Press Starting To Notice WiFi-In-The-Sky Claims Not Being Supported In Reality
from the keep-on-waiting dept
Over the last year or so, a number of airlines have announced that they (finally! really!) will be installing internet access on airplanes for customers to use. Some have announce very aggressive rollouts, but Joe Brancatelli over at Portfolio has noticed that the rollouts all seem way behind schedule — and quotes an exec at American Airlines (one of the airlines who promised an aggressive rollout) saying that there’s clearly something wrong with the technology. Brancatelli tries to get Airgo, one of the main providers of WiFi-in-the-sky service to comment on the delays and: “Aircell isn’t talking and refused repeated requests for an interview. Instead, its public-relations agency referred me back to its press releases, most of which said Aircell would be operating by now.” He also notes that, despite public claims from various airlines that they’ll aggressively wire up a bunch of airlines, those same airlines either haven’t submitted an application to the FAA to wire up certain aircraft, or only just submitted them. In other words, despite public posturing, your WiFi connection in the sky may take a bit longer to arrive.
Filed Under: airplanes, in-flight internet, wifi
Companies: aircell, american airlines
Comments on “Press Starting To Notice WiFi-In-The-Sky Claims Not Being Supported In Reality”
“Aircell has everything but service. Earlier this year, American Airlines wired 15 of its Boeing 767s, but the internet access has yet to be turned on for commercial use. It’s barely been tested. According to American, Gogo was used in June on two “dress rehearsal” flights and tested on two additional flights last week. Yet the airline won’t publicly commit to a date”
Kind of a weird timing for the Portfolio article, considering American’s Aircell implementation launched this morning:
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN1930895220080820
American Air kicks off in-flight Internet service
Wed Aug 20, 2008 7:36am EDT
CHICAGO (Reuters) – AMR Corp’s American Airlines began offering Internet access on long-haul domestic flights on Wednesday, making American the first U.S. airline to offer full in-flight broadband.
The world’s largest airline said its passengers on Boeing 767-200 aircraft can pay $12.95 for Internet access on nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami.
Airlines have been racing to get reliable Internet access on their flights in hopes of gaining a competitive edge in the troubled airline industry. Other carriers like Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways have made strides in that direction.
Delta Air Lines Inc said this month it soon will start rolling out broadband Wi-Fi access for its entire domestic mainline fleet of more than 330 planes.
Experts have said they expect in-flight Internet to become common in the industry.
American’s mobile broadband service, which is called Gogo, is provided by AirCell. Each Gogo session includes full Internet access. Cell phone and Voice over Internet Protocol are not available.
oops, what Krl said. American rolls out today and delta “soon”. bad timing!
Its Live on American Airlines
08/19/08 – As of 10:42 a.m. — 8 planes 70 users
airborne wi-fi
Boy are you wrong!!
Check out the announcement that American Airlines now has Wi-Fi in operation on its 767 fleet.
Time to do a little more research!
Do your homework before you spout off Joe!
Re: A frequent flyer
Who’s Joe? Looks like American Airlines has kicked off the WiFi on 1 jet so far.
http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/369991897/
Check out http://www.voyant.aero/
Voyant has announced its intention to bring true broadband service to commercial airline passengers in flight. Along with partner companies such as Harris Corporation, Voyant intends to design and deliver a system-level solution that will deliver unique content and a full suite of broadband service to passengers in flight at a disruptive price point. Passengers will be more productive, connected, and entertained during their travels, while airlines will enjoy greater customer satisfaction and new revenue opportunities.
Voyant believes that providing in-flight broadband services to the commercial aviation sector represents a multi-billion-dollar market opportunity, and it is this sector that the companies initially intend to serve. Follow-on potential markets could include general aviation, military aviation and Homeland Security applications.
http://www.voyant.aero
Re: Greek2me
I don’t understand why the other airlines are using Aircell when http://www.voyant.aero/ is capable of providing 10 – 35 Mbps to each airplane in a full fleet. Also, 10 – 100 times lower cost/bit than satellite-based systems. I guess the airline industry wants to spend money on something that doesn’t work.
http://www.voyant.aero