American Airlines Launches In-Flight Internet Service

American Airlines, the nation’s largest air carrier launched their in-flight broadband service yesterday on long-distance domestic flights.  This makes American the first airline to offer complete in-flight broadband.  Flights from New York to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Miami.  Passengers on these Boeing 767-200 aircrafts will have the option of paying $12.95 for internet access on these non-stop flights.

The airlines have been in a race to expand their in-flight internet services as a means to add an additional stream of revenue to combat sky-rocketing fuel costs.  Delta, US Airways and Virgin America are also planning on testing on board internet.  JetBlue offers free Wi-Fi service on one aircraft through its LiveTV subsidiary, but it is  limited to e-mail without attachments, instant messaging and some services from Amazon.com.   Continental Airlines Inc. also plans to use LiveTV with similar restrictions.

So are the days of being blissfully “disconnected” while on a plane behind us?  More than likely…. yes.  Business travelers yearn for more productivity while traveling.  Kids and teens are bored just reading books and watching movies.  How about the rest of us?  How will the airlines handle someone browsing inappropriate content?  Will companies be risking confidentiality by having employees accessing sensitive information online while in flight?   Only time will tell.  In the meantime, I’m going back to reading my book.

Technorati Tags: inflight internet, internet on airplanes, broadband on airplanes, Wi-Fi on airlpanes

 

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