Virgin America CEO David Cush speaks before boarding begins on the airline's WiFi demonstration Saturday.

We were so jazzed during our Virgin America in-flight WiFi liveblog, we never really answered the question: So, how was the WiFi anyway? We can safely say: It was great.

Gogo's service runs on the EVDO network delivered through 92 on-the-ground towers, but it was faster than we've ever been able to pick up on our terrestrial cell phones. It has the potential to get faster as well, Tim Maxwell of Aircell told us, with the addition of more towers--but unless you're on a T1 line on the ground, you probably won't notice any need for improvement.

We had no problem connecting and there were no noticeable interruptions or stoppages in the service--something we reflected on ruefully when we were unable to connect to our in-room WiFi at the W San Francisco the next morning.

If there was any blip to the in-flight entertainment, it happened during the YouTube Live portion of the evening.

After teasing us with the prospect of a segment being broadcast from the plane to The Internets, the powers that be decided to shoot it in first class where "30 Rock"'s Keith Powell and Katrina Bowden were sitting. Because everyone in the aisles rushed to the front to get a glimpse of the goings on, we couldn't see a blessed thing--nor did we hear a peep, except for the beginning and end of the shoot. So you'll have to tell us how it went, because despite being there, we have no idea.

Still, it's hard to question that, for tech-savvy travelers, having access to the internet will change the flight experience completely. On the other hand, now there's no escape from the pressures of the office, so make sure to fly non-wired airplanes when you need a chance to kick back on company time.

Somewhere, Richard Branson is laughing at us.

Related Stories:
· Virgin America Inflight Wifi Liveblog [Jaunted]
· Funky Flight Safety Videos and Scenic Flybys on Virgin America's New YouTube Channel [Jaunted]
· Virgin America coverage [Jaunted]]]> egw 2008-11-24T09:00:19-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/22/124933/90

Virgin America launches its first WiFi flight today, and God-willing we'll be on-board to get all the juicy details. So it's especially timely that we've come across yet another review of Aircell's in-flight wireless service Gogo. What's it like to be online for the entirety of a six-hour transcon? Ben from the B-Side Blog has just posted another of his famous flight live blogs:

2:45 pm
I've just flown by Chicago. I tried to take a pic, but the lighting was such that there's really not enough contrast to see it. You can just barely make out the outline of Lake Michigan. In other news, LADY, STOP KICKING MY CHAIR!

3:15 pm
Here's a strange twist. Doug from "The Hills" just added me as a friend on MySpace. I'm suspicious of this as I feel like if he ever met me, he'd want to punch me in the face, but who knows what his motives are. I approved his friendship and will let you all know what happens...

3:32 pm
Meanwhile, poor Leslie the flight attendant is positively intent on getting me a drink. ... What can I say? I'M JUST NOT VERY THIRSTY TODAY! ... If it's any consolation, you are probably the VERY BEST FLIGHT ATTENDANT I HAVE EVER HAD. And I've flown on Lufthansa!

In-flight WiFi: Allowing up-to-the-second passenger critiques since 2008!

Related Stories:
· Flight Live Blog: Ugh Edition [B-Side Blog]
· Liveblogging an American WiFi Flight [Jaunted]
· Gogo WiFi on American Is "Totally Worth It" [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-11-22T13:00:17-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/7/135727/722

HotelChatter's assistant editor Jenna hopped an American Airlines flight the other day--and found herself on a Gogo WiFi-equipped 767. How was it?

I used Gogo on AA Flight 15 from JFK to SFO on Wednesday morning. You can't access the wireless on the ground, but once we were at cruising altitude, the signal was strong, fast and consistent.

I had some issues with the connection at first: Turns out, having more than one tab open in Firefox kinda screws with the system when you're purchasing the service. I put in payment info and hit purchase three times and kept getting an activation error message, so I went onto the customer service chat where a lovely staffer (or computerized staffer) told me to either restart Firefox or try my purchase in another browser. Voila, one quick purchasing attempt with Safari and $12.95 later, I was in.

The connection was impressive; I think I was only disconnected once during the flight. And I was even streaming some videos off of Hulu for a bit. It stalled three or four times when I was doing that, but I'd say everything was about the speed of Starbucks' AT&T WiFi.

Verdict: For the six-ish hour flight, it's totally worth the $12.95.

Related Stories:
· Virgin America Launching WiFi on November 22 [Jaunted]
· Delta Gearing Up Its WiFi Fleet [Jaunted]
· Liveblogging an American WiFi Flight [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-11-07T14:01:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/5/192813/694

Virgin America will debut its version of Aircell-provided Gogo in-flight wireless internet on a special "beta" flight above San Francisco on November 22. After the event--which promises the first-ever live air-to-ground video stream via YouTube--the airline will roll out WiFi on one plane a week, until its entire fleet has the amenity by the second quarter of 2009.

Notably, Virgin won't be adding any content filters. Spokeswoman Abby Lunardini tells Jaunted exclusively:

Our policy is to not edit any in-flight entertainment content ... this policy will extend to WiFi content. There will be certain bandwidth constraints (no Skype, VoIP, etc.), but basically, we’re not in the business of editing what people want to watch--and believe we should be giving guests more options rather than fewer when they fly.

Abby also points out that many VA passengers already use laptops in-flight thanks to the carrier's under-the-seat power plugs. There's yet to have been a problem with "inappropriate content" that people carried on via, say, hard drive or DVD, she says.

Pricing will be the standard $10 on short flights, $13 on longer legs.

Later in 2009, Virgin says, the airline will integrate its in-flight entertainment system, RED, and Gogo, offering passengers without laptops or WiFi-enabled smartphones or PDAs a certain level of connectivity.

Related Stories:
· Coming Soon-ish: Virgin's Own In-Flight WiFi [Jaunted]
· In-Flight WiFi Is Here! [Jaunted]

[Photo: Cubbie_n_Vegas]]]> pbb 2008-11-05T19:28:13-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/10/2/141956/750

Just like that, Delta has as many WiFi-capable planes as JetBlue. This MD-88 (N908DL) is the first of 75 that Delta says will be ready by year's end. The carrier hopes to outfit 330 planes with wireless by summer of 2009.

Technically, Delta can't let passengers surf until it gets what's called a Supplemental Type Certificate from the FAA, but that shouldn't be a problem. (American Airlines already got one for its 767-200s.)

While Delta gets crackin' on the installation, other airlines are presumably trying to catch up. Among those that are promising wireless on at least some planes are Southwest (by Q4, 2008) and Virgin America (by Q1, 2009).

Related Stories:
· Delta's first Wi-Fi-equipped MD-88 [Official Site]
· Dark Horse Delta Announces Massive In-Flight WiFi Rollout [Jaunted]

[Photo: Delta]]]> pbb 2008-10-02T15:00:38-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/9/102021/7009

Air Canada will be the first Canadian airline to offer in-flight WiFi, after inking a deal with Aircell, the company behind the Gogo brand already available on American Airlines and in the works for both Virgin America and Delta. Guess this means United *won't* be the next carrier to offer internet access at 35,000 feet, despite our speculation.

WiFi will be available on "select flights" on A319 aircraft serving the US; Air Canada says access should be available by "spring 2009." The airline currently has 35 A319s.

The partners still need to secure regulatory approval from Canadian authorities and expand Aircell's air-to-ground network--which currently just covers the US--into Canada.

Related Stories:
· Rampant Speculation: Is United WiFi Coming Soon? [Jaunted]
· In-Flight WiFi coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-09-09T10:20:21-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/28/132436/952

While thinking about in-fight WiFi yesterday, we realized that Southwest Airlines has been awfully quiet on that front lately. So we went ahead and asked the carrier via Twitter how the trials planned for this summer were going.

Apparently, the going is slow:

We will have four aircraft in the 4th quarter of 2008! Get excited!

Just four? Out of more than 500 737s? Well, we do have to admit four is a lot better than one!

Related Stories:
· Southwest's Tweet [Twitter]
· Rampant Speculation: Is United WiFi Coming Soon? [Jaunted]
· Southwest Airlines coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-08-28T13:30:18-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/