In-Flight Wi-Fi provider Gogo has just filed for an IPO, and will raise as much as $100 million in a public offering.

Gogo, which has raised over $500 million in funding, provides in-flight connectivity to nine of the ten North American airlines that provide internet access, including Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Virgin America, Alaska Airlines, US Airways, Frontier Airlines and Air Tran Airways. The company also has trial agreement with United Airlines and Air Canada.

As of September 30, 2011, Gogo had equipped 1,177 planes with internet access, representing approximately 85% of internet-enabled North American commercial aircraft and is operated on more than 4,200 daily flights.

Since Gogo launched in-flight Wi-Fi connectivity in 2008, the company has provided more than 15 million wi-fi sessions to more than 4.4 million registered unique users. Currently, Gogo has contracts to add wi-fi to another 525 planes. Gogo-equipped planes represent approximately 42% of the company’s revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2011. The company’s earliest contract, which last for ten years, expires in 2018.

In terms of revenue, Gogo posted $36.8 million in 2009 revenue, $94.7 million in 2010 revenue and $113.8 million for revenue for the first nine months of 2011. In terms of profits, Gogo has taken a loss for the past three years, with $140 million in losses in 2010. This number has reduced in 2011, with a loss of $26 million for the first nine months of 2011.

While the company has been taking losses, Gogo seems to be in a good position when it comes to the fact that it is the major provider for most North American airlines. With the new funds from the offering, Gogo will expand its in-flight wi-fi connectivity to additional North American and international flights, product development and more.

Earlier this year, Gogo revealed it is expanding beyond in-flight connectivity to providing a multimedia platform for airlines for news, movies, shopping deals and more.

And American Airlines became one of the first North American airlines to begin testing Gogo’s in-flight streaming video to personal devices for passengers. Gogo’s system wirelessly streams content such as movies and TV shows from an inflight library to select types of Wi-Fi-enabled laptops during flights.

Fellow wi-fi provider Boingo filed for an IPO earlier this year.

You’ll also be able to access Gilt for free (as opposed to paying the $4.95 minimum price to access Gogo wifi). Gogo did a similar deal with Facebook earlier in the year, where passengers could log-on to Facebook for free (but had to pay for access to other sites.)

While the Facebook deal may draw more users, it is certainly interesting to see an e-commerce site use Gogo to offer exclusive deals and draw traffic. As a Gilt user, I know I’ve definitely checked the flash sales site while on a flight and would be more incentivized to check the site if I could access better deals. It’s important to note that we don’t know how good these deals will be. But I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more e-commerce sites striking similar partnerships with Gogo in the future.

In-flight Internet is, in a word, great. However, I worry that it is severely hampering my movie watching time these days as I’m encouraged to write and work during flights as opposed to read magazines and watch movie’s I wouldn’t normally watch with the lady wife like The Box and Pootie Tang. Gogo is available on American, United, Delta, Virgin America, and Air Canada and airlines love it, as Dan Frommer points out, “because it’s a way to distract passengers and generate revenue at the same time — unlike installing TV sets and on-demand movies, which costs money.”

No Southwest, which means I’ll be flying a lot more Southwest. I get on airplanes to get away from Facebook.

Gogo Inflight and SkyMall are teaming up to offer the junk that we refuse to cover or, if we do cover, we write about with tongue firmly in cheek. That’s right: next time you turn on your computer on AirTran Airways, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, US Airways and United Airlines, you can access Skymall.com for free. Plus! Get this! If you spend $125 or more on a wine bottle chiller or a garbage watch, you get a free flight pass on any Gogo pass!

I, for one, will pick up the 13 original rules of golf and a outdoor Pieta for my patio.

Gogo Inflight and SkyMall to Offer a Complimentary In-Flight Wi-Fi Shopping Experience

ITASCA, Ill. & PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aircell and SkyMall today announced a partnership between two of the world’s leading in-flight service providers that will enable passengers to shop online from 30,000 feet. Launching in December of this year, Gogo® equipped aircraft on AirTran Airways, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, US Airways and United Airlines will begin to offer access to SkyMall.com at no charge.

“Providing customers with the ability to order from SkyMall anytime and anywhere including while in-flight was a key part of the original SkyMall vision”
Available on nearly 850 Gogo equipped aircraft, and just in time for the busy holiday shopping season, customers will be able to shop from over 300 retailers and over 22,000 products from SkyMall with no internet access charge.

To celebrate the new partnership and for a limited time, customers who spend $125 or more on merchandise with SkyMall via Gogo will earn a free Gogo flight pass valid on any Gogo equipped flight. Customers can visit www.SkyMall.com/FreeWifi to take advantage of this offer from their home or via Gogo onboard their flight.

“This is a natural partnership and signals an important evolution in Gogo’s offerings. It melds one of the staples of air travel, SkyMall, with the connectivity-enabled passenger experience of the future,” said Ash ElDifrawi, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Aircell. “This collaboration demonstrates how the Gogo platform can be used to enhance the passenger experience through strategic partnerships with companies like SkyMall.”

“Providing customers with the ability to order from SkyMall anytime and anywhere including while in-flight was a key part of the original SkyMall vision,” said Jay Scannell, COO of SkyMall. “With Gogo now available on thousands of daily airline departures, this partnership will allow us to enhance the customer experience by leveraging our investments in e-commerce and mobile commerce. We will further empower today’s mobile consumer to shop whenever they want through the channel of their choice.”

Through this partnership, SkyMall is now able to offer access to an expanded selection of merchandise and a full, digital rich, multi-media shopping experience for its customers while they are onboard and connected to Gogo’s Wi-Fi service from their laptop or mobile device.

With Gogo, passengers can shop from SkyMall; browse the Web; access online music, games and podcasts; send and receive e-mail; and connect to virtual private networks while flying. The easy-to-use service provides passengers with full internet access on any Wi-Fi-equipped laptop or personal electronic device at speeds similar to wireless mobile broadband services on the ground.

Image from Mike Doughty’s site. Yeah, that Mike Doughty. When is the last time you listened to Ruby Vroom? And you call yourself a fan. Whatevs.

Last week, T-Mobile teased us all with a little jab on Twitter about the HTC HD2 that it will be shipping soon. It was exciting and, to be frank, it made me a little antsy. As promised, T-Mobile announced new features for the HD2 at Mobile World Congress today and I’ve gotta say, it isn’t all that thrilling.

If you’ve ever held the HD2 in your hands as I have (jealous much?), you’ll notice that the screen is unusually huge and vivid. The 4.3-inch WVGA display is perfect for games and movies. Coupled with Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor, this phone has a lot of multimedia potential. So that’s exactly what T-Mobile is doing — pumping up the media and fun.

The HD2 will come with Blockbuster On Demand so you can download videos wherever you are, and you’ll also be able to view that content on your TV, Blu-ray player and PC with Blockbuster software. To get the ball rolling, the HD2 will come pre-loaded with “Transformers” and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” right on the 16GB memory card.

Goodies thrown into the package are MobiTV, free Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi for up to six months, and Barnes & Noble’s e-Reader app. Did I say this device wasn’t that thrilling? I take that back. The only reason not to get one of these bad boys is if you have a serious aversion to Windows Mobile, especially with Windows Phone 7 coming later this year. Otherwise, if you find yourself drooling over this phone’s features, you’ll be waiting in anticipation until an official release date is announced.

[via CNet]

The airline WiFi roll-out continues! Next up is Continental installing Gogo service in 21 of its 757-300 planes by the second quarter of 2010. Prices will start at $4.95, but depending on the flight’s length, can cost a bit more. This is clearly the most exciting news of the day.

Continental Airlines to Offer Gogo Inflight Internet Service

HOUSTON, Dec. 16 — Continental Airlines today announced that, beginning in the second quarter 2010, it will offer Gogo Inflight Internet service on its fleet of 21 Boeing 757-300 aircraft that primarily serve domestic routes.

“We’ve been closely watching technology developments to offer onboard connectivity for our customers,” said Mark Bergsrud, Continental’s senior vice president of marketing programs. “We are excited to be able to offer our customers Internet service, giving them the ability to connect to colleagues, friends and family and work, learn and play while flying.”

The new Gogo Inflight Internet service will provide customers full Internet access on their own standard, Wi-Fi equipped laptop or Personal Electronic Device (PED) at speeds similar to wireless mobile broadband services on the ground. Customers will be able to sign up and log in once the aircraft reaches 10,000 feet. The Gogo system, powered by the Aircell Network and available in the continental U.S., will be available to customers at a cost from $4.95 and up, based on length of flight.

“Aircell and Continental share a common focus on putting our customers first,” said Ron LeMay, Aircell’s President and CEO. “The addition of Gogo Inflight Internet service to Continental’s suite of amenities is simply the latest example of the airline’s ongoing commitment to service excellence, and we’re proud to be part of that. Soon, Continental’s passengers will be able to use Gogo to do virtually anything they want on the Internet — e-mail, chat, poke, tweet, download, upload, shop. In short, flying time is about to become their time.”

Continental Airlines is the world’s fifth largest airline. Continental, together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more than 2,400 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, serving 130 domestic and 132 international destinations.

Continental is a member of Star Alliance, which provides access to more than 900 additional points

in 169 countries via 24 other member airlines. With more than 41,000 employees, Continental has hubs serving New York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and together with its regional partners, carries approximately 63 million passengers per year. For more company information, go to continental.com.

Of course this is aimed at getting more people to pay for the service, which costs $12.95 per flight. But hey, you can’t turn down free Internet. Your boss will love it.

United Airlines Introduces Try-Before-You-Buy Wi-Fi Promotion
Gogo ® Inflight Internet now available on all p.s. flights

CHICAGO, Nov. 23, 2009 – Just in time for the busy Thanksgiving holidays, United Airlines customers on transcontinental p.s. (SM) flights can enjoy a complimentary
onboard Internet session with the new Try-Before-You-Buy promotion, offered in conjunction with airborne communications provider Aircell.

Through Dec. 31, first-time users of Aircell’s Gogo ® Inflight Internet service will be offered one free session upon creating a new account.

Gogo enables customers with Wi-Fi enabled devices such as laptops, smartphones and PDAs to surf the Web, check e-mail, send and receive instant messages, and access a corporate VPN.

The service is available on all of United’s p.s. flights between New York Kennedy and the airline’s Los Angeles and San Francisco hubs.

“Gogo Inflight Internet service on our p.s. flights provides our customers with an even more productive and enjoyable travel experience,” says Allen Will, managing director of strategic aircraft programs. “With Gogo Inflight Internet and an AC power port at every seat, p.s. customers will get more accomplished in the air this holiday season, leaving time for more holiday cheer on the ground.”

For more information on United’s inflight Internet service, visit united.com/Wi-Fi.

About United
United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAUA) operates approximately 3,300* flights a day on United and United Express to more than 200 U.S. domestic and international destinations from its hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C. With key global air rights in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and Latin America, United is one of the largest international carriers based in the United States. United also is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides connections for our customers to 1,071 destinations in 171 countries worldwide. United’s 47,000 employees reside in every U.S. state and in many countries around the world. News releases and other information about United can be found at the company’s Web site at united.com.

*Based on United’s forward-looking flight schedule for October 2009 to October 2010.

Congrats to US Airways for striking up a deal with Aircell to deploy Gogo on their fleet of 50 A321 aeroplanes.

Condolences to the hard working folks who will have to wait until 2010 to use the in-flight Wi-Fi service.

Aircell and American Airlines have just announced that the domestic carrier will continue to deploy Gogo throughout 300 planes in the next two years. Starting this year, AA will outfit 150 MD-80 aircrafts followed by Boeing 737-800s. Gogo is currently available on non-stop AA flights originating from JFK to SFO, LAX and MIA. Flights longer than three hours cost $13 while flights shorter than that cost $10 and there’s a mobile device plan for $8. That is all.

Come chat with me on Ustream on my Virgin America flight and watch people walk by! I’ll be turning on my camera every hour or so and I’ll be chatting live from 35,000 feet.

I’ll also be IMing with Virgin America’s IFE engineer James Weatherson around 6PM PT today and I’ll post a transcript. He’s in charge of the Red entertainment system on-board all VA flights and we’ll find out what we can expect to see from the in-flight entertainment system this year.

If you have any questions you’d like me to ask him, feel free to leave a comment.

Update: If you feel like chatting on AIM then hit me up at crunchtips, kids.

Update 2: James wasn’t able to join us, so we’re going off the air. We’ll update if he manages to get online. Otherwise, we’ll have an in-person interview later this week.

http://www.ustream.tv/IrcClient.swf

Alaska Airlines has announced that they’ve started testing Row 44’s satellite-based Wi-Fi service on a handful of Boeing 737-700s. The first trial flight will take place between Seattle and San Jose (leaves Seattle at 2:20 PT today and returns on Flight 329 from San Jose back to Seattle) and the service will be free for 60 days. After today that aircraft will shift routes, which includes anything going up and down the West Coast and Alaska. No exact date has been attached to the trial (but I would assume it’s today or sometime this week) and pricing hasn’t been set, but I’d imagine it’s close to what VA or AA is charging for Aircell’s Gogo service.

SEATTLE — Alaska Airlines today will launch a customer trial of its new satellite-based wireless Internet service. Named Alaska Airlines Inflight Wi-Fi, the service can be used inflight on any Wi-Fi enabled device such as a laptop, smartphone or portable media player.
Onboard Alaska Airlines’ specially-equipped Boeing 737-700 passengers will now be able to engage in a range of activities including browsing the Web; accessing online music, games, podcasts and webcasts; sending and receiving e-mail; and connecting to Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). The service will be free at the start of the trial, which is scheduled to begin on an afternoon flight between Seattle and San Jose, Calif., and will run for about 60 days. After a successful trial period, the airline will determine the schedule for rolling out the commercial availability of its wireless Internet service to its entire fleet of aircraft.
“We’re thrilled to be able to offer our passengers a way to stay connected to what matters most to them while en route to their destinations,” said Steve Jarvis, Alaska’s vice president of marketing, sales and customer experience. “This is a service that everyone can use, whether it’s for business or entertainment. Our service gives passengers a choice in how they spend their time while traveling and enhances the inflight experience.”
Alaska Airlines and Row 44 have cooperated for more than two years to bring this service to market. “Alaska Airlines continues its long track record of deploying innovative technologies,” said John Guidon, CEO for Row 44. “We are proud to be associated with their team and thrilled that such a forward-thinking airline selected Row 44’s inflight satellite broadband service.”
The airline conducted extensive ground and inflight tests of the technology prior to the launch of the service trial to ensure the system does not interfere with aircraft navigation equipment. In addition, the aircraft equipment has received complete airworthiness certification from the Federal Aviation Administration. The service is being offered on a trial basis and has not yet received final Federal Communications Commission approval.
As Henry Harteveldt, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research said in a recent article entitled “Online on High” on CNN.com, “I expect there to be two groups of airlines: those that have announced plans to have Internet access and those that will wonder why they have lost passengers.”

Internet for everyone
Alaska Airlines Inflight Wi-Fi works with a broad range of Wi-Fi-enabled devices and will allow business and leisure travelers the convenience of a high-speed network comparable to their office or home connection. The Inflight Wi-Fi splash page contains live news, music, shopping and links to practical services on Alaska’s award-winning Web site, alaskaair.com. Additionally, passengers can:

* Browse the Web
* Access online music, games, podcasts, webcasts, etc.
* Instant message friends, family and colleagues
* Send and receive e-mail
* Access corporate networks via VPN

Alaska has long pioneered technology to improve the customer experience. The airline was the first in North America to sell tickets online in 1995 and, four years later, was the first carrier worldwide to offer Internet check-in and boarding passes.

Pricing and availability
Final pricing for the service has not been determined. The airline plans to use customer feedback to design a flexible pricing structure that will be affordable and competitive with other services in the industry.

Virgin America, my favorite domestic airline, is launching service to and from Boston today with three daily routes from LA and two daily routes from San Francisco. This is important for those traveling between Boston and California because all flights to and from Boston are equipped with Aircell’s Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi service.

In anticipation of the Boston launch, Virgin America asked Boston residents to nominate a non-profit agency in the area that was doing good and changing things for the better. And tonight in Boston, Sir Richard Branson will donate $25,000 on behalf of Virgin Unite (the non-profit foundation of the Virgin Group).

Virgin America’s and Virgin Unite’s selected non-profits:
v Green for All is committed to building a green economy that will help lift people out of poverty. The group focuses on connecting underserved communities to the emerging green economy through job creation and training, including projects in New Bedford. http://www.greenforall.org/

v KIPP Academy Lynn is a free public middle school modeled on the nationally recognized, tested and proven Knowledge is Power Program, a network of not-for-profit charter schools that prepares underserved kids for college. Virgin America has been a KIPP partner since 2007. http://www.kipplynn.org/about.php

v StandUp For Kids, Boston is a national all volunteer non-profit that has been active for 19 years, and works in the Boston area to get kids off the streets and to make a difference in the lives of at-risk and homeless youth. http://www.standupforkids.org/local/massachusetts/Boston

The top voted “revolutionary” non-profit on www.revolutiontakesflight.com:
v The Friendship Circle of Sharon teams up teens with special needs children. Now in its 15th year, the non-profit is powered by hundreds of teens who volunteer their time to engage special needs children in a wide range of activities and to provide their parents with respite and support. http://www.sharonfriends.org/

The runner-up in the popular vote was Boston Medical Center’s pediatric at-risk unit, the SPARK Center, which offers comprehensive, state-of-the-art medical care for Boston’s most at-risk children. www.bmc.org/spark

The following aircrafts are Wi-Fi-enabled:

638
529
530
521
522
526
629
525
527

Also, here’s video from the Boston press conference…

United has signed on with Aircell to bring the Internets to the skies making it harder for us to have some peace and quiet on those transcon flights. They now join Air Canada, American Airlines, Delta and Virgin America. In what appears to be the norm for these Wi-Fi equipped flights, you can expect to have service on flights from New York’s JFK to SFO and LAX. All 13 Boeing 757s in the United stable will be Internet ready in the second half of this year. United is offering the service to all cabins at a flat rate of $12.95.

Our buds over at Jaunted just gave us the heads up that Virgin America will begin rolling out Aircell‘s Gogo service, which we reviewed back in August, on November 22. The “beta” flight will take off from SFO, VA’s HQ, to JFK. Virgin plans to roll out the in-flight broadband service on one plane per week with a full rollout scheduled by March 2009. Oh, and they won’t be filtering the service either. The RED system will eventually be wired in as well, but we won’t see that happen until later on in 2009.

Based on the feedback of our customers and employees, American Airlines is working with Aircell(R) to implement technology to filter pornographic content over the Gogo(R) inflight Internet service.

I guess you’ll have to “pack in” your own stuff and not rely on the bounty of the internet. You filthy animal.

Canadian travelers will soon be able to emulate their favorite CrunchGear blogger, Peter Ha, as they glom on to Aircell’s Gogo wireless internet service aboard their next international Air Canada flight. You’ll recall that Sweet Pete recently blogged from 37,000 feet using Gogo service aboard American Airlines. What fun we all had!

You’ll have to wait until at least spring of 2009, as that’s when Air Canada hopes to start rolling out the service on its fleet of Airbus A319 airplanes that fly between Canada and the United States.

Aircell released this statement regarding the situation because everyone and their mother is all aflutter about it in the tech space of the Interwebs.

It is against American’s policy and Gogo’s terms of service to use VoIP. Aircell has multiple protocols and practices in place to prevent the use of VoIP. Obviously, it is extremely difficult to stop every instance of VoIP but Aircell is monitoring and working constantly to enforce American’s policy and Gogo’s terms of service.

This is American Airline’s policy not to allow VoIP and Aircell does their best to abide by those rules, which is why it’s stated in the agreement you check off on when purchasing the service. If you violate those terms then you should have your service cut off, but Aircell doesn’t plan on doing that. They want you to enjoy the service with one caveat. It might be something they should seriously think about for those striving to be the asshole on the plane, though. Get drunk. Snore. Just don’t babytalk with your signif, tell your frat bro how hot the chick you banged last night was (this goes both ways, ladies), yell at your intern/co-workers or read your kid a bedtime story. Need to converse with someone that bad, do you? Then try emailing or IM. Emoticons can go a long way. You’re making an otherwise great service a real stinker in the minds of everyone else, jerk.

Oh, and what’s this about airlines trying to protect revenue streams from those Airphones? Yeah, those Airphones have been useless for years. Aircell swooped the spectrum that Verizon used for the service in 2006 in an FCC auction. They’re relics of the past and indicators that the plane you’re currently occupying is very old.

So, VoIP on Aircell’s Gogo service. Yeah, you can do it, but you should really get over it and just watch your damned reruns on Hulu or fancast and STFU.