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Joe Brancatelli Calls out Airlines on Non-Existant WiFi

August 19, 2008 at 10:15 AM | by pbb | 4 Comments

We normally don't go for the business travel-oriented ranting of Portfolio columnist Joe Brancatelli but his article this week is totally great. The premise? Where the heck is our in-flight WiFi?

With so many airlines recently announcing big plans for the service, Joe did a little digging to find out why we aren't yet online at 35,000 feet. One executive at American Airlines, which tested Aircell WiFi earlier this summer, says:

This thing should have been working months ago. Obviously, there's something wrong.

Delta, which just announced its plans, is already behind schedule: The carrier says it will have at least some planes fitted with wireless gear by year's end, but the FAA hasn't even looked at the airline's paperwork yet.

Airlines using technology from Row 44 aren't doing much better, it seems. Both Southwest and Alaska are already behind schedule, having yet to test the satellite-based wireless technology.

Related Stories:
· No WiFi in the Sky [Portfolio]
· Dark Horse Delta Announces Massive In-Flight WiFi Rollout [Jaunted]
· Coming Soon-ish: Virgin's Own In-Flight WiFi [Jaunted]

4 Comments

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Return to » Joe Brancatelli Calls out Airlines on Non-Existant WiFi

  1. beatofhawaii com

    Jaunted Member

    It has been years...

    United announced wi-fi back in 2005.  In 3 years nothing has happened.  When it actually gets going, wi-fi will be almost non-existent between the Mainland and Hawaii.  I also wrote about airline wi-fi, on August 12:  

    http://beatofhawaii.com/airline-broadband-to-hawaii-8-airline-review/

    Aloha, Jeff

    August 19, 2008 at 2:30 PM
    #Permalink

  1. Lint

    Jaunted Member

    Jaunted is useless for business travel

    so it doesn't surprise me that you don't realize that Joe Brancatelli has done more to advance the cause of business travelers than anyone on the planet. You guys really are better when you stick to the mindless, star-f**cking, psuedo-travel stuff and stay away from the important stuff. IMHO...
    August 19, 2008 at 6:58 PM
    #Permalink

  1. pbb

    Jaunted Member

    Thanks for reading!

    We love starfucking!
    August 19, 2008 at 7:15 PM
    Parent #Permalink

  1. GKDubs

    Jaunted Member

    American and Aircell launched inflight Wi-Fi today

    American Airlines announced the launch of Aircell's Gogo inflight Internet service today: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iQp_2CPgGTYT3Z3paAJV6b9CKxAwD92M1K8G1
    August 20, 2008 at 12:29 PM
    #Permalink

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