Some Airline Somewhere May Have Put Wireless Access On Board. Maybe.

from the check-yer-facts dept

Fri, Jul 11th 2003 10:06am — Mike Masnick

Okay. I'd say the following article needs a bit of clarification. RCR Wireless is running a report with a headline saying that SouthWest Airlines has made a deal to offer WiFi in the sky. If that were true, than they would be the first American carrier to do so. However, the actual text of the article doesn't talk about SouthWest airlines but SouthEast airlines - an airline I have never heard of, and which I assume is much smaller than SouthWest airlines. Meanwhile, the article claims that it will give passengers WiFi access and the ability to use their mobile phones on planes - but gives no details as to what they mean. It appears that SkyWay (the company the article claims is providing the service) just bought some AT&T Wireless assets related to in-flight connections, though I assume that's just for the failed seatback phones. So, my guess is that this SkyWay company has signed a deal with a small airline (SouthEAST airlines) and is promising to offer WiFi on the plane, which is then transmitted through the old, expensive, on-board phone system. Maybe. The press release confirms that it's SouthEast and not SouthWest airlines, and hopefully RCR Wireless will fix their headline. However, the details of how this WiFi in the sky plan works is still very vague and probably deserves a bit more scrutiny.

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Bob Dole, 14 Jul 2003 @ 6:44am

No Subject Given
Boeing has a WiFi enabled airplane, but apparently only foreign airlines are about to deploy them. Transfer speeds are decent, but lots of latency because of satellite delay. They've received most, if not all, of the required FCC approvals. Dunno about FAA approval.

http://www.boeing.com/connexion/sitemap.html
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- Mike (profile), 14 Jul 2003 @ 9:20am
  
  Re: No Subject Given
  Yeah, we've covered the Connexion stories here, and I do think that is what airlines need to offer. It's a real internet service on an airline.
  
  However, all the US carriers have bailed out on Boeing, and keep signing ridiculous deals to offer very weak, very expensive internet access, and pretending they're offering something equivalent to Connexion.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]