American Adds More Wi-Fi in the Sky

In some of the best news for business travelers since they started holding conventions at tropical resorts, American Airlines on Tuesday announced it plans to expand its aerial Internet service to another 300 planes over the next two years.

American has been testing the system for the past six monhs on 15 767s; it now plans to add the service to its MD-80s and 737s. (A sign, perhaps, that it’s not going to replace those gas-guzzling MD-80s all that soon.)

I’ve not yet sampled American’s aerial Wi-Fi service, but I did get to use the old Connexion by Boeing system on a few press flights, back before Boeing pulled the plug on that venture. I was a huge fan (although at $26.95 it was a bit spendy). Being able to bang out stories and blog posts from the plane during the trip was incredibly convenient, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting the day when similar services become more common on airliners.

And as one blogger notes, free Wi-Fi could be offered as an option to pacify cranky fliers trapped on board flights delayed by more than an hour.

American’s announcement should be cause for rejoicing for Aircell LLC, the Illinois-based company that’s supplying the Gogo service to American, as well as Delta Air Lines and Virgin America. United Airlines and Air Canada have also signed on with Aircell, although Air Canada is only offering the service on flights south of the border.

Forbes reports that Aircell is eager to get more hand-held devices Wi-Fi compatible, in order to capture a bigger share of potential revenue from leisure travelers. Their research has found that only 25 to 40 percent of leisure travelers carry a laptop with them on trips (compared to 75 percent of business travelers), but nearly everyone takes a cell phone with them.

To encourage more use, American is offering Gogo at a reduced rate for handheld users ($7.95 vs. $9.95 for laptop users).

Alaska and Southwest airlines are also giving aerial Internet a trial run, utilizing a satellite-based system provided by a California company called Row 44. Its approach differs from Aircell’s, which uses air-to-ground signals to tap into 3G wireless networks.