ITASCA, Ill., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Aircell, the world's leading provider of airborne communications, announced that Gogo Inflight Internet service has been named a winner in the Chicago Innovation Awards, which honor the creative spirit of the Chicagoland Area. This award follows on the heels of the service being named "Best Achievement in Technology" by the World Airline Entertainment Association, marking another company success this October.
"What a phenomenal month Aircell is having - seeing our fifth airline partner go live with Gogo service, being recognized across the IFE industry as a technology leader and now being honored in our hometown as a local company helping the entire nation," said Ron LeMay, Aircell President & CEO. "Eighteen years ago, Gogo was nothing more than a sketch on a napkin at a barbecue restaurant. Today, the service is being recognized as a game-changer on both a local and national scale, as it delivers Internet service to thousands of passengers every day."
The Chicago Innovation Awards competition recognizes ten local companies that have introduced products or services that uniquely fill unmet needs, generate a competitive response in the marketplace, exceed market expectations, achieve financial success and improve people's lives. Gogo Inflight Internet was recognized as one of those services, following a year of milestones, including five airline partners commercially deployed, another three committed to go live in the next year and Aircell equipment installed on more than 570 aircraft.
The competition was open to submissions from any organization with national or divisional headquarters in the Chicagoland Area. Nominees were then judged based on the success of a new product, service, business model or process that uniquely satisfies unmet needs in the marketplace and can demonstrate impact. The winners were chosen from a pool of 255 nominees across the public, private and nonprofit sectors.
About Aircell
Aircell is the world's leading provider of airborne communications. As winner of an exclusive FCC frequency license in 2006, Aircell has built a revolutionary mobile broadband network for commercial and business aviation. In 2008, the Aircell® Network and its inflight portal, Gogo®, revolutionized the commercial airline passenger flight experience by delivering a robust Internet experience at 35,000 feet. In addition, the Aircell Network provides airlines with connectivity to operations and a path to enhanced cabin services such as video, audio, television and more. A similar feature set is available to Business aircraft operators. Aircell has facilities in Broomfield, Colorado, and Itasca, Illinois. Aircell's vision is to give everyone the ability to stay in touch, in flight®. For more information about Aircell, please visit www.aircell.com.
About Gogo
Gogo®, powered by Aircell®, turns a commercial airplane into a Wi-Fi hotspot with true inflight Internet access. Passengers with Wi-Fi enabled devices, such as laptops, smartphones and PDAs, can surf the Web, check e-mail, instant message, access a corporate VPN and more. For more information about Gogo, please visit www.gogoinflight.com. You can also follow 'GogoInflight' on Twitter ( www.twitter.com/gogoinflight) and Facebook ( www.facebook.com/gogoinflight).
About the Chicago Innovation Awards
Kuczmarski & Associates and prominent local journalist Dan Miller established the
Chicago Innovation Awards in 2002 as an annual program to honor significant innovations introduced by Chicago-area companies and to focus attention on the creative spirit of the Chicago Region. Each year, the Chicago Innovation Awards honor 10 winners who have introduced products or services that uniquely fill unmet needs, generate a competitive response in the marketplace, exceed market expectations and achieve financial success. www.chicagoinnovationawards.com/.
About Kuczmarski & Associates
Kuczmarski & Associates is one of the foremost consulting firms in the United States specializing in helping companies accelerate growth through innovation. Over the course of the past 24 years, it has helped its clients generate more than $7 billion in new revenue. K&A specializes in consumer-based consulting and assists clients in developing strategies, building frameworks, outlining processes, and designing training programs to enhance product and service innovation. Kuczmarski & Associates brings an approach to innovation in which it is seen as a process that can yield predictable results from year to year, allowing managers to plan for the impact of innovation on the bottom line, and to measure progress each step of the way. The firm's founder, Thomas Kuczmarski, teaches innovation at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and is the author of five books on innovation and leadership. www.kuczmarski.com
© 2009 Aircell LLC. Aircell, Gogo and in touch, in flight are trademarks of Aircell or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
SOURCE Aircell
SOURCE: Aircell
Web site: http://www.aircell.com/