MARK CASEY, CEO of Apcela never planned on running an aviation communication business. The company began life as CSX Fiber Networks, and then CFN Services, which optimised secure networks for banks, finance companies and large multinationals. Futures brokers would use Apcela to give its traders a nanosecond advantage over their rivals, for example.

In 2015 it started working with a company called SmartSky, which had the ambition to build a new air-to-ground network to compete with Gogo. Apcela built the network that connected more than 300 air-to-ground sites.

SmartSky planned to go live in 2016. It claimed it missed this deadline after being let down by a key hardware supplier (it sued and won damages). It finally went live in 2021. But in August 2024, SmartSky abruptly ceased operations.

“I don’t think any of the partners or vendors saw SmartSky’s shutdown coming because they were funded by some top-shelf investors. We were a large creditor, we had even extended extra credit to them, and we wanted to understand why they had failed,” says Casey. “When we took a look, we saw why SmartSky failed. What they set out to do was hard, it took time and it cost them money. But it is every bit as good as they said it would be.”

Casey, a telecoms veteran, did not believe that the network could be allowed to fail. Working with other creditors and with investment and support from Claritas Capital, he completed a private restructuring and acquisition of the SmartSky network.

Apcela’s network covers all of the mainland US. The company offers two antennae and is targeting small, mid and large aircraft. It is also gaining market share with older aircraft – Learjets, Hawkers and others – which were not connected.

“If you’ve got a $20m aeroplane, putting satcom on it is not that big a deal because the cost of the satcom compared to the cost the plane is reasonable,” says Casey. “But if you’ve got a 20-year-old aeroplane it is not so affordable.”

Casey knows that people’s confidence in his network was damaged by the failure of SmartSky but he is fighting back. “It also cost SmartSky political capital because they got the industry all sort of frothed up for this new thing,” he admits.

Apcela’s solution is to offer a similar contract to mobile phone operators. For operators they will install the hardware for free (just like your phone company giving you the handset at the start of your contract). “We will essentially give qualifying charter operators an upgrade that does not require more new investment. We will install our system with no out-of-pocket cost,” he says. “The operators offering charter with good Wi-Fi are taking business from those who offer subpar Wi-Fi – and we’re so sure of that we guarantee it.”

In 2025, Skyward Aviation, a management and charter company based in Washington, Pennsylvania, said it was upgrading its entire fleet of Learjet aircraft to the Apcela ATG solution.