Kevin Burton’s NEW FeedBlog

This isn’t good. It looks like Boeing might discontinue their Connexion service (or sell the service):

After six years of failing to turn a profit from its ambitious in-flight Connexion Internet venture, Boeing Co. is considering selling the unit or shutting it down altogether, according to people familiar with the situation.

The Chicago aerospace company has reached out to a number of commercial-satellite operators and other potential suitors who might be interested in buying the business or becoming a major partner, these people said. If Boeing can’t reach a suitable deal, said one person familiar with the talks, the company is prepared to pull the plug on the service, even though it works as advertised and is being used by a handful of international airlines on long-haul flights, including Lufthansa, Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines and others.

They’re not advertising this thing. It’s not available on domestic flights. The international flights might not have power in the seats. Not necessarily a recipe for success.

The major problem is demand. Most of the people on flights that I’ve taken recently did not have any type of communication hardware (save maybe a cell phone). So even though Connexion has made a few mistakes if the demand was there they’d easily make a profit.