Southwest Airlines has announced two deals to expand its WiFi and onboard entertainment options, with the carrier saying it is "committed to enhancing the inflight Customer experience and improving connectivity on Southwest flights across the U.S. and near-international destinations."
The airline signed agreements with Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic) and Global Eagle Entertainment (GEE). The agreement with Panasonic provides for their Global Communications Services, which include WiFi and live television, to be offered on a portion of the carrier's fleet. The first Panasonic-equipped aircraft is scheduled to enter service in late 2017.
The agreement with GEE extends the carrier's use of the company's Airconnect connectivity system and services.
"As the largest domestic airline in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded, carrying more than 100 million customers a year, we are committed to providing an enhanced inflight experience for our customers," Ryan Green, Vice President Marketing for Southwest Airlines, said in a statement.
"We've led the way in customer experience, being the first U.S. carrier to offer gate-to-gate connectivity to our customers while having the foresight that customers prefer to use their own devices to stay connected. Going forward, our customers will have the capability to stay connected on Southwest Airlines flights with even more bandwidth at their disposal."
Southwest is also using the planned retirement of some of its aircraft to target a fleet-wide installation of WiFi on every plane by the end of next year. The airline will no longer be using the Boeing 737-300. Instead, they'll be replacing it with the new Boeing 737-8 (MAX).
By the middle of 2017, Southwest expects passengers to be able to receive greater connectivity speeds thanks to a tripling of its current bandwidth on flights. In addition, Southwest plans to develop relationships with content providers to bring even more exclusive content to its flights.
"We are pleased to extend and grow our relationship, including continuing to install GEE's Airconnect system, WiFi and television services on Southwest Airlines aircraft," said Dave Davis, CEO of Global Eagle. "We're committed to continuously improving the inflight connectivity experience for Southwest's passengers with our next-generation high-performance network, our live television portfolio, and our new passenger experience platform. Global Eagle's new agreement and contract extension with Southwest Airlines highlights our long-term commitment to enhancing inflight entertainment and connectivity."
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