Aircell CEO Jack Blumenstein recently told Information Week that his company has signed up a fourth airline for in-flight WiFi service, but he wouldn't disclose *which* carrier will soon offer Gogo.
But looking around the industry, it isn't hard to make an educated guess: American, Delta (and by extension Northwest) and Virgin America have already signed on for Aircell. Southwest and Alaska Airlines are both using Row 44 for wireless. JetBlue, Frontier and Continental are on the LiveTV tip.
So that pretty much leaves United and US Airways as the only big players in need of a WiFi provider. But US Airways certainly isn't looking to add electronics to its fleet, light as internet antennas may be. We're looking your way United!
Now that American Airlines has its in-flight WiFi working, we're expecting lots more mid-air liveblogging, like this report from "Big Brother" obsessive Ben at the B-Side Blog:
I've done a lot of flight blogs--or flogs--in my time, but never in all my time have I been able to actually LIVE blog my flights....
Not this time, my friends. American Airlines just introduced in-flight WiFi [six] days ago on selected routes, and yours truly has the luxury of flying one of those special planes.
Ben goes on to tell us about some pre-flight tire repairs, a sassy flight attendant and even some hellish fellow passengers, but our favorite bits are about how useful the wireless connection is:
Let me just reiterate that I absolutely love being able to sit here above the clouds and read Big Brother updates. Best flight EVER.
We didn't get a seat on one of American Airlines's newly wireless planes today, but Jaunted pal Peter Ha did. We last met up with CrunchGear's News Editor out at the Mojave Spaceport in front of the WhiteKnightTwo. Today, we had to chat via IM, which was also pretty awesome:
Jaunted: So it really works!
Peter: Indeed.
Jaunted: Any notables on the flight with you?
Peter: Aircell's CEO and Charles Wilson from AA.
Jaunted: What kind of speeds are you getting? How does it compare to your connection at home?
Peter: So far I'm getting around 1,700 kbps down and roughly 300 kbps up.
A day after a prominent travel journalist tried to figure out why airlines still haven't rolled out their in-flight WiFi, American Airlines announced this morning that it's ready to offer the service on its fleet of 16 767-200s.
The planes connect New York and Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami, and you'll pay $10 for access on flights shorter than three hours and $13 on longer trips. (Depending on the flight, trips to MIA are scheduled for both shorter and longer than three hours.)
There won't be any cell phone service or VOIP onboard American's WiFi planes, but otherwise the browsing experience should be just like at home. We'll see how things go as Peter Ha liveblogs a flight today over at CrunchGear.
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.
The carrier will partner with Aircell, the same company that's behind the wireless offerings planned for AA and Virgin America. The company uses cellular technology, meaning the service will only be available on domestic flights.
First up for WiFi will be Delta's 133 MD-88/90s. Soon after, the carrier will install the system across more than 200 737s, 757s and 767-300s.
We're taking our time to get it right. We're not just throwing this on our planes like in the lobby of some hotel.
Charles tells us that Virgin should have at least some in-flight WiFi by this fall; the whole fleet will have it by early 2009.
As is the case on AA--but not on JetBlue--you'll be able to surf the whole web from your laptop, and, notably, the VA product will also let you SMS from the seat-back entertainment console. Charles says that once the system is in place--and Paris Hilton helps christen it on the premiere WiFi flight--the carrier will continue to develop its internet offerings. So how long till we're playing video games against our buddies on different Virgin flights?
American Airlines will test its in-flight WiFi system tomorrow on a round-trip between JFK and LAX. We're hearing that wireless for the rest of American's 15-plane 767-200 fleet is ready to go. In other words, if this test is a success, they'll flip the "on" switch.
The carrier is using Aircell technology that'll be available under the Gogo brand name. Pricing will be what the company announced in March: $13 for longer flights, $10 for shorter flights. On Wednesday, though, access will be free.
Currently the only other in-air wireless is from JetBlue, which only has limited internet access on one plane, BetaBlue. Virgin America is slated to start up Aircell WiFi sometime this year, too.
If you're flying, we'd love to see a screenshot of Gogo in action. Please send one our way!
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