After years of debate, Wi-Fi Internet has come to commercial air travel. Although the technology has been authorized by the US government for several years, and Virgin America Airlines has used it for their own on-board entertainment system, several airlines are now rolling it out for use by passengers.
Delta, American, and Virgin America are all offering Wi-Fi Internet service on limited flights at present, but have plans to expand across their fleets in 2009. The service is priced at $9.95 for flights of three hours or less, and $12.95 for longer flights.
It's not hard to see why airlines are looking for ways to increase revenue on a per passenger basis. However, flight attendants are not happy with in-flight Wi-Fi. In addition to safety concerns about terrorists communicating while on-board, the flight attendants union is concerned about policing passenger use of appropriate web surfing, according to an article in the International Herald Tribune.
Other commentators have suggested that wi-fi Internet access will make the skies less friendly by taking away the last quiet sanctuary of the wary business traveler. Let's face it, being stuck at 37,000 feet without being connected to the rest of the world is a perfect excuse to catch up on sleep, in-flight movies or a good novel. With in-flight Wi-Fi, anyone with a Wi-Fi-enabled smart phone will now have no excuse not to clear out a few hundred old e-mails while in flight.
Those passengers with Skype on their laptop computers may even have to join in a few more boring conference calls rather than shutting down for a little shut-eye. It is unclear at the moment whether these in-flight services will support VoiP.
I do use my flight time to catch-up on work via my trusty MacBook Pro, but I also like to relax a bit. If nearby passengers will now be able to talk about surgical procedures or the finer points of selling candles at house parties, I think I may have to start packing a parachute. (Yes, I have noise-canceling headsets, but they only help so much!)
I have looked forward to Wi-Fi for years, but now I am having second thoughts. I have not flown early Wi-Fi adopters American or Delta (for good reason, in my book), but I do like Virgin America. I fly United much of the time, but they are going to be slow to roll it out this year, starting first with the LA to NYC flights. In any event, I hope to give it a try soon. In the meantime, let me know your Wi-Fi experiences on recent flights.
