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Industry tidbit...
https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2023/10/airfi-global-expo-job-heimerikx/
One-on-one with AirFi founding partner and CEO Job Heimerikx
By Mary Kirby ?
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Text 'RGN Q& A' on a red backdrop.
It’s no secret that portable wireless IFE provider AirFi sees the world’s narrowbody fleet as the addressable market for its AirFi LEO (Low Earth Orbit) inflight connectivity, but the company says the economics of the lightweight, low-bandwidth AirFi LEO solution are also proving attractive to some widebody operators.
Powered by Iridium’s new Certus 100 service, AirFi LEO can support real-time credit card verification and transactions on board; inflight messaging for passengers and crew; electronic flight bag (EFB) updates for pilots; and non-safety ACARS over IP. It features tiny window-mounted antennae plus a receiver from Iridium value added partner Skytrac, as well as AirFi’s onboard server/WAP hardware.
Runway Girl Network sat down with AirFi founding partner and CEO Job Heimerikx at the APEX/IFSA Global EXPO to learn why this IFC system is attracting so much attention.
RGN: What type of interest are you fielding for the AirFi LEO product?
Heimerikx: The fact that we don’t drill a hole in the fuselage and the fact that there is no deinstallation cost is massively appealing to any person or any airline that leases an aircraft. That’s where it starts.
The speed in which we can bring the solution to an aircraft also is being very much recognized by people because of the fact that we do not require for many of the aircraft — especially on the Airbus side — we do not require an STC. So we have a different engineering paperwork route. And that means we can also act incredibly fast.
The difficulty is that we obviously have a limited team because even though our entire team is slightly over 100 people, covering the entire world is pretty strenuous. So the only limitation that we have is our own capabilities but everything we discussed last time with regards to interest, and number of aircraft, that just went up.
RGN: So you’r staying in your sweet spot then. You don’t intend to enter into broadband inflight connectivity?
Heimerikx: Oh no, never. Our intellectual property, our interest, our knowledge, our approach is to drill no holes, which means we need to use the [aircraft] window. And if you use the window, with radiation, with antennas that are on the market, you don’t have much choice from a development and design point of view.
So, we found the most optimal satellite receiver and antenna that fits the window space for the majority of the aircraft out there. The strength that we do have … is that level of simplicity, which allows us to be able to deal with anybody around the world. And the simplicity in the antenna and the simplicity in the receiver all being from the same set-up means that we are able to supply all these people around the world in a much faster fashion than what you would expect from a regular IFEC company.
Rotation
RGN: Regarding supporting payments in real-time, where does that sit in the hierarchy of importance when you are talking about this AirFi LEO product?
Heimerikx: Depends on who pays the bill. So, validating payments is a massive cost reduction or revenue driver. It depends on how you look at it. It depends on where in the world you are but in the most optimal way, you are looking at 2% of missed payments [due to the lack of real-time CC validation on board aircraft]. In the more regular fashion, let’s say 5% or 6%. The moment you go into certain geographical areas that can grow all the way up to 10%. Now that’s all missed money.
If, then, you consider how many sales are done on a single flight leg, or per-day and you calculate that back on a per-monthly basis, before, that was a 100% loss. And now, it is being counted as revenue and that’s an incredibly appealing story for companies that do in-seat ordering, or that do food and beverages and duty free sales.
The other is the airlines that just want to provide a service. They want to go along in the marketing rat race that was initially initiated by the Ku/Ka-band guys that you have to be connected on board the aircraft. Like, so much marketing money has gone into the industry that everybody now is of the opinion that you have to be connected in order to be a proper airline. Now apart from the fact that I would likely disagree because it’s the marketing talk, the airlines that provide the service and are in that line of thinking and competition, there we can say ‘hey you can provide that.’ Because look around us, even the most premium airlines in the world that had Ku/Ka-band for sale for many years, they moved to the freemium model where they provide messaging for free and they try to hook you up so that you’re buying [the upgrade for] that extra bandwidth. But the majority of the people only want to do one thing because that’s very high in our Maslow pyramid. In the past, it was water and food. Nowadays, youngsters want to be connected. It’s in the Maslow pyramid [hierarchy of needs]. Now let’s just give that.
RGN: Connectivity is a human right in a modern world.
Heimerikx: It’s a human right to be connected, but it is not a necessarily a human right to go onto a website and watch CNN.com. I can download it or it’s already on the IFE system already, so why on earth would I go there? But I cannot communicate to my loved ones that I am on my way or to tell the neighbor ‘thank you for taking care of the cat’ or ‘hey I might have left the door open’ or whatever; that has become a really basic human need. But you don’t need a gigabit connection for that if one message is .7 kilobit, as an example obviously .. You have to copy/paste an entire book in order to get onto a decent amount of kilobits.
Just look in your phone. Look at your own last text. It’s ‘yes, sure, I’m on my way.’ One sentence and that’s easy on a 22 Kbps connection [as supported by Iridium Certus 100]. That’s more than enough space for that kind of service. So that service is for the carriers a very important element because they provide the exact same service as the ultra-premium carriers [i.e. free messaging].
AirFi founding partner and CEO Job Heimerikx at Global EXPORGN: On the widebody front, does it make sense to bring AirFi LEO on board even if you already carry a broadband IFC system?
Heimerikx: On the widebody front, we are now installing on an A330, we have an A340, we have a 757, we are doing a 777 at the moment. So, it actually doesn’t matter if we are talking about short-haul single-aisle, or long-haul, the need and the economics are exactly the same. And we didn’t see that coming.
RGN: If I’m an airline coming to your stand at Global EXPO, what do want to talk about?
Heimerikx: If you are an airline coming to our stand we update everybody on the latest innovations with regards to our improvements on the satellite receiver, on the antenna, because all the work we are doing, and all the initial installations and tests that we are doing, we are learning so fast and so much that our product just keeps iterating. And because we’re portable, we are also able to bring those learnings back to our existing customers. We are giving more input to the customers on what the LEO system is all about and where it’s evolving to. That’s pretty much the key. Obviously we are extremely happy with [the recent] Vietnam Airlines announcement, which is a ‘mall in the sky’ solution
RGN: And that could be the start of great things at that airline potentially?
Heimerikx: Oh yes. The support we have from that organization is absolutely stunning.
Your assessment is not far off the mark.
Just to clarify, all our cumulative funding to-date nearly US$10 million cash has come from Australia via family and friends, so that must be our focus.
I would love to tell you we can fund it in the USA. After years working with our US financial advisors it became clear the US capital markets just don’t get it. The USA is wifi obsessed and logically so as they they have multiple wifi networks to choose from plus, it’s not our target market.
The rest of the world is stuck with slow and expensive satellite links or recently Elon Musk’s Starlink which is 3 times faster and 3 times the price plus, only has approval to operate in limited countries and requires the airline to pay and give it away for free.
Wifi is a major revenue generator in the USA. Even at their low 10% take rates, on the 7000 US airliners equipped can generate over a $billions. It’s why Viasat paid $7billion to buy Inmarsat to support globally its major US and EU airlines. The reason no major EU or US airline has picked Starlink is to give it all away for free costs a fortune. Under the incumbent wifi programs, airlines get a guaranteed cheque every month. So far only Delta is moving to free (paying the incumbent) and that’s costing them $1 billion. How long that will last time will tell. Many majors have tried subsidising and have eventually gone back to charging. You can understand they need to look after their frequent business flyers, but if 400 pax on a wide-body all logged on for a 10 hour flight. With the amount of data todays mobile phones consume, running it via a satellite will never add up.
It’s why after 14 years of wifi only 10,000 airliners in total globally are equipped. Mainly major airlines. 18,000 still have no connectivity mainly low cost airlines.
As you would be aware, airlines are only starting to get back to profit mode. Some of our proposals are with airlines that only just came out of chapter 11. The industry was decimated by COVID and the last 12 months supply lines have been a major challenge. How we survived when 4 of the 7 major providers, GOGO, Utelsat GEE and One web due COVID went into bankruptcy, was only possible due to the sacrifices our staff and major investors made and our ability to get something flying under impossible circumstances.
It’s still an up hill challenge, but hopefully 2024 will see things back to some kind of industry normal. The industry has adjusted to the new world, what ever that is and we will keep going straight ahead all be it slowly.
Yes, we have multiple airlines in various stages of negotiation all covered by NDA’s. In this business everyone will fly before they buy, so we need to fund it. Hence the new plan with an Australian subsidiary with IPTK still controlling 90%. At this stage IPTK is still an important component of our structure. We have just taken it dark to control unnecessary cost.
We have always been in it for the long term, as changing an industry thinking when the world is obsessed with wifi is a major task. To secure any airline you have prove it works, which is why this year passenger flights on Wizz have been crucial. Every airline we talk to wants to talk to Wizz and they have confirmed our system works.
Finally, In a recent meeting, Wizz advised it is upgrading its UK fleet and we have just completed the planning for the new Wizz A321NEO installs which are now underway. I will update you on launch timing ASAP.
You are right. The reason they wern't completed, as I understand it, is that during the summer busy period the planes are not on the ground long enough to allow the installation but with the summer peak over, Wizz can schedule the installations. My guess is that the UK fleet will be complete before Xmas . I imagine that will be when revenue starts to happen. Frustrating it is!!
As far as I know...I think we were installed on 6 Wizz planes. Then for whatever reason missed the spring/May install time frame for the remainder of the first 19 planes. I think the remaining installs for the first 19 WIZZ planes should now be scheduled for completion anytime between and eoy now that we are out of the busy summer travel season. I feel like that is where we stand currently? Anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Ron had mentioned talks with 2 or 3 airlines were underway. But I'm assuming if those talks were progressing positively then we needed to lock in some capital to fund these trial installs etc. And I'm guessing whoever is coming in with the funding wanted the shares off the OTC and into the market over seas. I am just hoping this is someone coming in for the longer haul with us and not just a convertible note that will get dumped into the market in 6 months. Guess we shall soon see.
imho
mj
I had another stock in a similar situation. It's still traded and isn't dark. Check it out andr. An OTC company has value to someone else wanting to go public and get listed. Hopefully it's someone that knows what they are doing and knows how to promote
I had another stock in a similar situation. It's still traded and isn't dark. Check it out andr. An OTC company has value to someone else wanting to go public and get listed. Hopefully it's someone that knows what they are doing and knows how to promote
What happened to all the hype about Wizz
Were there any installations
Is there any revenue generated from them
Yes certainly further explanation is needed here. I am fine with it as long as we will be receiving our same % of ownership minus 10%. I wonder will this new investor be going in for the long haul or some financing that just dilutes us and then they dump the stock after 6 months? If they are going through all of this to secure this financing then I have believe its a partner/financier that believes in this project. Its hard for me to see a scenario where this tech doesn't succeed. Still to this day WIFI is costly for passengers and is still pretty terrible. I recently talked to a family member that paid $20 for WIFI on a flight and said it was basically worthless. I don't know but as long was don't get left in the dust somehow...I will be sticking it out if we receive our fair share of shares of the newly listed stock. How it all takes place I don't know. Hopefully we hear something soon and the stock doesn't just delist and we go dark without knowing anything. I have never been in a situation like this one. I have zero clue how it will work. I am just hoping that our shares somehow easily transfer over to the new exchange. I would imagine we will be hearing something soon. Is buying shares today like buying pre IPO shares for the new listing?
imho
mj
I feel they ripped us off. Nice job.
About five weeks since we've heard a peep. Maybe they will sell the OTC company to someone that has an exciting
Project. Great share structure. These companies still fetch upward of 250k. That's what I would do after listing on the Australian exchange. All in my opinion of course
About five weeks since we've heard a peep. Maybe they will sell the OTC company to someone that has an exciting
Project. Great share structure. These companies still fetch upward of 250k. That's what I would do after listing on the Australian exchange. All in my opinion of course
A 15000 buy at the ask.
Somebody must know something
Haven't seen that for a long time
There is a lot right in what you said. What I can advise is following the consent of the majority shareholders the board of IPTK has created a wholly owned Australian subsidiary FFlya Pty Ltd. The IP has been assigned to FFlya and 10% of the shares will be allocated for capital raising. I can appreciate there needs more explanation. regarding IPTK’s 90% ownership, which I will in due course.
Well ok. That sounds at least a bit better as far as transferring shares over to that market should we get that option. Like I believe I mentioned before there is just no support or interest from investors or traders here. ASIP seems to have very little to no visibility on the OTC. Just not enough PR or attention getting marketing materials like new videos, interviews etc..Likely because of NDA's and behind the scenes marketing initiatives that we really aren't privy to even though this is a publicly traded company. A lot of people just won't trust that as a long term investment because most penny plays are scams or poorly run co's in the end. And the traders won't touch it for even a quick in and out because there just isn't enough volume. Ron mentioned recently that marketing behind the scenes was active and there were ongoing talks with I think 3 airlines? With Wizz likely coming online with the first 19 planes in coming months and announcements pending regarding other airlines...maybe we start seeing a little more in the way of volume regardless of which market we are on. Also I'd assume we are looking for some type of bigger capital investment to fund anything that might involve these additional airlines especially with ASIP absorbing all initial install costs. This likely also lends itself to a move to a different market as those larger investors certainly won't invest into the low vol we get on the OTC. Since we are focused on airlines over seas perhaps it does make more sense for us to be trading over there somewhere. I am still a bit concerned when I hear the word restructuring. I am far from an expert on those matters but I feel like there is a chance where our current holding could be diluted etc. If its a one for one and we maintain the same % ownership we currently have there is no way I am going anywhere. I believe in this tech. I sounds like not even StarLink will bring basic connectivity to zero cost anytime soon. I think we still have some runway. What it will take for airlines to believe that...I don't know? Even here in the U.S. there still is not much of any reasonable cost connectivity for passengers...let alone free. Flying Spirit this past weekend WIFI was closer to $20 than it was even $10. There is a market for this I just don't know what it will take in the end to bring it all to light. Hopefully the ASIP team is accomplishing this goal behind the scenes as we speak.
imho
mj
I am pretty sure most could trade the Aus exchange but commissions would be higher than for US.
Pretty sure most US mainstream brokers would would trade Australian shares. Looks like there is only one main exchange the ASX , not like the OTC in the US which is not accessed by Australian brokers for the most part. I would be surprised if it was not straightforward to trade the Australian market from the US. Hopefully the Wizz contract is the sparks that sets this company alight.
Definitely interested to hear whats going to happen here. A lot of us had or still have high hopes for this company and put up our hard earned money to help support the cause because we believed in the technology. Certainly posting financials etc is very costly especially for companies that are cash strapped so all that I understand to a degree. And if the majority of funding etc is coming from Australia or other countries I would understand a move to their markets as the volume here in the U.S. Otc has really dried up in recent years with SEC rule changes etc...not to mention it seems any early customers will also be from overseas..so visibility in the markets would like be better over there. I am in hopes that since the current largest shareholders believe this move needs to be done...that current minority share holders like us will also be included as much as possible in whatever move may come and not diluted into oblivion in any type of restructuring. I'm not sure even sure how to find a brokerage that will allow for trading in Australia but if we going to move in a one for one share basis or something close..I would be willing to ride this out...especially with the beginning of revenues from commercial airlines expected some time this year. I believe the potential is still there with this tech. I flew cross country this weekend on Spirit who's been working on WIFI for couple yrs now...The first plane had zero wifi...the 2nd one cost $16-$18. If this is what current tech has for low cost carriers...ASIP TECH has great potential.
Time will tell...I guess now we just wait and see what happens next. Best of luck to all involved here.
imho
mj
I guess we won't get to the big board on the New York Stock exchange as everybody was hoping. Now they're all wondering if they've lost all their hard earned.money. 12 years to get to this. Something doesn't sit right.
isn't the Wizz English fleet going to be fully equipped with the messaging system by October?
I guess we've been led down the garden path all these years with all the positive updates from management. Shame on you
I will have more info regarding our plans next week.
Will IPTK continue to trade at all on any US exchange?
Understood, for what it’s worth our majority shareholders and financial advisors want us to move to an Australian Stock Exchange listing.
We are working though the process of what that entails. All our funding todate has come from Australian investors and that’s where we see the funding will come for our future programs.
While i hope things ultimately work out for the company, I will probably need to sell and move on. Even if I wanted to, I don' think I am allowed to hold stock in a private company in my IRA.
As of last night we filed a form 15 with the SEC. Details in the press release below.
Following consent of the majority shareholders, in order to support our requirements going forward the company will undergo a restructure.
I will advise more details ASAP
https://www.einpresswire.com/press-releases/report/1ZT_BFCe54mW8U8n?n=2
Agreed. 7 years for me
I'very been here for 12 or 14 years so what's another 5 or 10. You might be lucky to get a penny a share right now. So what's the point in selling
I’m staying until we get real revenue and can project its growth.
Everybody quietly sits and waits. Prays, hopes for something. I've been here for 14 years. The stock is in worse shape now then at that time. Stock is structured to moved to higher prices. If only they had a clue on how to. Maybe in the next ten years
I don't think they have a clue on how to make a market or make the stock go up. But what is the end game. Nobody's making money at a penny
They really do not give a sxxx about a stock price or investors.
It's funny last year it was the same story. Rinse and repeat. There's no interest in this stock from anybody. This stock should be higher just on potential. They actually have a contract. Does anyone care. Doesn't seem like it. If this isn't working. Vend in something that will. What ever happened to Bob. Another pipe dream
A slight reshuffle of the last 3 letters and just add a”t”!
Great news. Meaningful added functionality is a good thing. Thank you for the update. Hopefully airline talks are going well and lead to pilot installs in the after summer season. Any progress on finding an interested financing partner?
imho
mj
More great news. Not even one person is interested in buying this stock. What a shame.
The news seems to be going out to existing shareholder who have all bought at higher prices.
And no interest in buying more
It is interesting as they have sold as many in the last 6 weeks as traded in the previous 12 months. It is tax time here is Australia (30th June) and around 80% of the stock is held here, most via self managed super funds. In July many are required to draw a small percentage of cash from the fund so could be someone needs the money. Although is not a lot of money.
Yeah I don't know either. That big dump from the one day...Some said insider,,some said early investor...some margin call on a retailer? Who know's? It seems we do see one or two of these each year. Some of these small ones and today just feel like impatient retail or someone taking out some spending money. The float here is so thin it can work with us or against us. I'm still holding and wish I could know when another block of 500k or 1m comes in at .006...I will take a million shares in that area to add to my pile. I still like the potential here down the road. The tech seems to be there and if it is, it seems there would be quite a bit of demand and interest in my opinion. I'll take the gamble that eventually this stock turns upward and it might just coincide with when the interest rates stop being raised. And we've seen in the past just how fast it can go with just a little interest. The good move we had 2 ago was .03 to .30 in very short order. 2nd have of this yr we could be in for some nice PR's if WIZZ finally gets more of the fleet install going and other airlines are announced to be under contract.
I don't know...Only time will tell.
imho
mj
This is ridiculous that someone is selling at penny and below. I really don’t know what is going on.
Thank you for the updates and the video. Yes we have seen this one a few yrs back along with another one on the history of the co. It sounds busy behind the scenes which is a good thing. Hopefully negotiations progress well with these other airlines. If the tech is all there and the interest builds from airlines I'd imagine we'll pick up steam in 2024 and beyond. And although fairly minimal at this point...it is nice to see some revenues coming in from bizjet to help the cause.
Best Wishes to you and the team going forward.
imho
mj
I am not sure if you have seen this video on FFlya
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qz62pg8iuejyxyt/fflya%20214181.mp4?dl=0
Has been a very hectic last 6 months. Currently have 3 major airlines proposals in negotiation and a 4th going out later this month. I will see what I can do on all the new BOB features in the app however, we are constrained by NDA’s.
What I can show you (link below) is a pic of an actual airline live payment terminal connected to our FFlya Certus router.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/p8oy5t7dadt6l0e/IMG_6064.jpg?dl=0
FYI on Wizz unfortunately as the new kits only recently arrived the fleet equip will be delayed until after the summer peak as no aircraft are available during this period.
I appreciate that’s disappointing, but how we certified it has never been done before and that’s always a challenge. The upside is STC’s are universally accepted.
Hello Ron. Just curious...If there has a been a lot of marketing activity going on as you mentioned in the post I'm replying to...I was wondering if there might be some new marketing materials we could see such as new videos etc like the ones that you posted here a few yrs ago? Or maybe just a video of the app in use as it stands now? I thought with the development of BOB and the progress with the messaging/pymt features there might be some new marketing materials to go along with those developments. As always anything you could share would be very much appreciated...However if you are unable to share things due to sensitivity that would understood as well.
Best Wishes,
imho
mj
Yep absolutely most likely it was a margin call. They just dumped into the bid with a 90% loss. Insane.
Me too. Wish I had had a stink bid in.
The sales happened at 12:30 EDT on the dot. My bet is somebody got a margin call at the open to the effect of "you have 3 hours to cover the margin requirement in your account or we will initiate forced sales to do so". From there it was automatic - no money received, forced sales happen immediately through automated orders.
When a broker does this, they start from the bottom and work up i.e. otc stocks first.
Yea I bet there will be a few with some lower bids in now...lol. I gladly would have taken another few hundred k shares at .004...Those would already be looking great on paper..lol
imho
mj
fflya opens the inflight imagination of airline passengers by delivering products and services, plus exciting tours and attraction offers relative to where they are flying. fflya also reconnects passengers with family and friends through free messaging.
Only ASIP Tech has the unique fflya network that can deliver this exclusive inflight service.
It is made possible by the integration of the latest generation App technology, Bluetooth, and Low Earth Orbit Iridium Next satellites.
Combine this with fflya’s world first window antennae and no longer do you need to install complex, heavy, fuel burning antennas on the roof of your aircraft.
LEO’s are only 600 kilometers up and the existing 66 satellites provide global coverage. Each aircraft only require 2 unobtrusive window antennas. One on either side of the aircraft and everyone is connected.
LEO’s also mean a much smaller, lighter system which is simpler to install and that translates into a fully self funding program that we guarantee will generate revenue for your airline from day one.
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