Wi-fly: Airlines finally connect. Kinda.
Just when you vowed never to set foot in a commercial airplane again, the carriers go ahead and do something like this.
First, fifteen bucks for a checked bag. Then, $7 for a pillow or blankie. Now $9.95 for Wi-Fi on flights of three hours or shorter, $12.95 for longer flights, sometime in the foreseeable future.
Delta announced an agreement with Aircell to provide “Gogo” Wi-Fi for laptops, smartphones, PDAs and other devices on 60% of its aircraft by the end of NEXT summer. That’s about the time it takes a Delta flight to reach JFK from Hartsfield. Delta: an acronym for Doesn’t Ever Leave The Airport.
“The advent of Air-To-Ground technology has made broadband connectivity in the cabin economically viable for the first time for commercial airlines,” Jack Blumenstein, president and CEO of Aircell, said in a prepared statement.
Right. The technology has been around for about a decade. Now the airlines see Internet access as a revenue opportunity instead of a service for their connected customers. And why is that man on the Aircell website helping a leggy blonde try on shoes in a spacious airplane cabin as she works a little too comfortably on her laptop? Go, go, I guess. See the site.
American Airlines and Virgin America have also signed contracts with Aircell and are testing the service on their flights. A spokesperson for American Airlines said that the carrier will offer Gogo’s Wi-Fi service on a trial basis on cross-country flights starting this year. Virgin America will offer the Gogo service starting this fall and plans to install Wi-Fi on its entire fleet by the end of April 2009.
Southwest Airlines plans to install an airborne broadband service through its provider, Row 44, on four aircraft on a trial basis beginning this fall.
Continental said on Jan. 29 that it will be introducing onboard Wi-Fi services including e-mail and instant messaging connectivity on flights operating within the continental U.S. at the beginning of next year. Continental said the service, provided in partnership with LiveTV, will be installed on two-thirds of its mainline fleet by the end of this year.
No word from United yet. Delayed as usual in Chicago and Washington. I wouldn’t count on an email alert.
AP and CNN have the gist of it here. New heights for business travelers.
