Southwest Airlines’ move to offer free Wi-Fi to its Rapid Rewards members represents the largest single-day demand shift in inflight connectivity history. More than 600,000 daily flying seats will see that switch flipped at the end of October.
Market data suggests the take rate on a paid service typically hovers around 10%. That jumps fourfold when an airline makes the service free. Considering typical load factors that pencils to roughly 150,000 more connections each day.
And this is just the beginning.
All told, nearly 6,000 aircraft across North America are expected to deliver complimentary internet on board in the very near future, more than tripling number available today. That means more pressure on suppliers across the industry. And there were definitely challenges to get to the point that those providers were ready to deliver.
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Historically service providers never had sufficient capacity to fully meet passenger demand. More recently, however, those companies argued they’re able to finally meet the market. LEO constellations would then allow them to remain firmly ahead in the future.
As the market shifts to free, and traveler expectations show no signs of shrinking, we’ll find out if the networks can truly deliver.
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