Endless loss making Gogo said its considering splitting itself up.

"Gogo is examining transactions suggested by “strategic and financial parties,” as well as from management and its advisers, with an eye on boosting shareholder value", per company statement.

With about $1billion in debt Gogo posted a $172 million loss last year. Previously the company said it was aiming for break-even by end of 2020.



Gogo Considers Splitting Business as Part of Turnaround Plan
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... round-plan

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As much as people want their onboard internet access, the business model to deliver it has yet to prove itself.

Few years ago I saw a presentation that basically explained for proper cost recover inflight WiFi charges would have to more than triple. Of course, doing that you kill off demand.

Entire business model for such products is questionable as we've seen from previous failures and Gogo limping along for so long as investors continued to throw money at them. Put a fork in them imo..

UPlog wrote:

Few years ago I saw a presentation that basically explained for proper cost recover inflight WiFi charges would have to more than triple. Of course, doing that you kill off demand.

Entire business model for such products is questionable as we've seen from previous failures and Gogo limping along for so long as investors continued to throw money at them. Put a fork in them imo..

It probably doesn't do them any good when they're refunding money every flight that still utilizes A2G due to the instability of the network. Only 3 of 35 segments with A2G this year have I been able to do anything other than stream entertainment. When you pay $17 for a day pass only to get refunded because it's useless, can't be good for the bottom line.

I bet their losses will shrink as everyone comes online with 2KU.

Sancho99504 wrote:

It probably doesn't do them any good when they're refunding money every flight that still utilizes A2G due to the instability of the network. Only 3 of 35 segments with A2G this year have I been able to do anything other than stream entertainment. When you pay $17 for a day pass only to get refunded because it's useless, can't be good for the bottom line.

I bet their losses will shrink as everyone comes online with 2KU.

I've only had two segments this year where the WiFi was iffy and even then, it ended up working for most of the flight. Your ratio of working flights seems low compared to what I've experienced and what most business travelers report.

alasizon wrote:

Sancho99504 wrote:

It probably doesn't do them any good when they're refunding money every flight that still utilizes A2G due to the instability of the network. Only 3 of 35 segments with A2G this year have I been able to do anything other than stream entertainment. When you pay $17 for a day pass only to get refunded because it's useless, can't be good for the bottom line.

I bet their losses will shrink as everyone comes online with 2KU.

I've only had two segments this year where the WiFi was iffy and even then, it ended up working for most of the flight. Your ratio of working flights seems low compared to what I've experienced and what most business travelers report.

Between DFW-SEA and ATL-SEA, I've had bad luck. Between DFW-DCA, DFW-MCO, ATL-MCO and ATL-DCA, I've never had a problem with A2G. I know many of my colleagues who don't even bother with wifi anymore because of the problems. Sure, you might be able to slowly browse Facebook, but the slower than dial-up speeds makes it really had to navigate my company's interwebs.

Consistent and GoGo don't belong in the same sentence, although I've had a monthly plan since the days AirTran rolled it out. I've learned to appreciate days when its super duper fast and cringe when it will barely load my Gmail.

Gogo says the business model is broken (as we knew)

Gogo’s Revamp Means Airlines Must Pay More for Wi-Fi
The largest inflight provider says the industry’s business model is broken, but the market thinks maybe it’s just Gogo.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -for-wi-fi

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They want to restructure their deals so airlines fund the onboard equipment directly themselves.

The company also open to industry consolidation, saying there are "too many players" in the space.

usxguy wrote:

Consistent and GoGo don't belong in the same sentence, although I've had a monthly plan since the days AirTran rolled it out. I've learned to appreciate days when its super duper fast and cringe when it will barely load my Gmail.

You really need to segregate current 2Ku from domestic ATG and ATG-4 experiences.

Like I can wait to buy a less expensive food option, on flights where they charge, till I get somewhere, I can manage to live life without an internet connection for a few hours for a cost that is maybe third to a half what I pay for wifi or phone data a month. The ironic thing being the more people willing to pay the worse the services gets doesn't help. Free wifi on board marquee airlines is probably in the future as this kind of technology gets cheaper over time and people want to be connected, but I will not be paying anytime soon. I think I can wait a bit to check what spam I have received, or worse still have to video chat with my wife the whole way across the Atlantic to make sure I am not flirting (I don't by the way).

Note to Gogo: You're losing money because a day pass is $20 (and $28 on Delta, for some reason) and a monthly pass is $60. Heck, my cell phone bill isn't even $60. Take a look at Little Caesar's business plan and learn from it (sell a million passes at $5 instead of a few thousand at $20).

StrandedAtMKG wrote:

Note to Gogo: You're losing money because a day pass is $20 (and $28 on Delta, for some reason) and a monthly pass is $60. Heck, my cell phone bill isn't even $60. Take a look at Little Caesar's business plan and learn from it (sell a million passes at $5 instead of a few thousand at $20).

Oddly, the prices vary by airline.

StrandedAtMKG wrote:

Note to Gogo: You're losing money because a day pass is $20 (and $28 on Delta, for some reason) and a monthly pass is $60. Heck, my cell phone bill isn't even $60. Take a look at Little Caesar's business plan and learn from it (sell a million passes at $5 instead of a few thousand at $20).

The problem is GoGo is too unreliable and lowering the price will result in more users which will make the WiFi unusable at GoGos current speeds and reliability. Until GoGo can get a consistent reliable service rate, the cost is going to need to remain high for those that really want to actually try and use it.

If Gogo goes under, what is the alternative for the airlines? With more and more of them removing IFE consoles, will they be forced to provide their own internet capabilities in the event that Gogo is no longer a going concern?

Reported Gogo reducing staff by 30%. 5 percent were walked yesterday, and the remainder planned largely through attrition.

Brickell305 wrote:

If Gogo goes under, what is the alternative for the airlines? With more and more of them removing IFE consoles, will they be forced to provide their own internet capabilities in the event that Gogo is no longer a going concern?

Other vendors - ViaSat, DirectTV, Global Eagle, Panasonic, GlobalXpress, etc

I unfortunately have never had good experiences with Gogo except sometimes on United. It's very unreliable.

Gogo’s 2KU has been pretty flawless for me for the past couple years. I had a couple ATG flights last month and those were frustrating, but not useless.