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The MRO slot is booked for scheduled maintenance. The parts are in stock. The operator is taking advantage of the aircraft downtime for avionics updates and a minor cabin refurbishment.
Over the past few months, the aircraft’s legacy connectivity system has struggled to keep up with its passengers’ demands for video calls and streaming, and the principal has begun complaining. Robust, high-performance connectivity is also a key selling point for charter customers and helps retain asset value. It makes complete sense to install a new antenna, cabling, router and cabin Wi-Fi while parts of the cabin are out for refurbishment.
In fact, the connectivity upgrade ought to run in parallel with the other work and since the schedule calls for time in the hangar anyway, it should have no impact on timing. Which is good, because alternative lift has been arranged for a minor trip while the jet’s on the ground, but the principal wants it back for a multi-leg international trip a week after it returns from the shop.
And an aircraft in maintenance earns no charter revenue either.
The last thing the flight department needs is an equipment delay, yet at Gogo we are hearing anecdotes and seeing the evidence of connectivity hardware suppliers letting customers down with delayed equipment delivery. Often, the call with the bad news comes late, and the delay is not just a week or two - sometimes it’s months.
Gogo hardware lead times are proactively managed to keep operators flying.
Operators are left with tough choices. Should the maintenance be delayed until the equipment has been delivered, so wasting the work planning the event? Should the risk of unavailability of slots further down the line be considered, so disrupting an otherwise efficient maintenance schedule? Should the downtime be extended, thus disrupting operations while hoping the delayed kit will arrive according to the new delivery date? Or complete the maintenance and cabin work without the connectivity and schedule more downtime when the connectivity equipment is on the MRO’s shelves?
No one really wants to tell the principal the jet won’t be back in time for that big trip. The conversation that goes, “The aircraft will be back but without the upgraded connectivity,” isn’t an appealing prospect either.
Business aircraft operators plan maintenance schedules months in advance to minimize downtime, because so long as a jet is down, charter revenue is being lost, flight schedules are disrupted and, if the principal needs to fly, alternative lift or other fleet aircraft must be used, and paid for. When everything else is in place, but the connectivity components are delayed, customers are significantly inconvenienced.
Gogo effectively manages its lead times.
Supply chain instability is the root cause of the problem, and that’s why at Gogo we’ve made inventory readiness a priority. We’d begun investing millions of dollars in inventory and our supplier network even before COVID, and we continued to do so during and after the pandemic. Confident that Gogo Galileo would be a hit, we invested to ensure we could meet rising demand. So, while global supply chains faced unprecedented disruption, from semiconductor shortages to constraints in raw materials, we were ready, because we had prepared early and invested deeply.
With much of the industry facing extended delays and uncertain lead times, Gogo has parts on hand, inventory in stock, and the ability to continue shipping at record levels. We’ve built a supply chain designed to minimize inventory gaps, so operators can move forward with confidence.
With Gogo Galileo, operators don’t have to make tough choices over maintenance schedules and connectivity upgrades. Because our equipment is available and ready to ship, it is in the hangar, ready for installation at the same time as their aircraft.
That means those months of maintenance planning deliver an upgraded aircraft on time, as they should, ready for the principal’s big trip and re-enthused charter customers. The conversation that goes, “The aircraft is back on schedule, with Gogo Galileo installed and we’re already seeing an uptick in charter enquiries,” is one Gogo is pleased to facilitate.
BlueSky Business Aviation News | 4th June 2026 | Issue #845
