Popular In-flight Wi-Fi provider Gogo has announced that it is laying off 14 percent of it workforce that is about 143 people. This is due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected the Aviation sector greatly.
The cuts will come “mostly from the Company’s Commercial Aviation business,” according to a press release issued Thursday. Gogo applied for CARES Act funding, but it’s unclear if it will ever receive any assistance.
“Based on our current expectations of the scope and timing of a recovery in the industry and our Commercial Aviation business, reducing our workforce has become a necessary step,” Oakleigh Thorne, Gogo’s CEO said in a statement. “We do not take this action lightly, but we believe it is critical in our efforts to preserve our financial flexibility while maintaining the quality of our service and relationships with our customers.”
Gogo has not made any profit since it launch in 2013, and was undergoing a strategic shift of some kind before the covid 19 pandemic.
The company has been diversifying its business to rely more on satellite-based internet for its in flight Wi-Fi services. Owning to the fact that their current network is still heavily dependent on air to ground connections that are vulnerable to bandwidth and interruption issues.
The company however disclosed that its plans to roll out a 5G network in 2021 were unaffected by the crisis.
