Delta (and others) to Offer in-flight wi-fi
Hooray! Delta announced today that it will offer wireless internet access on it’s flights by the middle of next year. Of course, I’m making multiple trips to California, and Las Vegas, all before February 2009, so that’s not going to help me.
Delta is partnering with Aircell to make this happen. Keep in mind, folks, this is Wi-Fi, not cell phone access. It means that you can use smartphones with wi-fi internet access (like the iPhone), laptops with wireless cards, and other similar devices to surf the Internet while in-flight. Pricing will be flat fees: $9.95 for flights 3 hrs or less, $12.95 for flights more than 3 hours.
The service will be offered initially on Delta’s fleet of 133 MD88/90
aircraft and will expand to the remaining domestic fleet of more than
200 Boeing 737,
757 and 767-300 aircraft during the first half of 2009. It expects to
have the technology installed on its entire domestic fleet by next
summer.
American also uses Aircell to offer wi-fi on its flights. JetBlue and US Airways are working on it.
I like this idea. While I rail passionately against paying to check my luggage (since I can’t bring my liquids on the plane I HAVE to check luggage), in this case I am paying for a service. In fact, I’m only paying if I use it. Of course, the rates are a little high – comparable to the rates in big-name hotels. But unlike a hotel, I doubt it’s overly easy to create Internet on a moving object in the clouds.
I do not, by the way, want people to use cell phones on a plane. I can only imagine that life on a plane, in coach OR in first-class, would be a lot more miserable if everyone was chatting on their phones. Internet, however, sounds like a great idea – and productive!
Cheers!
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Find Michelle Lentz here on Write Technology, on Twitter, Pownce, and FriendFeed.
