April 27, 2008 – FORMERLY market-leading premium-only carrier Eos has gone bust, making IMS the latest handheld IFE suppler to burn its fingers on this sector of the air transport industry.

California-based IMS started supplying the US transatlantic carrier, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, in 2005. Latterly the Eos service offering included handheld IFE via IMS’ 10.6in-screen P100 device, and the airline was widely acknowledged for the comfort and high quality of its cabins and the smoothness of its groundside operation.

But yesterday it filed a voluntary petition in the New York bankruptcy court and completed its last flights in preparation for closing down entirely after today. “We were on the verge of success in raising our latest round of financing,” said chief executive Jack Williams. “Unfortunately, issues arose that we could not overcome, and though investors continue to be enthusiastic about our business model we were left with insufficient cash to continue operations.”

Eos is the second of the premium-only operations to fall to earth. The first was MAXjet, which shut up shop at the turn of the year, owing money to handheld suppliers digEcor and e.Digital. These two must now be checking their payment terms with the sector’s two survivors, Silverjet of the UK and Paris-based L’Avion. e.Digital supplies the former through its relationship with turnkey IFE provider Mezzo, while digEcor furnishes its digEplayers to the French carrier.

IMS is also still exposed, through its recent deal to supply OpenSkies, the new British Airways transatlantic venture that is due to launch in June. While not strictly premium-only, it is heavily biased towards business travellers and plans to offer them IMS’ Archos-based PAV-705 players.

Fortunately for IMS, it also enjoys a substantial and growing presence among the US majors, who can be expected to go on playing their bills despite the current extreme financial turbulence occasioned by the price of oil. The company numbers American, United, US Airways and Northwest among its customers, and must now be entertaining hopes of getting a toe in the door with Delta following that carrier’s merger with Northwest.