In-flight internet: grounded no longer
Wi-Fi is now available on even the most remote beaches in South Asia, so why has it not made its way to US air carriers?
The answer: “it has.”
Two carriers, Southwest and American, have announced onboard internet trails to start later this year.
“This follows JetBlue’s already-launched, though minimal, service, as well as previous announcements for trials from Alaska Airlines and Virgin America,” said CNET News.com
Southwest said it would begin trials this summer with high-speed Internet service on four of its 737s. This summer, American will also launch onboard Internet service on its entire fleet of coast-to-coast 767s.
Virgin America plans on rolling out the service on all of its planes.
Apparently in a conservative mood, Alaska has said it would launch a trial on only one plane.
Some observers such as Henry Harteveldt, an industry analyst at Forrester Research, predicted all airlines will soon have wi-fi.
“It will probably be two years or so before we see the vast majority of aircraft in the US with this,” Mr Harteveldt said. “But I do expect it will be on just about every airline.”
Report by David Wilkening
David
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Global tourism exceeds 1.5 billion travelers announces UN-Tourism
Qatar Airways offers reduced timetable to over 60 destinations
WTTC global tourism reached record economic impact of 11 trillion in 2025
Hands In, UATP join forces for airline multi-card payments
Overseas travelers to the United States declined by 2.5% in 2025