Business Travel Tips

As in-flight cell phone service has been blocked so far by Federal Aviation Administration, increasingly airlines in the U.S. are poised to offer wireless Internet access inside their planes.

By making use of a variety of technologies, the airlines are aiming to offer people in-flight same capability they enjoy at home or in the office.
Analysts predict business travelers will like the service; a recent Forrester Research survey showed 55 percent of travelers on flights of four hours or more said they would be interested in paying for in-flight wireless access.

San Francisco Chronicle reports on the status of in-flight wireless Internet access for U.S. carriers.
- Alaska Airlines: Testing wireless Internet access this summer
- American Airlines: Testing service on 15 planes by mid-year
- Continental: Testing limited wireless next year
- JetBlue: Currently testing one plane offering limited Yahoo e-mail, IM chat and BlackBerry e-mail service
- Southwest Airlines: Testing service on four planes in late summer
- Virgin America: Testing service late this year
Regular Wi-Fi service could begin on many of the airlines by the end of this year.

- Costs -
The cost of the domestic Wi-Fi service is still being worked out. Most of carriers are working with their technology suppliers to set pricing. Aircell, which is providing the wireless service for American and Virgin America, is looking at charging $12.95 for flights longer than three hours and less for shorter trips.

- Revenue opportunities -
Wi-Fi could end up becoming a new source of revenue for airlines. A few examples: Virgin America is using the new connectivity to provide Internet access to its seatback entertainment systems; Virgin is also tapping game developers to create networked games that can be played by passengers in the same plane and by travelers on different flights.

- Workload for flight attendants -
Flight attendants likely will have to field technical questions for the first time. They’ll also have to police against passengers viewing inappropriate content online. Example of inappropriate use could be users trying to download large files. As Skype and other Internet phone services will be disabled to ensure peace and quiet in the cabin. (source)