There are plenty of tales lamenting the race to the bottom in amenities and service for passengers in the United States. But that is not the entire story. Indeed, there are some markets where competition amongst carriers is working to increase the options available to travellers. Not only are there more choices now in these markets, the offerings are getting better.
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United Airlines officially launches in-flight wifi service
After a soft launch just before the new year United Airlines has officially announced their in-flight wifi solution. The carrier has one 747 and two A319s currently flying with the Panasonic-provided solution and expects to have 300 aircraft fitted by the end of the year. The Ku-band satellite solution allows United to provide global connectivity […]
Has United’s Panasonic-based in-flight internet service gone live??
The fact that a few United Airlines Airbus A319 aircraft have the Panasonic in-flight internet kit installed is not much of a secret. The carrier has been reasonably open about the fact that the type is getting the gear installed these days. But there haven’t been any more details released. No word on exactly when the […]
Qantas pulls the plug on in-flight internet; Etihad commits to fleet-wide connectivity
Nine months after activating a satellite-based internet service on their A380 fleet flying between Australia and the United States Qantas shut down the service this past weekend. Apparently usage was not sufficient to justify the costs of operating the systems. In a statement the airline indicated that the usage rate was less than 5 percent over […]
Some notes from United’s open house with frequent flyers
Yes, getting to drive the deicing truck was the highlight of my visit to United Airlines last week. But that was on Thursday; Friday offered up the opportunity to meet with a number of executives from the company and ask pretty much any questions we wanted of them. Sure, not all the questions were answered […]
JetBlue’s new in-flight Wifi: Fast and Free*
It seems that things are still on schedule for the deployment of the satellite-based in-flight internet connectivity on JetBlue starting in early 2013. The company has ratcheted up their publicity about the product this week, focusing on two key factors they see as making a difference to customers: the service will be FAST and the […]
ANA to equip long-haul fleet with WiFi
ANA has announced plans to offer in-flight internet on a number of its planes flying international routes starting in Summer 2013. The plan will see the 777-30ER and 767-300ER fleets as the first to be fitted with the service. OnAir, the leading provider of satellite-based connectivity will be the platform of choice for ANA. Nice […]
In-flight internet and content manipulation: What are you really seeing?
An interesting report has surfaced on an internet security focused mailing list. The story is told by a support engineer who received a call from an end-user complaining that a website wouldn’t load. After confirming that the web server was functioning properly they started to troubleshoot the laptop which was experiencing the issues. That’s where […]
Delta to lease AirTran 717s from Southwest
When Southwest bought out AirTran they were quite up front about their desire to get rid of the 717s in their newly acquired fleet. Thanks to a new agreement between Delta and their pilot union, it seems like there is a deal on the table which will allow them to do precisely that. Assuming the […]
American Airlines announces updates to long-haul fleet
American Airlines announced that they are moving forward with a retrofit of their long-haul fleet, updating the cabin interiors to improve the premium cabin experience. Mostly. The upgrades will expand the deployment of the new business class product, previously announced for the 777-300s which the company will begin receiving later this year. It will also mean […]