Small Business and the RecessionProfile: Aircell
Website: www.aircell.com
Home Office: Louisville, Colo.
Founded: 1991
Business: Provides airborne telecommunications for commercial airlines and business aviation markets
Interviewed: CEO Jack W. Blumenstein
In business, as in life, timing is everything, and Aircell's has been superb. "We're going to look back and say we were quite lucky in our timing," CEO Jack Blumenstein tells ICT2020. But timing alone doesn't account for the company's success. Executing product roll-outs and staying ahead of the next generation of technologies is keeping the skies friendly for Aircell.
The company began in 1991, providing communication services for private aircraft, but its growth took off in 2006 when it won the auction for exclusive FCC and FAA rights to offer ground-to-air broadband service for U.S. commercial airlines. "We went to work right after the auction on three fronts," says Blumenstein. "1) building a company for commercial airlines, 2) building the hardware products, and 3) building a nationwide ground business to serve the aircraft."
In 2008, everything looked to be coming together: Aircell's online broadband service was announced publicly on February 29 as GoGo Inflight Internet; American and Delta airlines announced agreements to offer the service on their planes; and on August 20 the service went live on an American Airlines flight. By the end of the year, the company had placed 15 of the units that make broadband use possible at 35,000 feet on American, Virgin America, and Delta airplanes. And then the economy collapsed.
Fortunately for Aircell, a bit of fortune was on its side. "Because of the high fuel prices earlier in the year," said Blumenstein, "airlines had begun shrinking their fleets. When the recession hit, they were in position to be pretty lean, mean, and effective." So Aircell decided to forge ahead, focusing on ramping up the number of airlines offering GoGo.
"Our real focus and challenge this year is on execution," says Blumenstein. "We exited 2008 with 15 planes on American and a handful on Virgin America and Delta. By the end of 2009, we'll have units on 1,500 planes."
Aircell looks to keep the good fortune coming by staying ahead of technology. Says Blumenstein, "We're starting to watch very carefully and get involved in the pathway to 4G technology." Aircell is working with companies such as Qualcomm to ensure that when 4G rolls out, it can provide its customers the same experience at 35,000 feet they can get in their offices at sea level.
To make this happen, Aircell is looking beyond corporate partnerships to staying involved with standards development at associations such as the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA). "We spend time in the technical committees" at TIA, says Blumenstein, "looking to understand and define what's going on down the road."
Coupling Aircell's commitment to stay ahead of technology, as well as delivering products on-time and on-price, with a bit of good fortune, the company looks to ride out the economic turbulence in good shape. 
