic situation that we find ourselves in has led to increased urgency to move equipment and enroll new service subscribers. We at ACI Jet have found ourselves in this position as well, and we are negotiating services to help incentivize owners who may be on the fence about upgrading their inflight internet system.

Frustration is measured in Kbps. With these incentives in place, this is the year to upgrade your connectivity.

Gogo Business Aviation

Technology:Air-to-Ground
Coverage:Service Within Continental US
Speed:Up to 9.8 Mbps, All Service Plans
Incentives:One year of free service, or $40,000 credit after upgrading ATG equipment.
Overview/Benefits: Gogo is a great, cost-efficient option for light to midsize jets or aircraft that never or rarely venture out over the ocean. Gogo’s ground-based high-speed internet solution can be coupled with a satellite-based broadband system to save on domestic data usage.

Viasat Global Dual-band

Technology:Satellite (Ka/Ku band)
Coverage: Domestic broadband, limited international
Speed: Up to 16 Mbps/10 Mbps (US/International), all service plans
Incentives:Viasat is discounting their hardware cost. As positioned now, Viasat is a more direct competitor for the domestic market, but is rapidly gaining ground in the international broadband space with plans to offer global Ka band internet in the next two years.
Overview/Benefits: Viasat sells their service, delivered by their satellites, and received on their hardware. Currently Viasat offers a Ku/Ka band bundled service that gets you high-speed internet domestically, and reasonable speeds everywhere else. There’s also a clearly defined upgrade path to Ka should you choose to defer.

Honeywell JetWave

Technology:Satellite (Ka band)
Coverage:Global service
Speed:Up to 40 Mbps, on select service plans
Incentives:$100,000 cash voucher from Honeywell on select services.
Overview/Benefits:For global satcom internet that is truly global, JetWave is a leading solution. It carries the potential for unrivaled internet speeds. JetWave functions on the newest global satellite constellation, possibly extending the lifespan of the system as a whole for many years to come.

All of these services are awesome in their own ways. Contact us and we’ll find the right awesome for you and your aircraft.

(805) 548-1350 | service@acijet.com