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Delta To Have WiFi On All Domestic Flights In 2009

by Ronen Halevy on Aug 6th, 2008 at 3:54 am EST
6 Comments »
 

I have been waiting for the day when I can surf the internet while bored on the plane. It is almost painful to have to shut off my BlackBerry before takeoff. :)

delta Nikolaus just sent me an article on CNN reporting that Delta is planning on having WiFi on all of their domestic flights by the middle of 2009. The best part is that it will not be priced in the stratosphere. It will be $9.99 for flights that are 3 hours or less or $12.95 for longer flights.

Delta is not the first carrier to announce their intentions and hopefully will not be the last. I can’t wait until it is commonplace to always be offered internet access on every flight…

So what would you pay to have wireless internet on your flight? I know it would convince me that WiFi is finally worth it on my next BlackBerry.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 and is filed under News.
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6 Comments to “Delta To Have WiFi On All Domestic Flights In 2009”

  1. Posted by: pyroguysf
    August 6, 2008 at 5:02 am EST

    I know American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic have planned on wifi, now Delta.

    I also like JetBlue’s idea of having limited *free* wifi:
    -Popular webmail (Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, AOL, etc)
    -Yahoo IM
    -Blackberry service
    -Amazon.com

    Read more at http://www.jetblue.com/about/whyyoulllike/about_betablue.html

    Engaget and Cnet review BetaBlue:
    http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-9832562-36.html
    http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/11/hands-on-with-betablue-jetblues-wifi-equipped-airbus/

    From what I’ve read all the wifi in planes are going through AirCell’s towers so the sketchy service will probably apply to all planes, not just JetBlue, until AirCell get’s better coverage.

    I’d be nice to see a slightly more open connection, other IM clients, a slightly bigger selection of websites for free. I’m sure Yahoo pitched in quite a bit of money for their IM service to be the only available, but hopefully there might be more free options. Personally I think a free email, IM, and limited selections of websites would be nice, but I’d also like the option to pay for a “real” internet connection.

  2. Posted by: Nikolaus
    August 6, 2008 at 10:09 am EST

    What I really want to know if WiFi (UMA) voice calls will work, like for the 8320?

  3. Posted by: Amir Saad
    August 6, 2008 at 12:49 pm EST

    Well, unless its free….its not worth it. Just sleep, watch the movie they show or make paper planes…
    If they really plan on using the passengers weight to charge more….um..you get the point…

  4. Posted by: Nikolaus
    August 6, 2008 at 3:50 pm EST

    I think I’ll pay just to find out if I can do UMA calling. They have not allowed cell phones to work on planes now for years because it could disturb other passengers. Why then did they have those corded seatback phones for so many years then? I think it would turn a few heads if my BlackBerry can be used to make calls on, while those AT&T iPhones can’t.

  5. Posted by: DavidB
    August 7, 2008 at 1:55 pm EST

    “It is almost painful to have to shut off my BlackBerry before takeoff.”
    I’m betting that won’t change. They make you turn off even iPod’s and PSP’s and such until something like 10,000 feet in the air.

    If the “HANGUP” Act just introduced in Congress becomes law, AirCell (and anyone else) is going to HAVE to figure out how to block UMA. The way I read the law currently, it applies to not just cellular phone calls but “data” phone calls (i.e. VOIP/UMA/etc.) too. I hope so. Anyone who can’t last the 5 hours of even the longest domestic flight without making a phone call (other than the novelty of “Hi mom, I’m flying over the Grand Canyon right now”) seriously ought to seek help for their addiction! Unless ALL calling is blocked (so we all “suffer” the same restriction because of a few bad apples), there will be NO WAY to effectively shut down the people who are exceedingly rude in their calling habits. Being able to message and email should be plenty sufficient, and timely, AND most importantly non-intrusive to your seat-mates.

    Personally, I couldn’t stand being stuck next to some idiot on one of those corded seatback phones chatting away. Luckily, even with a business picking up the tab, the cost per call was so exorbitant the amount of calling was rarely frequent.