PlaneSense to fit Pilatus fleet with Gogo Galileo satellite Wi-Fi
Fractional ownership operator PlaneSense will install Gogo's low Earth orbit satellite connectivity across its Pilatus PC-12 and PC-24 fleet, with 71 current aircraft covered under the agreement.
PlaneSense will install Gogo Galileo satellite Wi-Fi across its fleet of Pilatus PC-12 turboprops and PC-24 jets, extending a supplier relationship that goes back two decades.
The agreement covers 71 aircraft now in service, which will receive the low Earth orbit connectivity system. Aircraft delivered later will arrive with the equipment already active, through an installation program at the Pilatus factory.
According to PlaneSense, the first PC-24 carrying Gogo's HDX antenna, built by Hughes, is due from the factory this month. Retrofits begin at the same time. Work on the PC-12 fleet is scheduled to start in November 2026, and the operator expects the move to satellite connectivity to be finished by the end of 2027.
PlaneSense has run a comparable program before. In early 2022 it announced plans to fit the AVANCE L3 system fleet-wide, an effort that had begun on the PC-24s in 2018. The HDX terminal is bigger than the AVANCE L3 antenna but offers wider coverage, including connectivity while the aircraft is on the ground.
Gogo has marketed AVANCE as able to carry both satellite and terrestrial traffic, directing data over whichever network is most efficient. There is no indication the PlaneSense fleet will keep its air-to-ground service once the satellite terminals are installed.
Sources
- paxex.aeroPlaneSense Extends IFC with Gogo Galileo Deal