New ATG-4 WiFi Brings Increased Bandwidth And Faster Browsing Speeds For Flyers At 35,000 Feet
Virgin America has rolled out Gogo's faster ATG-4 WiFi service fleetwide, with the completion this week of ATG-4 WiFi installation on its Airbus A319 plane "Jane" (N526VA).
In 2009, Virgin America became the first airline to offer Gogo Inflight WiFi service on every flight – a distinction the airline still maintains today. With a base of tech-forward flyers, the airline has similarly invested in the next generation of WiFi technology – with the rollout of Gogo's enhanced WiFi product to all 53 of Virgin America's Airbus A320 Family aircraft. ATG-4 offers a faster average guest experience with peak speeds of 9.8 Mbps to each aircraft – more than triple the peak speed of the 3.1 Mbps available with the first generation of inflight WiFi.
To help celebrate this milestone, Virgin America and Gogo are asking guests to share their best "office in the sky" moment on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #OfficeInTheSky for a chance to win a round trip Main Cabin flight for two on Virgin America, a brand new iPad or complimentary Gogo Inflight WiFi service for one year (full terms and conditions available here).
"Even though Virgin America was the first airline to offer fleetwide WiFi in 2009 – and still today remains the only domestic airline to offer WiFi access on every aircraft in its fleet – our goal is to continue to innovate and stay ahead of the competition," said Mark Bianchi, Senior Vice President of Technical Operations at Virgin America. "Our team looks forward to reaching the milestone this week of becoming the first airline to install Gogo's enhanced ATG-4 service across our entire fleet of 53 Airbus A320 Family aircraft. This upgrade is the latest in a series of investments aimed at keeping our tech-forward travelers more connected, productive and entertained at 35,000 feet."
With mood-lit cabins, fleetwide WiFi, custom-designed leather seating, power outlets, personal touch-screen entertainment platforms, confirmed seating and new, quieter aircraft with three classes of service, Virgin America has attracted a loyal following of business travelers for its "office in the sky" amenities. In a recent 2014 survey conducted by Travel + Leisure and Fortune magazine, Virgin America's tech-forward features helped the airline to be named the "Best Domestic Airline for Business Travel."
"Virgin America remains on the cutting edge of offering the best experiences to its passengers and we are excited to continue to work with them on creating a better WiFi experience," said Dave Bijur, Gogo's regional president. "ATG-4 has had a significant impact on the market and we continue to see positive results from this newer technology."
Gogo's ATG-4 technology includes the addition of directional antennas and dual modems on each aircraft and the deployment of EV-DO Rev B technology on Gogo's airborne and ground networks; Utilizing directional antennas and dual modem technology; and ATG-4 which the company says increases overall peak connection speeds and ensures a more reliable connection to each and every passenger on board who chooses to connect.
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