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Southwest Wants Their 544 Planes Plugged Into In-Flight WiFi ASAP

January 29, 2010 at 2:40 PM | by JetSetCD | 1 Comment

For everyone who relies on the cheap fares and consistent service of Southwest Airlines, we've got some great news for you today. According to SWA's official blog "Nuts About Southwest," they have concluded their year-long testing phase, which only had four aircraft (of their 544) flying around with WiFi.

They've just signed the contract with in-flight internet provider Row 44 to begin equipping their entire fleet with the gizmos necessary to get us passengers connected at 35,000 feet. Installations will begin in the second quarter of this year, beginning at the pace of 15 aircraft per month and hopefully quickly ramping up the pace to 25 per month.

After the jump...yea, but how much will it cost to use?

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Jaunted's 2009 Airline In-Flight WiFi Guide

December 17, 2009 at 10:02 AM | by JetSetCD | 4 Comments

Let 2009 be known as the year that the airlines embraced the internet. Whether through Facebook and Twitter or web-only specials, they really put themselves out there. But the most revolutionary change to come was the proliferation of In-Flight WiFi. The seeds of connectivity were planted in 2008 and they budded this year, but 2010 will see the bloom and boom of airlines with WiFi. Already we have eleven carriers that are either already online or signed up to start very soon. And that's not counting the international airlines with their grand long-haul plans.

Let's look at the status of the WiFi on each of these airlines, but first you'll need to know a quick bit about the major providers of in-flight WiFi, and there are three:
· Gogo, a terrestrial-based service that relies on signal towers on the ground. This is the most popular choice.
· Row 44, a satellite-based service that allows for uninterrupted browsing, even over bodies of water.
· LiveTV, used only by Jetblue and sadly lagging behind with extremely limited internet access.

And now, without further ado, Jaunted's 2009-2010 Airline In-Flight WiFi Status Update...

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The Winners And Losers of the Zagat 2009 Airline Survey

November 24, 2009 at 5:09 PM | by Omri | 0 Comments

The newest Zagat Guide on airlines is up. 5,900 fliers averaging 17 flights per year were polled about 16 domestic and 66 foreign airlines. After all the results were tallied the major US winners - rated on comfort, service, and food - turned out to be Virgin America and low cost carrier Midwest Airlines. If you're just flying coach your best bet is apparently JetBlue, which tallied up 19 out of 30 points. And if your top concern for some reason is your luggage, Southwest should be your airline of choice. Full results are posted at the Zagat site.

In contrast to when we covered this survey two years ago, travelers also found room for some grudging compliments: "consumers feel some marginal improvement in comfort and service." That's actually fair given how airlines have been consistently improving at last their outward numbers. We never tire of telling you that civilian aviation is the safest it's ever been, while September had the highest on-time rate since 2003.

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JetBlue Retaliates To Southwest's Latest Boston Escalation

November 4, 2009 at 10:29 AM | by Omri | 0 Comments

Now this is just getting silly. The dustup at Logan was already the most interesting battle in the airline industry, with Southwest turning the turf war into a bloodbath and pushing out major carriers like US Airways. JetBlue—which considers Boston home turf—isn't going to be shoved aside as easily. They're retaliating by increasing their Boston flights by a full 30 percent.

Southwest recently broadsided JetBlue and AirTran by adding two daily roundtrips, for a total of seven, between Boston and Baltimore. That bumped up the total number of BOS-BWI dailies to 20. Given that 20 is probably way more than necessary, an outside observer might guess that Southwest was just trying to spite their rivals.

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FAA Launches Campaign Of Penalties And Fines Against US Airlines

October 19, 2009 at 2:18 PM | by Omri | 0 Comments

The Federal Aviation Administration has reached back to the beginning of 2008, contemplated the record, and decided to fine United and US Airways over $9 million dollars for safety lapses. The government agency is letting it be known that these penalties are just the beginning and that the entire industry is now on notice. Larger fines and penalties against American Airlines and Southwest Airlines are probably pending:

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Southwest Intensifies Boston Turf War With JetBlue And AirTran

Where: Boston-Logan Airport [map], Boston , MA, United States
October 15, 2009 at 5:33 PM | by Omri | 0 Comments

The outlook for the 2010 airline industry is unremittingly bleak, but you wouldn't know it from the way that Southwest is acting. The low cost carrier is adding 104 flights to its spring schedule. In the process they're turning the Boston turf war they started with JetBlue and AirTran into a full-blown bloodbath:

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Southwest Triggers Turf War And Lower Prices By Landing In Boston

August 24, 2009 at 8:59 AM | by Omri | 0 Comments

Southwest began flying out of Boston-Logan last Sunday, a move that their CEO once declared would never ever happen. Nonetheless, we weren't particularly surprised: we flagged the expansion back in April when they announced their routes, and again a few weeks ago when AirTran gave them a "welcome to Boston" by announcing free WiFi for Boston flights.

What is much more interesting is what the move means for the LCC niche and the airline industry as a whole, two different markets that are increasingly difficult to untangle.

The Wall Street Journal just published a must-read article on the industry, taking Southwest's expansion as the centerpiece and moving on from there:

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The FCC Is Cool With Row 44's In-Flight WiFi Satellite System

August 7, 2009 at 8:37 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

Most of our in-flight WiFi coverage has been focused on Aircell and their Gogo Internet service. However, there is another kid on the block, and Row 44 has been trying their best to gain some market share.

It's too bad Row 44 has had a slower start than their competition; after all, they have been teasing us with their goods for some time. At least they have partners like Alaska Airlines and Southwest, so they definitely have attracted some big business.

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Take That Southwest: AirTran To Offer Free WiFi From Boston in August

July 20, 2009 at 9:14 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

For those who haven’t been taking notes, Southwest Airlines is set to take off from Logan Airport in Boston starting halfway through August. Hopefully their low cost model will help lower flight prices out of Beantown; it has already brought some freebies to flyers thanks to a little friendly competition.

AirTran knows the stakes are high, so they are offering free WiFi aboard all their flights that travel between BOS and BWI—one of Southwest’s main routes. The free in-flight WiFi will be available for the whole month of August, in hopes that travelers will choose their WiFi planes over the other guys.

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'Mobile-Optimized' Means Business For Southwest Airlines

June 1, 2009 at 11:57 AM | by JetSetCD | 3 Comments

Who remembers the days of booking flights through travel agents with cruise ship models perched on their desks and drawers full of Disney World pamphlets? It's crazy to think that we used to intern at one such office, in the time just before travel websites took over the world and made everyone freak out the security of booking online.

Finally we seemed to have reached the future, what with the proliferation of mobile websites where passengers can not only check on their flight's status but also book another leg. Southwest Airlines is only the latest carrier to boost the options on the mobile-optimized site, adding the ability to purchase flights, view schedules, peruse their SWA frequent flyer points account and of course, monitor their flight's status.

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Text-Crazy Woman Files Suit Against Southwest

May 19, 2009 at 9:01 AM | by kjb | 2 Comments

We’ve all been there. The flight attendant kindly asks everyone to turn off their electronic devices, but one person is just to cool for school and continues to text and tweet away. One woman did exactly this, but she obviously took it a little too far and wound up going to the big house for a couple hours.

It all started on a Southwest Airlines flight in Nashville last summer. The passenger was returning from Florida and wanted to let her kids know that she was safe and on her way home. Apparently a flight attendant asked her to turn off the phone, but then returned several times to reinforce his message, including two visits as the plane headed toward the runway. Maybe if it was the rapping flight attendant, she would have paid attention.

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A-listers Not Above Eating Southwest's Peanuts

April 27, 2009 at 2:26 PM | by JetSetCD | 2 Comments

Stars! They're just like us! While we have already seen first-hand that Southwest is the airline of choice for Sports Illustrated swimsuit models, who would believe that some A-listers are occasionally to be found way back in seat 44D? Thanks to the tireless work of the paparazzi behind TMZ, however, we now have a damning list of celebs who've slummed it in the skies. Hey, maybe their Gulfstreams were in the shop?

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