Virgin America Looks for JetBlue-Like Ways to Profit From Its New In-Flight Wi-Fi
Skift Take
The thousands of screens on aircraft, either built-in or brought onboard, offer advertisers and brand partners many ways to reach consumers. With connectivity and advanced IFE systems gathering user data, the skies offer limitless possibilities for targeted campaigns and direct sales.
Following a July announcement, Virgin America has now launched the ViaSat-powered high-speed in-flight Wi-Fi on the first of ten A320s.
The airline has said it will let customers use the service free of charge, during an introductory period, and will then update on fees for service. But how could Virgin America make that expensive connection profitable?
Rival Gogo's in-flight Wi-Fi service, still offered on the balance of Virgin America's fleet, is already a paid connection. Virgin America should have no trouble persuading passengers that they have to spend a little to get a lot with this new ViaSat service.
"We have not yet released detailed plans around how we plan to price the product, but ViaSat allows us a great deal more flexibility and control in terms of how we price and share revenue on the product," Ken Bieler, Director of Product Design and Innovation at Virgin America told Skift. He added that the ViaSat service, "allows
