The Web at 35,000 Feet: United to Offer In-Flight Wifi

Aircell, who provides inflight internet to American, Delta, Virgin America, and Air Canada, is announcing today that United Airlines has been added to their customer list. The domestic airline is likely to see wifi on flights starting in the second half of 2009.

The flat fee for the Gogo Inflight Internet service will set you back $12.95 per session and gets you standard access to the Web. Internet offerings will be limited to passengers flying from New York to California on any of United’s fleet of Boeing 757s that fly between JFK, LAX and SFO.

Jack Blumenstein, Aircell President & CEO had this say about today’s announcement, “I can’t think of a better way for Aircell to usher in 2009 as the year of Inflight Internet than by announcing our partnership with United … Passengers love Gogo Inflight Internet service and the freedom it gives them to be productive, connected and entertained. Forward-thinking airlines like United are putting the power of Gogo in their passengers’ hands and reaping the revenue and customer loyalty benefits that it brings.”

That’s a lot of marketing-speak that boils down to the fact that the Gogo service, provided by Aircell, is starting to give people what they’ve wanted for years.

There seems to be some healthy competition in the broadband-in-the-air space, which means that airlines have a choice between providers, but consumers will have to create multiple accounts depending on how they travel (think AT&T vs. T-mobile hotspots). Southwest Airlines has also announced plans to test inflight Internet via Aircell competitor Row 44.

With Virgin America’s big wifi splash, and the plethora of airlines starting to offer inflight internet service, travelers across the US can start to be more selective about who they choose to fly with.

Will you start to choose your airline based on wireless service or provider? Let us know what you think about today’s news in the comments.

View my * My Posts * Facebook * Twitter * Friendfeed * LinkedIn * Digg * Southwest Airlines: Wi-Fi on Every Flight by

Social media and Internet addicts, rejoice! When you board a Southwest Airlines flight sometime early next year, you’re going to be able to surf the web via Wi-Fi.

Southwest Airlines is joining Virgin America, American, Delta, United and others in offering Wi-Fi on its flights. The airline just finished its first round of testing on four different aircraft and has decided to roll out Wi-Fi across its entire fleet. In fact, we covered the original tests last year.

The Wi-Fi wil be powered by Row 44, a satellite and broadband service company. This is interesting because Wi-Fi on Delta, American, and Virgin are all powered by rival Aircell.

While everything from YouTube () to email was allowed during the test of Southwest’s Wi-Fi, you’re probably not going to be able to use VoIP, Skype (), or video chatting. This is a restriction most airlines place on their Wi-Fi service in order to limit possibly disruptive chatter and noise for its other customers.

There’s no word on prices or exactly when every flight will have Wi-Fi, but the target is the first quarter in 2010. That’s not all that far away. Let’s hope other airlines keep picking up on this trend and offer us our Internet fix in the sky.