WiFi in Our Friendly Skies

[Mike Scott]

Finally looks llike they have got it going reliably enough to offer it for commercial services. Very limited flights for now but at least its better than nothing It been a rocky road thru the testing process lots of internal email discussion from those involved in the testing etc..anyway..its here !!!! so anybody flying on one of these trips dont forget your laptiop...supposedly you will be able to connect up !!!!

MS

United Airlines has started Wi-Fi service on flights between New York and California, allowing passengers to surf the Web on their laptops and mobile devices.

The first United flight using Itasca-based Aircell's Gogo service took place Friday, said airline spokeswoman Robin Urbanski. The plane was the first of 13 Boeing 757s that will be equipped with Wi-Fi by mid-November.

Urbanski said the airline will use customer feedback from the rollout to see whether it makes sense to expand Wi-Fi service. On the United flights between New York and California, Gogo costs $12.95 for laptops and $7.95 for Wi-Fi-enabled hand-held devices such as BlackBerrys. Passengers cannot make cell-phone calls or use Voice over Internet Protocol applications.

Many other airlines are rushing to provide Wi-Fi service on their flights. AirTran has Gogo available on all 136 planes of its fleet, while Delta Air Lines and American Airlines plan to have Gogo on hundreds of planes within the next couple of years.

Southwest Airlines, meanwhile, is testing Wi-Fi service from a company called Row 44, which uses satellite technology.

[Greg McDonald]

Do any of the Aussie internationals (Qantas, Jetstar DJ or V Aus) have this service?

[Mike W]

^ I reckon QF will only do it if one of their competitors does it.

Things certainly have changed from the days QF invented Business Class

[Mick F]

I've recently travelled LAX-JFK return on American Airlines, and they offer Wifi onboard their aircraft. Free for the first use, and then about $7 a flight after that I think it was. Certainly provides you with a bit more to do inflight!

Mick

[Andrew M]

Virgin America has been offering WiFi on every flight for about 4 months now.

Costs are about $6-$15 from memory depending on the time of the flight.

UA are offering this on their P.S. flights which is a nice idea, shame they can't keep the interiors of these planes up to scratch.