Well, girlfriends, the days when you could escape the office for a few hours while on board an airplane are just about over. 2009 will be known as the year that Wi-Fi went sky-high in the air over America. That means that if your boss, or your underlings, want to reach you via e-mail while you are soaring thousands of miles above the earth's surface....well, they can. And you no longer have an excuse not to stay in touch 24/7.
Nowadays, more than 65 percent of business travelers in the United States carry laptops when they fly. That figure doesn't include those who travel with Wi–Fi enabled phones, PDAs, and BlackBerries. So, U.S. airlines, sniffing a trend and a way to make a buck, are quickly adding in–flight Wi–Fi to their list of amenities–for–a–fee.
Although the experiment has been attempted before, this time Jane expects wireless Internet access in the wild blue yonder to take off. Why? Passengers are demanding it. And for airlines looking to add fee–based services without annoying their customers, Wi–Fi is the perfect solution. Because it's new, customers won't be enraged about paying for something that was previously free.
Last August, American Airlines became the first domestic carrier to launch full wireless service on some of its flights. Customers traveling from coast to coast can now access broadband Wi–Fi services for $12.95 per flight. American uses an air–to–ground network of in–flight connectivity provided by Aircell. Its Gogo service is possible due to Aircell's network of 92 transmitter sites.
Delta has also introduced Gogo on some of its routes. By summer, the airline expects to its entire fleet will be outfitted with Wi–Fi. Delta is pricing Wi–Fi at $9.95 for flights shorter than three hours and $12.95 for longer trips.
Aircell's biggest competitor in the Wi–Fi wars is Row44, a satellite system designed for commercial aircraft. While Aircell's is a ground–to–air system, Row44 is satellite–to–plane. The advantage to the latter––there is consistent connectivity, even over water. Later this month, Row44 will have a free public trial on selected Southwest and Alaska Airlines flights.
As for other U.S. carriers, Virgin America introduced Gogo Wi–Fi last November. By the second quarter of 2009, the airline expects to offer Wi–Fi on its entire fleet of planes. JetBlue has had limited Internet capabilities through LiveTV since the end of 2007. The free service enables connectivity through its seatback televisions, BlackBerrys and laptops. Continental Airlines plans to use LiveTV to make in–flight Wi–Fi available early this year.
Even if the plane on which you are flying is installed with Wi–Fi, girlfriends, do remember that electronic devices are not to be used until the plane is above 10,000 feet. After that, e–mail away.
