According to a recent news announce??ment, American Airlines will be offering in-flight broadband services starting in 2008 on its fleet of Boeing 767-200 aircraft that fly transcontinental routes. All those people who have to stay connected, even at 35,000 ft, now will be one step closer to realizing their dream.
Along with the announcement to sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight, the flight attendant proudly will proclaim that all wireless warriors can fire up their Wi-Fi-enabled laptops, PDAs, or iPhones and connect them to the Internet. Of course, there will be a small fee for the service, but it will not deter the savvy business travelers or diehard ??gamers. Passengers now will be connected to the fastest moving hot spot in the sky, enabling them to read e-mail, check the scores of their favorite sports teams, surf the web, and, of course, access the office network.
American Airlines is partnering with AirCell, a wireless data and voice service provider, to offer in-flight Internet access to passengers that have IEEE 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi mobile devices. AirCell's air-to-ground network is based on cellular technology that will utilize existing ground-based cell towers for connectivity, which explains why it only will be operational on over-land flights.
According to the company, installation of the equipment on the planes is not expensive, and operating costs will be less than satellite-based systems. Although prices have not been set, the service probably will cost about $10 for passengers in coach and be free for those flying first?class.
Offering in-flight broadband service to passengers is not new. As noted in a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor, Boeing pioneered a satellite-based system about three years ago on some of its jumbo jets that flew international flights. Unfortunately, the antennas mounted on the aircraft created so much drag that the plane's fuel consumption increased. Also, since only a few planes were equipped with the service, it never really got out of the testing phase and was discontinued in 2006.
If successful, the new service will bring us closer to the last frontier of total connectivity—making in-flight cell-phone calls. I'm sure this capability is not that far off, probably in the next two or three years. As mentioned in one of my previous long-forgotten editorials, I'm not looking forward to sitting in a plane with a couple hundred passengers each talking rather loudly on their cell phones. The cacophony of numerous and mostly unnecessary phone calls will be too much for me. Now, where are my noise-canceling earphones?
Paul Milo
Editorial Director
[email protected]