The providers (ViaSat, Panasonic, etc) make money. I'm saying the airlines don't make much money on it. They have to bear the installation costs, which are very high, and pay the providers the bandwidth charges. There's also lost revenue while the plane is out of service and a slight (but adds up across the fleet) rise in fuel burn due to the antenna bump. Whatever they charge passengers doesn't recoup it all.

The cell / ground based systems have a different model, and the installation costs, while high, aren't quite as high. But, the providers there, like GoGo, set the pricing, keep the branding, etc, and only share a commission back. I don't believe it's a net positive revenue for the airlines either, but I know less about that space.